Simplifying Australian Drone Regulations - OK2FLY Get a Big Update

[@Budginut]

For someone just getting into drone use and investigating the commercial side of it, this app is awesome!!

[@Andyhutchinson]

That it is. :)

[@davidturner927]

Very useful app. Thanks for taking the time to share Andy.

[@Andyhutchinson]

No problem 👍

[@RobinKean-ug4vm]

Thanks Andy. I was today years old when I found out about this App. Downloaded and ready for my next outing. Thanks again.

[@Andyhutchinson]

No worries - glad you found it useful :)

[@kimolrik4143]

As a Danish turis I always use OK2Fly when I am in your lovely country

[@Andyhutchinson]

Nice one - it's a genuinely useful service. :)

[@fightforjustice3744]

Great presentation......

[@Andyhutchinson]

Thank you!

[@ozmosyd]

Nice, I never knew about the site this is a gem. Thanks for sharing chap! Also sub'd

[@Andyhutchinson]

No worries - and welcome :)

[@LarryTheDrone]

I’ve already accidentally broken some laws with some dick head Karen’s, but this is so helpful, luckily the things I did wrong weren’t major

[@Andyhutchinson]

No worries - keep on flyin' :)

[@tappytrails2435]

Hi Andy, I like your videos clearly explaining and demystifying the now maze of regulations to get a drone in the air is Australia. Especially when it comes to commercial work. My question is around the one rule in the SOC that really causes confusion. That is ‘You must not fly in a populous area. This includes beaches, parks, events, or sports ovals during games.’ The term ‘populous area’ is so broad it could nearly apply to anywhere east of the great divide. How is it that drone operators capture video/photos for real estate without being in breach?

[@Andyhutchinson]

Legally speaking the populous area rule means any area with literally more than one person in it. As to your question about drone operators - the answer is that they don't worry about it. For CASA to prove that someone flew over a populous area the evidence has to be compelling and if no-one appears in actual footage or photos and the drone operator wasn't witnessed directly by someone, then it's impossible to prove. It's one of those unspoken things - they're all doing it and CASA knows that they're all doing it - but it's still 'illegal'.

[@tappytrails2435]

@@Andyhutchinson Thanks for that explanation. Makes sense. The current rules make it hard for small commercial operators with sub 2kg drones to operate within certain areas but I suppose that is the desired outcome as far as CASA is concerned.

[@Itstakingforever1234]

Thanks man - that was great

[@Andyhutchinson]

No worries :)

[@can5projects563]

great video ty

[@Andyhutchinson]

Very welcome

[@kakman1958]

OK2Fly is great. I also use OzRunways but it's significantly more complex (I first learned about it when I did my RePl and ReOC) when COVID was rife. CASA could do themselves a massive favour by simplifying the rules. One of my pet annoyances is when I want to throw the drone up around home to test before going away somewhere. I have to get an authority EVERY time I do it - despite it being a sub 250g drone. Surely DJI could work out I'm in Australia and it's ok to fly provided I don't encroach on arrival and departure lanes (a simple warning on screen would suffice). Nothing I hate more than fiddling around in the DJI app looking for authorisation buttons...

[@Andyhutchinson]

Yea I had an Ozrunways subscription for a little while but it was way more than I actually needed (as I don't have ReOC/RePL) and by then I knew where the restricted airspace areas were. It does all need simplifying.

[@MrMarkguth]

Use NAIPS, 👍 If your in restricted airspace, and it’s not surface to air upper limit, your good to go.

[@nealb8169]

Agreed, the rules are a mess and very hard to read. I’m in an airspace admin job and when this hit my desk it took me weeks to get the rules straight in my head.

[@MrMarkguth]

@@kakman1958 I can’t see why casa carry on like they do sometimes, if you’re flying a drone not above 400 ft, and not on the approach or departure ends of runways, what’s the worry? There’s only 500ft separation from vfr and ifr aircraft. When I’m out in my 182, I’m more worried hitting a glider or a ultralight

[@can5projects563]

new subscriber here hello from sydney

[@Andyhutchinson]

Thanks - and welcome :)

[@peppervids1953]

Hi, Andy - been following you for a while, now. I, too, live in the Jervis Bay area and have been flying my drones in and around Jervis Bay for over 6 years. And, I also use the OKtoFly website - it’s an essential tool for me in letting me know at what time of day the restricted airspace around us is deactivated. Do you know what happened to the activation times list (in local time) in the recent OKtoFly update? The list is now missing.

[@Andyhutchinson]

Thanks Laurie - we're both blessed and cursed with Jervis Bay - an incredible location but so many restrictions on drone use. I don't know what's happened to the list, perhaps they just incorporated it into the new future-date feature and decided not to include a listing.

[@ternilapilli]

Interesting that ok2fly lists multiple defunct helicopter landing sites - YTCN Channel Nine in Artarmon, YABC at Gore Hill and YSVE at Epping are all gone - in some cases gone for over a decade, and the apartment residents in their place would likely be very surprised to have a helicopter try to land on their roof!

[@Andyhutchinson]

lol - that's gold.

[@MrMarkguth]

It’s a load of crap really, apps like ok2fly don’t know the difference between a controlled airport or a dirt ALA in a farm paddock. I’m actually a private pilot and check the restricted airspace in my area and follow the rules regardless. But it boils my piss I not allowed any more leeway or allowances for my qualifications. I hardly get the drone out these days just the way casa likes it. Safe sky’s are empty sky’s in casa’s eyes.

[@lonceysbusiness333]

Thanks mate, nicely explained and agree that government should be doing it 😊 Do you think Casa's RePL exam and licence fees, are to steep?

[@Andyhutchinson]

Yea I think they keep the fees high as a kind of gate-keeping.

[@lonceysbusiness333]

@Andyhutchinson yep, or maybe, to much, extra paperwork, haha

[@malynntait998]

I've used 'ok2fly' for some time now, in conjunction with 'Open Sky' as a cross reference. Ok2fly has much more info! I've recently done my CASA drone accreditation (but don't have REOC etc) & wondered if I can sell drone images, as it says 'commercial'?

[@ozzybloke4830]

You may have to fly under the sub 2kg commercial drone rules without a REOC, not sure if there's another way of doing it legally without REOC.

[@Andyhutchinson]

You don't need a ReOC or RePL to sell drone photos or videos if it's sub-2Kg, but you do have to register your drone and pay a small annual fee.

[@malynntait998]

Who would you have to register the with?​@@Andyhutchinson

[@geofffaulkner8834]

Hi Andy. I use ok2fly but would really like a map for sub 250g drones. Eg the current map for locations shown in pink, within the 5.5km radius states "NO EXCLUDED OR PRIVATE RPA TO BE FLOWN IN THIS AREA" Maybe if they added wording except for sub 250g. The current wording is not in line with casa. Thoughts?

[@kakman1958]

I agree. OpenSky asks what type of flying you're doing when checking a location; Commercial Excluded, Recreational, ReOC. I'd love to see them add "Sub 250g" to the options.

[@Andyhutchinson]

It's kind of there already. It shows that 5.5km zone and also the departure and arrival zones - with a sub-250 you can fly anywhere except those arrival and departure zones (and of course in unrestricted airspace).

[@geofffaulkner8834]

@Andyhutchinson you are correct but that is not what the ok2fly map indicates.

[@nealb8169]

This is a great vid but the info about 250g and less drones is not complete. The no fly area around airports is more extensive. It includes the extended centre line out to 7km 15 degree splay up to 400ft which is the bit you showed. Only licences pilots under an operating certificate can get in there for controlled airports. But the arrival and departure paths also includes inside the 5.5 km above 45 meters or 150 feet. So the micro RPA at a controlled airfield can only go up to 150ft in the rest of the circle.

[@Andyhutchinson]

Thanks mate - yea you're quite right - it was just an overview though. :)

[@wazreacts]

Probably worth mentioning the incredibly inaccurate maps on DJI applications which mislead all the newbies into flying where they shouldn't. On that note, it would also be nice if CASA consulted with LGAs and state National Park authorities to have them provide their own no fly zone data too.

[@Andyhutchinson]

Yea that'd be nice. But it would have to be 'no take off or landing' and not 'no fly' since they have zero jurisdiction over the skies. :)

[@wazreacts]

​@@Andyhutchinson​On that, do council by laws have authority over taking off from private property, or just council land?

[@kakman1958]

@@wazreacts Council land. You can take off from private property as long as you're following the CASA rules appropriate to the area. As @Andyhutchinson says, they have no jurisdiction in the skies - that's CASA.

[@wazreacts]

​@@kakman1958 that was my understanding. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to be liable for stupid council fines taking off from rooftop carparks that are commercial but not council owned.

[@kakman1958]

@@wazreacts Strictly speaking you'd need permission from the owner but not the Council. Interestingly there's a question in the RePL sample exam I did which mirrors this scenario.

[@jerryboics9550]

Obey laws that make sense. The rest can go........

[@madeinaustralia2020]

I was recently flying my drone over the ocean. It wasn’t a populated area and I wasn’t within 30 m of anyone and I had some sticky Beak old lady had to stick her nose in and say didn’t you see the drone sign? I said there’s none around here I said I can fly over the water Anyway. I’ll check out the drone sign. All it said was drone rules apply so she didn’t even know if she was talking about. I explained the rules to her before she left and her husband didn’t want anything to do with her. He kept walking while she was harassing me busy bodies like that need to get a life.

[@Andyhutchinson]

Friend of mine had the drone regulations on a little info card that he had laminated and he'd just silently reach into his pocket and hand them out to anyone who bothered him.

[@colindobson4045]

like iv told countless people on social media Facebook don't upload drone footage for obvious reasons

[@fightforjustice3744]

Not obvious to me....please enlighten me.

[@colindobson4045]

@fightforjustice3744 First of all, I'm wasting my time with someone who hides behind a fake profile name if you can't work it out mate you shouldn't comment on KZbin or social media in general 🙄

[@fightforjustice3744]

@@colindobson4045 so colindobson4045 is your real name....weird. I'm still waiting for your answer.

[@kizzjd9578]

I just use opensky

[@syd9956]

Just hack your drone and remove all restrictions!

[@madeinaustralia2020]

😂😂😂

[@Andyhutchinson]

No need to hack my drone - it has no restrictions being a few years old. :)