Absolutely correct. Nothing (even the VLOS requirement) has changed for you when flying your Mini 3 Pro. We will always need to look back and forth between the drone in the sky and our screens. The important thing is that you aren’t flying-by-screen, and when you do look down you know where your drone was so when you look back up you can find it again. If you momentarily lose VLOS at least you’re looking in the right part of the sky.
Yup.
Thank you, Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz. 
It was never stated in law that you had to see the orientation of the drone until now. You had to be able to clearly see it and the surrounding airspace, so as to be able to avoid a collision.
As the chance of avoiding collision with another aircraft by flying a drone left/right/towards/away was never practical, descending or climbing was always your best chance of avoidance and was at your command whatever the drone’s orientation. This change has effectively outlawed the use of Mini 1-3 as you cannot tell orientation visually beyond around 30m, yet they were flown safely ,by the majority, without incident. Ironic that you can fly a bigger, heavier drone much further away as you can see its orientation, but that represents a much greater risk to those on the ground as well as other air users!
You can’t see the lights at 30M?
Exactly that. I’ve had green and red strobes on mine since the early days. It at least tells me what’s left/right in the dark. Gets trickier with a mini 2 at a distance as they are close together but you could put another colour (white/blue) front facing to at least have a better idea.
The idea behind VLOS is that you should be able to return your drone, by hand, without a screen/goggles
You can’t see the lights if you are videoing anyway as DJI make them turn off on the mini3 Pro.
Only the front ones I think 
It’s been in the Drone Code ever since I started flying nearly 2 years ago.
This is a capture of the code from back in 2020, courtesy of https://web.archive.org/
Are we saying that even though it was there and something the CAA were saying drone pilots must do, it wasn’t the law so it could be safely ignored, but now it is actually the law so everyone had better buck their ideas up?
Could I not just use Remote ID to tell where my drone is??
The Air Navigation Order 2016 states (94.3):
The person in charge of a small unmanned aircraft must maintain direct, unaided visual contact with the aircraft sufficient to monitor its flight path in relation to other aircraft, persons, vehicles, vessels and structures for the purpose of avoiding collisions.
That doesn’t use the word ‘orientation’, but if you can’t see which way it’s flying then you cannot visually monitor its flight path. That’s pretty unambiguous stuff.
At the risk of repeating myself, all that’s happening here is the CAA have spelled out exactly what they assumed everybody would understand the ANO already said.
And, as @Earwig says, they’d already spelled it out in the DroneCode years ago.
They really haven’t.
You might not be able to see yours beyond 30m, but everybody’s eyes are different.
I’ve got one working eye. It’s pretty short sighted and has astigmatism. I can still confidently orientate my Mini 3 Pro out past 150m. And the more I’ve flown it, the easier that is. Its different front/back arm lenghts and distinctive arse-down flying style help a lot with knowing which way its pointing.
At the end of the day, 104.9% of done pilots will have no idea about these changes unless they are part of a community discussing them.
They will simply keep flying as they did before.
As will I.
BTW don’t ever believe statistics 
I wonder how many folk think that the CAA don’t monitor Forums and YouTube channels, where rules are spoken of, discussed and blatantly ignored. It’s little wonder, to me, that more rules are imposed, threatening a hobby’s existence, as the result of such open conversations.
Surely, all the talk of ignoring the rules will only convince the authorities that further, even more strict, regulation will be necessary to curtail the enjoyment of a minority group, whose activities are taking too much time to regulate.
Wouldn’t it be better to accept the rules, keep quiet and do what car drivers have been doing to the Highway Code for years, accepting the associated risks, without all the chest beating and bragging that seems to be our collective way?
Well, they don’t seem very interested in us. 
Joined Jan ‘19, last posted Aug’ 19 and not been back since Oct '19. Only 45min read time.
That’s not to say there aren’t covert CAA operatives registered and monitoring everything they see here. But I’m inclined to think they’re probably not that interested/don’t have the resources for full time social media surveillance.
I guess they probably have a general feel for what’s going on out there in Interwebzland, but not in minute detail. Maybe if they were actually active on here we could ask them. 
P. S.
I’m sure you’ll find plenty of car/motorcycle forums where such rule flouting and posturing goes on, if you look for them. 
If you can quote a rule that has been introduced, and shown with evidence, to be a safety/security measure, but then ignored, then I’m all ears and eyes (nose, legs, knees, and toes).
I think it’s more likely that the powerful lobby groups as in English heritage, National trust and the county councils have used their contacts to put pressure on the CAA and Department for transport to solve their problem, They have access to those who make the rules and you can bet your socks they have used it
Okay.
Not only evidence of disregarding the VLOS rule, but given it was a ~3 mile ‘range test’ which went over the M4, was less than a mile from AWE Burghfield, and resulted in an uncontrolled ‘landing’ and loss of the drone, I’d also say it’s evidence of both a safety and a security concern.
We don’t police other members… but let’s not pretend there aren’t the occasional raised eyebrows
(Edit: sorry, Richard. Not meaning to single you out, it was just the first post that came to mind 
)
@JoeC it’s fine mate, as the title” lesson learned “, very stupid of me & a costly one too, a great example tho as being close too the said locations which is not ideal for a range test, I’m glad it went into the water & not the other places mentioned.
I can see the DJI flight report for the U.K. in 2024 already. Total mileage flown 2.3 mls. Highest flight, 35m
The CAA recognised that you couldnt look at the screen without losing VLOS, so they put in place an exemption for PfCO holders, so if they had an observer next to them with VLOS, the pilot could ‘look away’.
With the introduction of Operational Authorisations they baked it into the text under type of operation:
a) VLOS only
b) But remote pilots may be assisted by a single unmanned aircraft observer, who must be positioned alongside the remote pilot. The unmanned aircraft observer must maintain direct unaided visual contact with the unmanned aircraft sufficient to monitor its flight path in relation to other aircraft, persons, vehicles, vessels and structures for the purpose of avoiding collisions, and advise the remote pilot accordingly.
