So this just arrived

Congratulations.

The screen shot stops just before the interesting bit, which is the conditions under which you are now allowed to fly near congested areas. Could you post the rest of it (or suggest where we can find it)? Presumably some of it is about creating flight plans etc… but it would be interested to learn just how much freedom you end up with after doing the licence exams.

I don’t think there is a difference to be honest other than the “in control of” element which does allow you closer to people.

Well done squire. :+1:
Hope it keeps you busy the next few months (and beyond).

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Congrats Lee, must be s big relief that you finally have it in your hands.

Was going to ask how long it took to come back, seems I still have. Couple of weeks to wait! Did they ask you to change anything in the process or was it just s long wait?

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Congrats on yours too Ian :+1:

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Just a long wait Brian. Nothing had to change in the ops manual

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Well done… and welcome to the spend a grand to join our exclusive club in which the CAA can now fleece you every year!!!

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The PfCO just outlines the standard does and don’ts. Here is a link to the interesting stuff from the CAA web site:

The specific section you want is…

Standard Permission
This enables a person to conduct commercial operations with a small unmanned aircraft (drone) and also permits operations within a congested area. Potential operators are required to provide evidence of pilot competence and an Operations Manual which details how the flights will be conducted.

This is basically saying that if you have a detailed flight plan, operations manual and are not flying a drone for the first first time, with a PfCO, you can fly in congested areas. Take this as you will, however I’d deem this to be city centres, events etc.

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Ok, that is helpful. So with a pfco one can fly in congested areas using “standard permission” which just requires a manual (and renewal of pfco from year to year).

But I also see there is a section on “other types of flight and […] operations that contain a greater element of operating risk” - which seem to need a CAA approval for each flight, with an individual safety case. What kinds of flight mission are those and are they likely to arise often?

Id take this to mean flights with greater risk such as…

  • BVLOS (with BVLOS certification in your PfCO)
  • flights above 400ft (120m)
  • flights in and around restricted airspace such as airports, stadiums
  • Generally flights locked out by DJI no fly zones (you need to have the correct authorisations so that you can get DJI to disable no-fly zones)
  • etc.
    I’ve never had to do this yet. With the CAA, you will also need a reason for requesting permission such as a building survey etc. You may have to do it if a clients building is near an airport due to the extended airport zone.

If flying in congested areas, I’d definitely say that your risk assessment should avoid flying over crowds of people. Say from the side or off a car multi-story park etc (with permission of the owner). One thing that you have to beware of with a DJI drone is that if closer than 20m horizontally and you hit the RTH button, it will just land where it is, it does not fly to its RTH height, before returning home… you don’t want to land in a crowd. You need to consider how the RTH works before near crowds and congested places.

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Not exactly. A PfCO isn’t a blanket permission to just get closer. So yes, I can fly within 50 metres of a structure however to do that I would need:

  • A “competent” observer (or more than 1 depending on the area)
  • To have completed and documented a risk assessment
  • PL Insurance
  • Written permission from the land owner where I’m taking off
  • A segregated take-off zone
  • A secondary landing zone
  • To have briefed and gained permission from anyone I’m flying over
  • Depending on the area, informed the local ATC and Police
  • Operate to every standard I’ve put in my ops manual, as a minimum
  • To have documented all of the above in a flight log, including weather, battery levels etc

It’s the difference between hobby flights and commercial flights.

Take a look at UAV8 Ltd Risk Assessment Form.pdf (356.6 KB) and On site risk assessment form.pdf (312.9 KB) as an example of what you’ll need to do for every flight. It might seem a bit boots and braces, but should something go wrong (even beyond your control) as a now “professional” pilot you’ll need to be able to demonstrate that you mitigated as much risk as practicable.

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I totally agree with leeheyes… this is a given for all flights undertake commercially and should go without saying to any PfCO holder.

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