* Posts by As a Newt

1 publicly visible post • joined 7 Dec 2014

Drone in NEAR-MISS with passenger jet at Heathrow airport

As a Newt

Re: Licence required?

You're not quite accurate. There is no legal requirement to remain below 400ft. The ANO purely states you must maintain unaided visual contact at all times. 400ft is the recommended max, but that's all it is. CAP 658 is not the law, it is a guide - CAP 393 (The Air Navigation Order) is teh statutory instrument. In fact the CAA Exemption that allows first person view (FPV) flying of model aircraft (including multirotors) - with suitable safeguards, including a competent observer, of course - actually states the maximum permissible height for FPV operations is 1000ft agl, thus rather blowing your assertion out of the water. I have been able to maintain full visual contact with a 1.2kg UAV at 900ft in suitable conditions and in suitable locations (class G airspace, competent visual scan and listening watch), and conversely I have seen people merrily flying at just under 400ft thinking they were in the clear legally... but actually flying in weather conditions providing intermittent visual contact at best.

Also, anyone who flies a DJI Phantom class UAV will also be prevented from taking off within 2.5km of major airports and restricted to certain ceiling heights heights within an 8km radius... As the manufacturer of the most popular consumer and professional-grade multirotors I think they are showing a pretty good lead in terms of flight safety. It doesn't negate the requirement for people to think about where and how they fly, but it does provide a mechanism for preventing the terminally stupid from taking "that's my house down there" videos whilst on short final to a major international airport...

Oh, and if you happen to want third party insurance for your model aircraft, multirotor or "drone" valid for flights anywhere in Europe, but don't want to join a model flying club, you can get £5M of third party liability through www.fpvuk.org