CAA New VLOS Rule Makes Sub 250g Mini Drones Pointless - The Solution?

[@FPVSteve]

Sounds great but the fact is if you so much as glance at your screen away from the drone you're no longer maintaining visual line of sight with the drone - so you might as well just ignore the rules completely. Like everyone else does.

[@pdtech4524]

You're absolutely correct, when you fly VLOS, the moment you take your eyes off the drone to check the FPV view or telemetry, you'll never find your drone in the sky⚠️😲 That's exactly why I mostly fly via the on screen FPV view because that is simply the safest way to fly, you have all telemetry in view and an exact location of your drone in relation to other features around your drone. In addition I use my hearing and visual awareness of the area to determine any risks that may present, while I'm flying. The CAA have no clue what they are doing, you can tell that by how many times the rules are changing, then they put out a load of conflicting rules that simply don't make sense😲⚠️ The CAA are just making it more difficult to comply with the rules, even if pilots wanted to.

[@FPVSteve]

@@pdtech4524 agreed 100%.

[@bugsy742]

@@pdtech4524 absolutely spot on mate 🤝

[@DougieWotherspoon]

That's exactly what happens.. over regulate and people just switch off to it!! We are at that point already imho

[@pdtech4524]

@@DougieWotherspoon Agreed, let's have some sensible regulation we can all comply with! 1. Fly within VLOS 2. Fly safely 3. Respect others privacy. 4. Don't cause a nuisance or annoyance to others 5. As a pilot you take full responsibility for any injury to others or damage to property and you will be liable for any damages and costs. There you are, 5 key points, easy to follow, pilots will be more likely to comply, no confusion or over regulation⚠️😲👍

[@xjet]

Not being able to use the technology built into the drone (camera/telemetry) is kind of like buying a car and then being told that "in the name of safety" you can't actually run the engine, you must push it everywhere.

[@testpilotian3188]

Or drive around blindfolded with the passenger telling you where to steer.

[@pdtech4524]

Or having cruise control in a car and not being able to use it legally because it is an unauthorised 'driver assist' feature.

[@timlong7289]

@xjet The VLOS rules make even less sense for FPV drones. What sane pilot is going to remove goggles and fly home VLOS because an aircraft is approaching? The CAA would argue "yes but what if the video link fails" and that's a fair point. Your over A3 airspace so you can always disarm and drop without consequence, or you can use GPS rescue. Simples. There is no flying VLOS.

[@panda1412.]

Can't use your backup camera because you must look back...

[@pdtech4524]

@@panda1412. Huh? I've just flown straight out from my position, have full VLOS of my drone and know there is nothing behind it as I fly backwards because I can see it is is clear, plus I literally just flew forwards on the same straight line!😁👍

[@oryxis]

*** How likely are you to be hit by a drone dropping out of the sky? *** I roughed out some figures for chances of being hit by a "fail and drop out of the sky" drone. [Feel free to check my maths] Flying location 1: Over a soccer match with 23 people on the pitch. Assumptions: Each player has a generous 1m² box that counts as a hit if a drone falls in that box. Pitch size 105mx68m. Area = 7410m². Of that, 23m² are occupied by players and ref. Chance of someone being hit: 23/7410 = 0.32%. But, how often will a drone just drop out of the sky? I'm sure the manufacturers have some figures but lets be really generous to the CAA and say once every 50 hours of flying. So one flight of 30mins over a match has a 30/3000 (1%) chance of dropping out of the sky. Combine the two: If you fly for 30mins over a soccer match, what are the chances of your drone failing out of the sky and hitting someone? 0.32%x1% = 0.00322% or (1 in 31,000.) Now what are the chances of being hit by a football (which weighs almost twice that of a mini drone and could be travelling 60-70mph in penalty kicks).... Flying location 2: Fields and woods in the countryside with a couple of footpaths going across it. Assuming a 500mx500m flying area and 5 people walking somewhere in that area. Using the same maths, I now calculate a 1 in 5,000,000 (That's 1 in 5 million) chance of hitting someone during a 30min flight. That's getting into "winning the jackpot in the lottery / being struck by lightning" territory. For reference, there is a 1 in 50,000 chance of dying in a car accident each year. I really think the CAA have to give us some figures and really think about the relative risks. If the rules are sensible and achievable (don't fly above 120m for example), people will follow them. Too tight and some people will think - well if I'm going to be breaking them just by putting my drone in the air - I'm already breaking some so why bother following any of them.

[@pdtech4524]

Agree completely! I'd say the odds are even less, your calculation is based on a drone falling out of the sky every 50hrs of flight, I've flown my Mavic Mini many hundreds of hours total flight time and it has never dropped out of the sky! Your calculation is also based on 5 people walking around the area beneath my drone, you can probably see in my flight video, there is not one person walking around. In fact if there was a person walking their dog or riding a bike through there, I'd keep my drone well away from them out of respect for their peace and quiet and privacy, nobody wants to be buzzed by an annoying 'toy' aircraft while going for a quiet stroll in the country. The CAA need to balance regulation with risk, I see no benefit to safety by this pointless new rule, it's just a means to try and over regulate and further restrict a perfectly safe hobby and basically makes this class of drone unflyable! In fact it just encourages a perfectly safe pilot to disregard the rules because as you suggest, they are more likely to break other rules if they don't follow this one! This size of drone is almost impossible to visually see the orientation beyond around 75-100m 😳 Which basically means anyone flying beyond 100m with a sub 250g Mini drone is in violation! Yet the CAA also state you can fly this up to 120m altitude, go figure! ⚠️😲

[@MrTottihunter]

With the new rules, might as well get a go pro with a really long selfie stick. Got 50 ton planes that rely on electronic aids, but you can't use it on a 250g drone that you can crush in one hand.

[@pdtech4524]

Exactly! Totally disproportionate regulation, completely disregards the actual risk and focuses more on a deliberate attempt to further restrict the safest class of UAV. Yet I can strap an engine to my back with a 4ft prop attached and launch myself into the sky dangling from a huge fabric 'wing', without a shread of regulation, licence, training or insurance, nevermind experience, putting myself and others at risk and that is deemed 'safer' than a plastic flying 'toy' weighing less than 250g. Go figure....😲😳⚠️

[@xjet]

Once regulation passes a certain threshold of excessiveness it becomes increasingly less useful and effective. It would seem that the UK (along with most other countries) has passed that point.

[@pdtech4524]

Absolutely! Once over regulation gets silly, then those making the regulations lose all credibility and we just stop taking them seriously. Pilots become less likely to comply. We need, sensible, straight forward rules that are easy to comply with, that enable us to continue to enjoy our very safe hobby! It seems to me the CAA and FAA are at odds with that and are doing there upmost to make it more difficult and less attractive to be a recreational UAV pilot. I'm committed to highlighting this in lots more similar videos. Let the 'pushback' begin ...😁👍

[@ST-zx9ue]

Personally I think the Caa can take the vlos rule , roll it up and stick it somewhere very dark😵

[@chrissofpv3017]

True Bruce....they are all about "Control" rather than common sense.Bit like the mRNA vaccination programme!

[@pdtech4524]

@Kens UK Adventures I believe DJI already set a max altitude of 500m for their drones but many have hacked that. Same with reduced power output CE rated drones being hacked to 'FCC' full output power spec.

[@pdtech4524]

@Kens UK Adventures Yes of course, if a pilot deliberately hacks his UAV to bypass the manufacturers spec, then they won't have a leg to stand on legally and any insurance they have will be void. I've personally always kept my drone absolutely stock with no mods. Like I've already said, I'm perfectly capable of risk assessing my own flights and perfectly able to mitigate any potential risk to an absolute minimum! You can see quite clearly where I fly there are very few people, no property at risk, no roads or vehicles, lots of empty fields! I fly a sub 250g Mavic Mini which has all the danger of a rolled up piece of cardboard. I complied fully with the CAA regs, there was no 'bypassing any rules'.👍

[@jimthorleydronefootage]

Caa, are a complete and utter joke at the minute. Flying vlos and using the camera and telemetry is the safest way to fly. Using ears and eyes for your surrounding airspace. And with all the safety tech going into the drones these days. The caa does not take this into consideration, and they wonder why we are fed up of this nonsense but just to add insult let's put the prices up.

[@JWS1968]

I think this new rule is to stop the auditors.

[@pdtech4524]

You're probably right ✅️ I suspect there will be a lot more restrictions coming to the sub 250g class of drone due to the frauditors behaviour with them.😳

[@timlong7289]

There lots that can go wrong with that approach so I'm not sure if it would wash if you got into hot water. However, you are in A3 airspace and can always land safely without consequence to people or property. You make a good point about FPV drones. The Avata is a bit of a special case here, most FPV drones have no GPS-assisted flight modes and are full manual throttle/pitch/roll/yaw. They are insanely difficult to fly VLOS at even a few metres and no-one in their right mind would try it. My 5-inch is out of VLOS range in under 5 seconds after takeoff. Plus, there is no way a pilot would remove FPV goggles mid-flight and attempt to then fly VLOS, it would be completely disorienting. The VLOS rules make no sense whatsoever for FPV drones in terms of safety or anything else.

[@pdtech4524]

I'm still technically complying with all the CAA regs, I'm just pointing out how absurd they are and conflicting! 😳😁👍

[@pdtech4524]

When you state 'a lot can go wrong...', what risk in particular are you referring to in my particular flight with the drone I was flying?⚠️🤔😁

[@timlong7289]

@@pdtech4524 Well just as an example, what if you fumble the controls and accidentally yaw the quad to an unknown angle? Now you don't know which way its facing. Don't get me wrong, I think the VLOS rules are regulatory over-reach and ridiculous on many levels. However, they exist for better or worse, and thinking you know which way the drone is pointing isn't the same as actually knowing.

[@pdtech4524]

@@timlong7289 The way I fly and the care I take, the risk assessments I do, the pre flight checks etc etc, it's very unlikely I'll 'fumble the controls' and not know the orientation of my drone. But for the sake of debate, let's suppose I did 'fumble the controls' and I've lost orientation. 1. I already know I'm in a safe location with no immediate risk to anything. 2.Hands off the sticks and don't panic. 3. Initiate the 'wiggle test', I still have clear VLOS remember, we've just confused orientation, so a quick pitch left and right will give me a rough idea of my orientation especially if I'm facing away or towards me. 4. If a left right pitch wiggle gave me no movement, I'm most likely facing either to the left or right already. 5. I can still 'wiggle test' by pitching forward or backwards. This will determine which way I'm facing and I can return quite easily in my rough direction, even if it's not exactly facing me, the closer I return the more likely I'll pick up it's orientation visually. 6. If I get really stuck and confused I can literally walk right over to where my drone is and be underneath it within 5 minutes. 7. A quick look at the camera FPV view and I can determine, 'oh there's the bridge, there's that treeline, right I need to point towards the wind turbine', full stick forward and I'm heading towards myself. 8. Worst case scenario I can either do a RTH or just land my drone where it is. Can you see my point, there really is no need for this kind of over regulation because it does nothing to increase safety or reduce risk, all it will do is encourage pilots to think 'oh well if I'm breaking this silly rule, why not break them all?'.... This is what I'm trying to highlight, the CAA should concentrate on regulating manned aviation, or larger commercial type drones, not plastic flying toys! We don't have the DfT trying to regulate RC cars, that would be absurd. 😳👍😁

[@MrStreetboy80]

These rules are getting ridiculous. It’s like saying you can’t look at your cars speedo because your taking your eyes off the road for a second. Manned craft look at their gauges to know where they are, some only fly using gauges and instruments alone.

[@pdtech4524]

Absolutely! The more complicated and over restrictive they make the rules, the less likely pilots will comply. I've said from day 1, let's keep the rules simple, safe and above all in proportion to the risks involved ie flying RC aircraft is one of, if not the safest form of aviation, why the over reaching regulations? How can they say it is to improve safety when there is nothing wrong with our safety record so far? 😳🤔

[@mananddroneuk]

*The hot topic of VLOS - Great explanation and information here*

[@pdtech4524]

A very hot topic! Cheers for taking a look and leaving a comment.👍

[@markrichardson9591]

What about military drones where they sit in a cabin 5 miles away or even more and they have NO VLOS so what gives, just another way of this government getting the CAA to ban drones, not enough money in it for them unless we fall foul of the rules.

[@pdtech4524]

Exactly, those military drones are proof flying a drone well beyond visual line of sight, is not a danger to anyone on the ground, except of course those being targeted by them⚠️😲😁 Pilots have been flying other RC aircraft BVLOS for decades before drones were a thing, perfectly safely and without incident. Drones being flownnl recreationally are still the safest form of aviation by far, yet are the most over regulated. I could strap a huge engine on my back with a 4ft spinning prop on it, launch myself into the air dangling from a fabric wing with no training, no license, no insurance, no regulation whatsoever, paramotors are deemed 'safer' than drones by the CAA apparently yet there are many casualties and deaths every year caused by them. The CAA need to stick to regulating manned aviation and leave plastic flying toys to pilots who understand them and already fly them perfectly safely! You can see by all the over regulation and constant rule changes they have no clue whatsoever!⚠️😲🤔

[@shadyproductionsinc.2931]

Sorry, your theory doesn't work. Not having a go, but VLOS and orientation means you can SEE the whole orientintation of the drone. I get your point, but flying a sub 250 in a straight line up to 300m,you can't identify front and back, you know its pointing one way, but if you were to nudge yaw or left /right, it's not going to come back in a straight line. Gust of wind? From what you have described,you may as well just be looking at your display. The mini 3 can be distinguish at a distance left or right to about 300m,only because the back end in flight drops lower than the front. But that falls flat when you yaw, and the drone becomes in line front or back. Either way, I won't be flying any of mine differently 😁

[@pdtech4524]

Appreciate your comment but I've already answered all your concerns in the comments on this video.👍 My point is still valid and I fully complied with the CAA regs as they currently stand, ie Was I within 500m? Check ✅️ Was I in VLOS? Check ✅️ Could I tell the orientation? Check ✅️ There is no requirement to yaw the drone at all?👍

[@johnburns5783]

Surely if you fly the drone in a straight line away from you, you already know the orientation of the drone? If it’s 300m and you can still see it as a dot in the distance, you still know the orientation. So sorry @shadyproductions,2931. PD has proven his point. 😉😉

[@oryxis]

I think there are two main issues and in both instances, the CAA are assuming the absolute worse case scenarios and not balancing risks. A) If your drone fails in some way - control issues, electronics etc it really doesn't matter if you can see it visually or know which way it's pointing, it'll basically drop out of the sky*. For almost all situations, you're going to have a much better understanding of where your drone is in space by using the telemetry on screen. How good are you at telling if you are above 120m visually. Can you tell visually if you are 100m away? 200m away. If you blink and lose VLOS, a quick glance at the camera view and you know where it is. B) A piloted aircraft such as an air ambulance enters the airspace. If you can see the dot (or to be honest, even if you only know the general direction your drone is in and you can visually see that area) all you need to do is lower the drone to just above the ground (or even land if necessary). Visually knowing the orientation is irrelevant, trying to pilot it out of the way is probably more dangerous to the other aircraft anyway - just drop it: Down is down whichever way the drone is pointing! If the CAA give clear, simple rules: (stay below 120m, don't fly over people, drop if a piloted aircraft flies by) most people will follow them. When they start making over-complicated rules or rules that do not balance against very small risks, most people stop following them and some will then think - well if I'm breaking some rules I might as well break all of them. *I'll add some risk calculations in a separate comment.

[@pdtech4524]

Appreciate your comment! You're absolutely spot on, the CAA are not risk assessing or collating the actual data, they're starting off at a point that assumes drones of a certain category are all inherently dangerous so they need over regulating to protect everyone! In the rare event a drone fails, it's coming down, whether it's 10m away or 500m away the result is the same! Range is irrelevant, if you notice my flight area is wide open, I can see into the distance right to the horizon, in some places 3-5km away, I never fly that far but if an aircraft were to fly into this area, I would hear it well before it came into view and if my drone was 500m away, it would be flown right back to me before that aircraft came into view! If that aircraft was at 35m altitude where my drone is trust me it has way more to be concerned about than my drone! 😲😳⚠️😁

[@FenTour]

Sod that, just be sensible....

[@rreiter]

I'm not familiar with the CAA rules, but if they don't rule out unaided vision, you could maybe use "binocular" eyeglasses or just use binoculars. Oddly your rules would seem to motivate pilots flying much larger more easily visible drones (I guess under higher levels of pilot certification). Here in Canada we also have VLOS rules but apparently not quite as onerous as yours.

[@pdtech4524]

Apparently unaided vision, unless the pilot already wears glasses. So basically VLOS is not only how far out you can see your drone but you have to visually be able to determine it's orientation. Not an easy task even on a larger drone! Cheers for your comment appreciated.

[@robinbailey7460]

Value you freedoms! Europe is getting super regulated everywhere. Problem in UK is most people will follow petty rules, while the rest of Europe get on with life.

[@KingFPV]

Looks like you gotta divide the minutes your packs last by the distance from the next CAAren & Just Send It!

[@pdtech4524]

Absolutely! To be fair I have what they call 'super hyper eye sight', I'm in the top 3% in terms of eye sight power, so I can literally count the hairs on a gnats back at a thousand paces......😲😳😁 VLOS presents no issues for me ...😁

[@DougieWotherspoon]

Ps. More risk of crashing your car with a pothole and they aren't too fussed about that eh!

[@pdtech4524]

Good point! On my commute to work today I was forced on to the wrong side of the road to avoid a series of huge potholes that have been growing larger for weeks now⚠️😲 They're everywhere and getting worse.

[@DougieWotherspoon]

@@pdtech4524 I won't take my road bike out.. death wish eh.

[@martindouglas6538]

Just out of curiosity. If i was out with my m4p and was approached by the authorities, how would they want me to prove? I often look at the screen to check the picture in getting so i know. If i till a quick look as they approached and then hovered/paused. If know. Have people been in trouble, within 500m because they don't know the orientation? This is all because of the auditers messing as bout over police stations etc. then being awkward!

[@pdtech4524]

Exactly 💯 how can they prove or even police this? My advise is continue to fly safely in the manner you feel is appropriate, don't bother or harrass other people, don't crash into anyones property or damage anything apart from your drone and all should be good. I guess if something was to happen where you get prosecuted, they could pull all the flight data from your drone flights and go through each one to find any infringements and for each one they'll fine you? Personally I've decided enough is enough and I've opted out of all the silly rules, I'll continue to fly safely, I'll stay way below 120m, I'll respect no fly zones and I'll stay within VLOS but anything else like this I'm out.... You're right this is all due to the extra spotlight auditors flying drones nefariously just to annoy people and business owners, have put on our hobby and these extra restrictions are steps they're taking to use against them to prosecute!

[@AllenOxendine]

Thanks for sharing.. Returning Support with Full View and like.. I took my Mavic Pro with me to do a little flying at the beach.. I was so busy working, didn't even get it out of the bag..

[@Jules-kv2sf]

Mini, you'd be lucky to see it 100ft away, they just want to ban them but I wonder how they'll do that in the future, won't be long, you definitely wouldn't even see the bigger drones at 500 meters

[@pdtech4524]

There was a time when VLOS could be interpreted as the distance you could actually see into the distance, even if your drone was just a tiny speck on the horizon. Pilots have been flying like that and beyond, for years without any issue, certainly nobody has died as a result of a recreational drone! Then the CAA changed the rules and specified 500m as the max distance you could see your drone but again that was open to question, as it depends on the size of the drone, it's colour, the eye sight of the pilot etc Now they're changing the rules yet again but each time they chip away at our hobby, now they specify you must be able to see which way it's pointing visually, not by the FPV camera view on screen, which everyone flies by, you drive a car by looking out the windscreen right? So basically this means these popular Mini drones, which enjoy the least restrictive rules in terms of where you can fly them, are now restricted to flying so close, it's pointless!

[@bugsy742]

Mate it’s literally a matter of time till a false flag attack using a drone of ANY description happens and the it’ll be a blanket ban! guarantee it 👍

[@pdtech4524]

@@bugsy742 We've basically had that already with the Gatwick 'drone that never was' incident! That led to the push for the whole drone registration and DEMARES thing in the UK. I know what you mean, they'll find some 'reason' to ban them eventually! It boils down to our government not being able to 'control' something that is relatively new technology, so they put in place every obstacle they can think of to chip away at your ability to fly! Remote ID is definitely coming, pay per flight or monthly subscription to fly, they've already raised the drone registration fee 33% expect some more extortionate increases! I thought they mentioned the initial £9 was to fund the setup of the system, surely now it's setup their ongoing costs are significantly lower, not 33% more? 🤔⚠️😲

[@flightbug5296]

I've got a mavic 3 e. It has a very bright pulsing beacon on top. It's the only way you can see it well on a bright day at 100 meters, let alone 500

[@dronetravels605]

Can they prove I can't see an object 1km away ?! Maybe I have absolutely amazing eyesight!

[@pdtech4524]

The CAA have already decided 500m is the maximum every drone pilot can see their drone, irrespective of the pilots eyesight, the drones size and a host of other variables such as lighting, cloud cover, direction of sun glare, colour of drone etc etc. You're right though, what if you can clearly see your drone at 1km, you're still in VLOS providing nothing is between you and the drone. I just think the CAA should stick to regulating manned aviation and the larger commercial drones obviously need regulating. But c'mon a plastic flying toy weighing less than 250g that flies at tree top level, does that really need regulating? I don't see RC cars or buggies being regulated by the DfT? They're far more dangerous, some of those things do 100mph and weigh several kg⚠️😲

[@stevedollery9252]

Just fly with care and have fun. CAA don’t want you to fly anyway.

[@pdtech4524]

It's looking more and more like the largest group and by far the safest group of remote pilots ie the recreational flyers, are being squeezed out of existence by the regulators in my honest opinion. In my personal opinion, there needs to be a very open intro into a hobby at grass roots level to attract participants into it who will go on to higher levels of experience and technical features. I just remember picking up my first drone, after decades of flying other RC aircraft, there was no mention of registration, no licence requirement or training etc just a simple set of common sense rules The Drone Code, which seemed very fair, reasonable abd above all proportional to the risk, my first drone was way less than 250g. It seemed accessible and something I could progress in, if that box had mentioned registration, listed a whole complex set of rules and confusing classes of drone, online training, DMARES test, fees to pay, Flyer ID and operator ID's etc etc, I would have quietly put the box down and moved on, spent my money elsewhere, something far less dangerous, like knitting or something? 😲😳😁

[@PeteBarrow]

So that’s night flying out of the question.

[@pdtech4524]

Well you would think so but the CAA rules also state you can fly at night with suitable navigation strobe lights, so go figure! So many conflicting rules and confusing regs, it just doesn't make sense or even proportional to the risks involved.

[@gimbalair]

How did you manage to predict the rule changes given all the leaves on the trees this must have been made middle of last year? And an FPV Avata flier with a spotter, that’ll be a first

[@pdtech4524]

It's a video off the cutting room floor from last summer but it serves it's it's purpose for this video. 👍😁

[@eurogeordie]

No flying at night, then...thats me fkd.

[@pistolpete65]

Sorry you point is mute. Even if you fly under full commercial licence GVC you are limited to the same VLOS, and orientation limits, and you are still limited to a max 500m limit. You in this video by your own admission flew to 4-500m claiming you could see the orientation of your drone, this would not change under current legislation even if you were flying a mavic 300, or a fully loaded Aerigon. The CAA do not set limits on visual sight they only set a max limit of 500m, take some basic drone training or read CAP722 you would soon realise this, they say you must be able to see the drone, see the orientation of the drone and maintain suitable command of that drone, to a maximum limit, what ever the size of drone to 500m. You can probably see further that I can, so you could possibly see your drone and maintain control of that drone for a further distance than I could. That is not on the CAA that is on you as a drone pilot to know your limits. You must be able to know where your drone is in the sky, and not just rely on you video footage, your video footage will tell you where your drone is looking/ pointing, but will not tell you if a seagull or larger bird of prey is closing in on your aircraft for reasons it fells need addressing. At the end of the day if the worst comes to the worst, will your insurance company pay out following and incident? can you back your claim up with suitable documents, risk assessments etc. If you are flying as a hobbyist and do not have insurance cover, can YOU afford the payout on an incident? that could easily claim into the £000. Essentially you claim that the CAA are setting distance limits to fly your 250g drone, where do they state these limits? quote me the text. quote me the documents, you cant, because they do not state that, if you had taken even the basic A2CofC course you would realise that, and the fact you cannot tells me that you are not looking out for, or behaving in the best interests of sensible drone operators, and people should regard your actions in that manner.

[@pdtech4524]

My point is very valid, I've shown I can still comply with this new extra restriction, yet fly much further than the CAA expect a sub 250g drone can technically be flown! Even a lot of commercial pilots, who fly much larger UAVs are going to struggle to fully comply with these new requirements. I have read through cap722 and it's full of inconsistencies and contradictions. I'd like to see the risk assessment data the CAA have produced that supports these extra restrictions. I seriously doubt they have done any studies whatsoever or any risk assessment data has been compiled. The rules are changing so often now, it's clear the CAA have no clue and are 3 steps behind and constantly playing catchup. I am perfectly capable of managing my own risks and mitigating any potential issues. The risk to life or property on my flights is about as minimal as possible, you'd have to throw a paper aeroplane to reduce the risk any further.....👍

[@achristofides]

With existing CAA OA or GVC permissions granted by CAA (for example from my current OA) state the old VLOS rules i.e. up to 500m or lesser but whilst maintaining VLOS and "Maximum horizontal range of 500 metres from the remote pilot, unless a lesser control link radio range has been specified by the UAS manufacturer", and "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." This clarification does certainly make it more difficult for the sub 250g pilots, so advantages to using larger aircraft re maintaining VLOS further. Many simply treated 500m distance as a hard limit before, or simply choose to ignore the roles, and will contine to do so. Upon renewing OA/GVC beyond the end of January 2023 apparently the CAA will require the new CAP722 H VLOS guidance, when operating under that, but allowing until then due them messing up their CAP722 H massively. Of course different for hobby/recreational flights..

[@johnburns5783]

Nice to see Bennerley Viaduct featuring 👍👍👍

[@pdtech4524]

One of my fav places to fly locally. Cheers for taking a look.

[@colinrixon9343]

I flew my drone for the first time and followed these rules but as i get used to flying it I'm going to find it hard sticking to them as you get more comfortable in flying I'm going to want to go to more out of reach places to film and capture and the distance will be out of sight to the naked eye i will take that risk

[@pdtech4524]

I know what you mean, just fly safe and responsibly as long as you don't draw attention to yourself by flying irresponsibly and posting it up on social media, I don't see how these strict rules can be enforced?⚠️😲😳

[@SpeedsterIG]

VLOS means, if you jaw the drone for some seconds until you cannot tell the angle the drone has moved, you still have to see in which orientation the drone is pointing with your eyes, not looking on the RC screen. I seriously doubt you can do that beyond 100 meters distance with the M3P. Made the A2 permit some weeks ago and one of the practical exersises was exactly the point if you come too far off to see the direction the drone is pointing and getting back full eye control. Not seeing the correct orientation is not considered VLOS anymore. Simply flying in a straight line and telling you still see the back is not the point, this is only a logical conclusion, not VLOS anymore. I now these laws are partially BS, especially the sub 250s are so light the drone laws are shooting for hummingbirds with artillery. But the rules are there. You can follow them, or you can decide to stretch them in certain situations far from anyone noticing.

[@pdtech4524]

The CAA state you must have Visual Line of Sight of your drone, check ✅️ and you MUST be able you tell the orientation, check ✅️ I complied on both requirements, yawing the drone is irrelevant, the rules don't specifically state I have to. I'm just showing how ridiculous the rules are and how conflicting they continue to be. For instance, the rules state I can fly to 120m altitude but if I did, technically I wouldn't be able to tell the orientation of my drone, so I would be in violation. Can you see my point?⚠️🤔 The way I see it, nobody who is flying a sub 250g Mini drone can be following the rules, the CAA have 'moved the goal posts' yet again and made it so we're all in violation! Even commercial pilots who fly much bigger UAVs are going to be struggling! The CAA seem to be comparing a drone with a manned aircraft, in terms of how it's controlled ie a plane is flying forward at all times, so it's important the pilot knows which way he is facing because that is where he is going. In terms of control, the orientation of a drone is less important as it can move in any direction, on any axis, I can go out forwards but return backwards.

[@atxplus]

The rules are created to dissuade people from buying a drone. The rules seem to be created for traditional rc hobbies who have been flying for decades using vlos as rc planes don't really have sophisticated telemetry let alone a front mounted camera.

[@pdtech4524]

@@atxplus It's almost as though the regulations are being set by people who just don't have a clue about drones/ UAVs, this is quite obvious by the constant changing and mistakes they keep making! 😲😳

[@tdrdronesebikesandscooters8377]

Every Time somebody gets around a rule, they make another rule.

[@pdtech4524]

Yes I've noticed that pattern also! ⚠️😲😳😁👍

[@alex-m-jones]

The problem with this is the moment something goes wrong and you can’t see the orientation anymore your immediately in violation.

[@pdtech4524]

I'm just offering up a workable solution to the over restrictive VLOS rule the CAA have just sprung on to the UK drone pilots. The new requirement to be able to visually see the drones orientation without using the FPV camera view or strobe lights, means the current sub 250g class of Mini drones are unflyable past 75-100m and drones like the Avata, even less, maybe 30m max. Which effectively means nobody will comply. In the event of 'something going wrong' as you suggest, the result would be the same if you were flying 20m away or 400m away! I've flown thousands of km in this location without issue, the risks are minimal. I crashed my Bebop here one time, a much heavier drone, landed in a bush, no harm to anything, not even my drone! 😳

[@alex-m-jones]

I’m not arguing I agree with you, my logic was that if something went wrong and control was lost it wouldn’t be possible to visually see the orientation from that distance.. You are right you just need to be careful

[@pdtech4524]

@Kens UK Adventures Both situations result in the same outcome, the drone crashes into a grassy field, miles away from the nearest person, car, road or property! My point is there is no reduction of risk or increase in safety in either situation.

[@testpilotian3188]

The rules make no sense and have been written by people who do not fly FPV or understand the hobby, they are used to flying huge Matrice class drones where you can tell orientation a mile away and have one person flying, one person operating the camera and a separate visual observer, completely out of touch with the rest of us,, so for the rest of us that live in the real world the solution is to just ignore the rules and follow the 3 basic ones of rc flight that we’ve operated under for the last 100 years perfectly safety, don’t endanger other people, don’t fly near airports and don’t be a dick. To show you how stupid these rules are, I can hit a cricket ball further and higher than I can fly my drone now.

[@pdtech4524]

Thank you for your comment, much appreciated. I completely agree, the rules are just clearly out of touch, over regulating, unreasonable and not proportional to the risks involved. I'm committed to highlighting this issue in a series of videos coming soon.

[@robinbailey7460]

Cricket ball is more than 250g - more solid. Poses more danger to spectators packed into stands when hit for six.

[@TheOneDroneMan]

It's too bad that they have to make rules like that. They don't make the flight any safer.

[@pdtech4524]

Absolutely agree 👍 It does nothing to increase safety, is just an unnecessary inconvenience which detracts the pilot from more important things like the airspace around you, hazards near your drone and your telemetry! Just another example of over regulation for no other reason than further restrict the enjoyment of our hobby! Thanks for taking a look. 👍

[@grahamthebaronhesketh.]

Drones are brilliant I love watching them.

[@pdtech4524]

It's the closest I'll ever get to being a pilot and flying! 😳😁 I enjoy seeing the world around us from an aerial perspective, I find it very relaxing.👍 It's just a bit frustrating the CAA are trying to over regulate them!

[@grahamthebaronhesketh.]

@@pdtech4524 They have to in order to justify their existence. VR is brilliant you should give it a go.

[@Paner835]

Yeah, you can land safely without fearing for any consequences. Keep sharing - new subscriber :)

[@johnnymac26]

Absolute madness mate what are the caa thinking of?

[@pdtech4524]

Yeah they've not made it easy to enjoy our hobby, fly a reasonable distance and comply with all the over regulating rules. Cheers for watching. 👍

[@GWAYGWAY1]

They are trying to justify the drone department at Gatwick or London.. They just want to be loved????? I do not bother with it anymore as the bullshit is not worth butt ache. Amazon etc seem to be different so it is a case of follow the money not follow the drone. THEY do not want you to be seeing what they do.

[@marklittledale8429]

I don’t quite understand how this improves your VLOS?

[@pdtech4524]

Basically the CAA have restricted the sub 250g Mini class of drone to around 75-100m max range. As they now require not only VLOS, they added you must be able to see the orientation of your drone ie which way it is facing, without using the FPV camera view. I'm just demonstrating how we can stay within the rules but now fly out to around 500m, which was the previous max range the CAA stated was required in order to stay within VLOS. What concerns me most is the number of times they keep changing the rules and moving the 'goal posts'. It just muddies the waters and makes keeping up with the latest rule changes very confusing! Keep it simple in my opinion, more pilots will be more likely to comply, make it more confusing and difficult will mean pilots will be less likely to follow the rules. My point is who buys a DJI Mini 3 Pro and keeps it within 75m, it's absurd.⚠️😲😳

[@zolitimo5482]

What if I flying to way out of VLOS, how they will know that?

[@pdtech4524]

Good question!🤔 Most are caught when they upload a flight on social media that breaks the rules! Or if your drone is siezed they can check all your previous flight data on the Fly app, it stores and records every flight, including the telemetry.

[@matmackenzie]

Minis are camera drones. What’s the point of that as you can’t line up your photo unless it happens to be directly in front of you. Pointless.

[@pdtech4524]

You could use this technique to fly straight out then pitch sideways, to give you more options, you still know the orientation as the rear of the drone will always be facing towards you. Then you just have to work out the angle you want the clip or photo and line up accordingly.

[@kapovsky]

No matter how many times you say you know the orientation of your drone by not using yaw it doesn't make it so... You are assuming the orientation of the drone... The drone could have been rotated by the wind, you could accidentally touched the yaw, the drone could've malfunctioned and spinned...you can't tell when you're 250m away on small drones. This rule is pointless.

[@pdtech4524]

I agree the CAA orientation rule is pointless. I disagree with your interpretation of my video, the CAA does not specify I need to yaw my drone in order to visually see it's orientation, neither am I 'assuming the orientation' of my drone as you suggest. The point is, I know full well the orientation, I can visually see it's position in the sky and I am moving the control stick pitching it forward, if the yaw had been knocked one way or the other, I would see it drifting to one side, if it's going straight out then the orientation has not changed. I confirm this by pulling back on the stick and my drone comes right back in a dead straight line. I've complied fully with the rules in this video by maintaining VLOS and visually seeing it's orientation. Thank you for your comment, appreciated.👍

[@kapovsky]

You did in this instance... I'm not denying that. What I'm saying is in a non typical situation where your drone isn't flying in a straight line anymore, then you can't comply with the rules if you can't ascertain the direction of the drone just by simply looking at it. The technology is there to help in this kind of situation, and if you can ascertain the direction from the monitor device why would that turn the flight illegal ... This whole rule is bonkers and needs revising... They want to reduce the distance for smaller drones, to avoid accidents... understandable but there are other ways to do that. Making every single drone flight over 100m away illegal isn't the solution.

[@pdtech4524]

@@kapovsky Glad you agree the rule is bonkers! 😁👍 I just think the CAA are over regulating something they firstly don't understand and secondly something which has minimal risk. People have been flying RC aircraft for decades recreationally and drones for at least a decade, without any risk to life or cause for concern. They even made the sub 250g drone class exempt from registration, which is why many bought into that size of drone, including myself. They keep moving the goal posts continually when it suits them, not to increase safety or reduce risk but just to further restrict the safest group of UAVs by far. My main concern is where are they ultimately going with these further restrictions and Remote ID etc Plus 33% increases in the registration fee! 🤔 I'm my honest opinion the CAA should stick to regulating manned aviation and the larger commercial drones, leave the flying 'toys' alone. Just have a simple set of common sense, reasonable rules like we had with the Drone Code ie fly safely, keep your drone in sight, keep a distance from and don't endanger people or property and you as a pilot are responsible for any damage or injury your drone causes. That covers all the bases We don't see the DfT trying to regulate RC cars or buggies that weigh several kg and do 100mph⚠️😲

[@TheFlyingBusman]

The new rules are utterly ridiculous. Are we just going to sit here and let the CAA dictate this nonsense to us? The reliability of connection, especially on DJI drones means VLOS is absolutely stupid. The CAA can take a hike if they think this is acceptable.

[@pdtech4524]

@@TheFlyingBusman I must agree 👍 🤝

[@AbandonedCityCamoCrewExplorers]

Hope you been well . will have to tell our kid

[@gadgetman404]

So me flying miles away is naughty

[@pdtech4524]

VERY⚠️😲😳 Cuff him Danno....👮‍♂️🚔

[@gooddaysdroningmattgoode4353]

We never fly far 🙄😂😂

[@pdtech4524]

@@gooddaysdroningmattgoode4353 I just walk underneath mine when I 'send it....' 😳😁👍

[@testpilotian3188]

Only if you get caught….

[@joaoconterraneo3640]

Bom dia gostei da sua rotina

[@ThailandLifestyle]

No one wants to fly like that. If you spend that kind of money, you want to really fly!

[@pdtech4524]

Absolutely agree 👍

[@TropikalSport]

Very good video mate, I subscribe to your channel 😉👍

[@pdtech4524]

Appreciate your comment and the support. I'll check out your channel and add my support. Cheers 👍

[@BeamerTime354]

Dang your rules are super strict for small drones 😳

[@pdtech4524]

Yes exactly 💯 👏 Even the Tello or an even smaller lighter whoop, like the eachine cinefun whoop which weighs just 39g, these over regulating rules would apply to those models also as they have a camera and are below 250g⚠️😲 So max range you could possibly fly your 39g cinewhoop would be around 8m at most!😳 Yet here in the UK you can strap a paramotor to your back and dangle from a parachute wing and fly around with zero qualifications, zero training, zero licence, zero insurance etc etc no regulations. But fly a 39g cine whoop and you have to register it and jump through a number of hoops set out by the CAA...😳😲⚠️😁

[@BeamerTime354]

Well I hope they don’t get that restrictive in the US and if they do I’ll just fly it anyway 🤣

[@pdtech4524]

@@BeamerTime354 At least we don't have Remote ID.....YET!! 😲⚠️😳😁

[@BeamerTime354]

What is that??? I’ve flown mine numerous times and just go with the altitude the map tells me and have had no problems. I don’t record people’s houses or intrude on people’s privacy. I also live close to a major military base and know better to even take it close to a place like that.

[@pdtech4524]

@@BeamerTime354 It's a device that has to be built into drones sold in the US that transmits the location data of the drone and pilot, that can not only be picked up by manned aircraft but also police and anyone else who wants to know where the drone pilot is. 😲⚠️😳

[@panda1412.]

How can someone prove whether you can see your drone or not... You can't enforce these rules 😂

[@pdtech4524]

Really? Check out the guy in buxton who flew his drone over the carnival and was fined £3k and prosecuted as he flew out of sight! Trust me they can figure out if you're VLOS as all your telemetry data, your position, the drones position is all logged in the DJI fly app.😲😳

[@Jules-kv2sf]

Is that b.....y viaduct near IKEA?

[@pdtech4524]

Yes. 👍

[@DougieWotherspoon]

The law is an ass...

[@withdrone.]

Hello, I would like to subscribe to your channel from Japan. Thank you.

[@UziRyder1]

Strobes

[@pdtech4524]

Wouldn't that be good if strobes were ok to use, there are some rhat are rated for 3km and more but the CAA state VLOS and orientation must be visually without nav lights or strobes and without using the FPV camera view.

[@gooddaysdroningmattgoode4353]

Nice video CAA 💩 can do one 😂

[@pdtech4524]

I'm still baffled how a little plastic flying toy weighing less than 250g, that flies at tree top level, can come under the authority of the CAA. ⚠️😲😳😁

[@DronePH-2024]

NICE INFO BRO THANKS