Mini 2 in Edinburgh

Hey folks,

my name is Alex and I work for the NDR, the biggest publicly funded broadcaster in Germany, well, you could say “the BBC of Northern Germany” :wink:
We are currently planning to visit Edinburgh near the end of February for a shoot and its quite complicated for me, as a boom operator and drone pilot, to dig deep and understand all the different rules.

In the “Edinburgh Drone filming policy” it says “Under the new regulations, there are some UAS that fall within the Open Category which can be
operated from public land or public rights of way without requiring permission.”
The dont provide a list of UAS that dont need permission, which is a shame.
My hope is, that the mean any UAS under 250g weight.
With the Mini 2, it would be A1 subcategory with low risk anyway.

Another point is the difference between commercial and recreational.
We’re actually none of this, kinda.
Not recreational, because its work.
Not commercial, because by definition “commercial” means “generation profit or income from what you do”, which is not the case, because we are a publicly funded broadcaster.

Any experiences or help from you guys would be much appreciated.

Thank you in advance!

Regards,
Alex

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Welcome to the UK soon @toast3d :wave:t2:

Your organisation probably already has some Public Liability Insurance in place already?

Just make sure that it covers you while operating in the UK, that’s the only insurance you’ll need.

Yeah, we have many different drones at our base in Hannover and all of them share an insurance (except in the US) over 5 Million Euros.

I already spoke to the Councils film expert, who told me, that it would be better or something to have a UK licensed pilot.
Well, that would cost a good amount of money, which our producers are not willing to pay.
I already took the CAA test and git a Flyer ID and an Operator ID, along with my seven years of experince in Germany, which unfortunately dont count in the UK :wink:

What are your opinions on the situation?
Any experiences you can share? :slight_smile:

… this is all you need plus the liability insurance — no difference to UK pilot :man_shrugging:

Okay, sounds good to me.
So there is no need for an extra permit or something from the council because of the weight of the drone?
Launch and landing are practically allowed everywhere, as long as common sense says “yes”?

As you say, this is a potential minefield of regulations.

You have two options, one is to laise with Edinburgh Council, tell them exactly where you wish to film, what equipment you will be using, when you intend to film and what competencies you and any other operators hold.

This could be a lengthy and frustrating correspondence.

Alternatively, go guerilla and just shoot as normal with a Mini2 or 3 and, if anyone does stop you, apologise and pack the kit away (until they have gone away …) :slight_smile:

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Alex, DM me for more info but if you are flying a Mini 2 and you take off and land from public property you will be fine.

Why not keep it here for us all to see and learn from :+1:

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Dont worry, I‘ll keep you updated on whats happening :slight_smile:

I have had no problems flying around Edinburgh with mini 2 so you should be ok :slightly_smiling_face:

Okay, so:
Got back to the Film Office at the Council, the Mini 2 is fine, you dont need extra permission from the Council to start and land on their property.
CAA also confirmed that and youre allowed to go up as high as 120m in the extremly wide CTR around EDI.

I live in Edinburgh, so be careful if dealing with the Council at any level as they are usually after money!
If you are using a mini 2 or 3 you are able to operate at most locations around the city. There are some no fly zones at several locations but these should be on the DJI screen. Be discrete and no one will bother you.

DJI made up ones? Just unlock them. Apart from the airport FRZ and HMP Edinburgh there are no others. As you said, if flying a Mini 2 or 3 they’ll be fine.

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