Class Marks - CAA consultation on extension to Legacy and Transitional UAS provisions in the Open Category

I’ll be totally honest I’m struggling to understand this , I’ve tried to read up on it , does this mean if I buy a certain drone the rules may change for that said drone or even the one I already own , or am I way off topic .

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The UK makes up 1.4% of DJIs global sales, they too will be factoring us in.

(that number is a guess, not a fact)

Hang on, I need to order some more doom and gloom :smiley:

It visibly complies with the UK regulations, which are as follows (from CAP1789B):

Does it have the “UK marking” (i.e. UK CA)? Yes.

Does it show a “UA class identification mark”? Yes, C1.

Does it show the sound power level? I guess so, at least on the packaging.

Does it show the “identification number of the approved body”? I can’t tell from the photos I’ve seen, but I imagine it shows the number of an approved body, just not a body approved under the UK regs. This seems to be the only point of dispute, and any copper who understands this bit is going to be in hot demand!

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As always, this shambles would be sorted in a trice if the CAA actually got round to doing their job.

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All drones other than the new Mavic 3 Classic don’t have the new classification. Therefore, they are legacy drones. You can continue flying as per the current transitional period … which will hopefully be extended indefinitely (and then some).

For the M3 Classic, as @kvetner mentioned, I am sure many folk will see the C1 on it’s arm, Google to see what C1 allows them to do, and fly accordingly. However, according to the CAA website, these new classifications don’t come into force until 1st January 2023 (and could change anytime :thinking:):

So to me, this means that until that time, any UK owners of the new M3 Classic will be relegated to the A3 subcategory, or A2, if they have the A2 CofC and/or A16.

However, just to ensure everything is clear as mud, there is also a caveat on every CAA page that currently states:

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That’s a mis-reading, I think. What changes on 1 January 2023 is the loss of the transitional categories (although that may yet be delayed), and the rules on what can be sold as new drones. But the C0/C1/C2 classifications are already live, in theory, and CAP1789A defines what you can do with them today.

If you can buy one earlier and it’s legitimate (which is disputed for the UK, as discussed), you can exploit the C-class now.

That’s reasonably clear from the text that says “until January 2023 if your drone doesn’t have a class marking”, because if it does have a class marking you follow the earlier text, where it says “some may do before this date”.

CAP2012 remains the easiest point of reference, I think.

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Rather than guess… I’ve taken the bold approach of emailing the CAA and actually asking them directly what the situation is with the Mavic 3 and the M3 Classic now. :man_shrugging:

What’s to guess?

There are no UK class marks :person_shrugging:t2:

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To be fair, that was the basis of my email… “Dear CAA, I’m pretty sure this doesn’t apply to us… but some people are saying it might and I’d really like clarification. What’s your take?” sort of thing.

Facebook? :thinking:

Funnily enough :wink: Some very confident “I know people at the CAA and they told me…” statements.

And the CAA just forgot to inform the rest of the UK? :thinking:

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Then put DroneHacks on it ;o)

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And in the meantime I literally couldnt give a flying fuck. I’ll keep flying my drone (sensibly) until I get arrested, or see it on “the news”. Even then? I doubt I’ll give a fuck!!! Until these fucktards come up with something coherent and understandable I’ll keep flying.
By the way, how many times are we allowed to say fuck in one post before getting into trouble? :thinking:
I capped it at four but could have done more.

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Ah… the meaning of life and everything … :grin:

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:white_check_mark:

Looking forward to an answer. Hopefully they will refer you to Article 42A of CAP1789B, which implies that an EU-approved class marked drone can be flown in the UK under the relevant regs (e.g. a C1 drone flown in A1) until the UK govt gets its own act together. If they don’t, you should ask them what they think Article 42A is actually about.

Isn’t it just referring to the CE mark (replaced by UKCA) rather than the Class mark?
Or does ‘EU conformity assessment’ refer to both?

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