One of the most common questions asked by people interested in the drone and unmanned aerial vehicle industry is: Where can I fly a drone?
In Australia, this depends largely on what purpose you are flying a drone for, as well as what type of UAV you are flying. Interestingly, there has been a recent push to strip back regulations for piloting sub 2 kg craft, making it much easier to operate these types of drones for commercial purposes.
Read the full article and more UAV News here.
Comments
Cheers Chris, it's definitely helped and yes I'll also drop a line to CASA to double check. Thanks mate
James, thank you.
Hi WallyJas,
This is something that has seemed to gained a life of it's own. The information here is from a hobby perspective (but note there is very little regulatory differences on this particular item so go figure....). If you have any doubts with below then feel free to contact CASA to clarify, they are very helpful.
CASA in a bid to curb the potential for inappropriate flying decided to publish documentation that says you shouldn't fly within 3nm (5.5km) of an aerodrome (and HLS's). The reason for this is that its easier to say this than to get people to understand airspace around an airport or HLS. If you note that their documentation doesn't say you 'must not' fly within 3nm, it says you 'shouldnt'. This wording difference is very important. If you understand the airspace and how your flying might impact full scale aircraft then you can operate in that zone safely and without breaching regulations (101.075 is clear stay away from movement areas and approach and departure path from the airport - you need air charts to know these).
Some commercial RPA operators have latched onto this and twisted it to you cannot operate within 3nm, they are pushing the 'simple persons' message but they are getting it wrong.
About 12 months ago I contacted CASA to better understand what is actually allowed, Zane Tully (a CASA Sports Aviation Administrator) he was very helpful and informed me that I was correct about the regulations and that is what CASA has to work with. He said my understanding was correct.
Mission Planner automatically puts up a 5 mile zone (so about 8km) around every airport if you turn that option on (it's on by default but you can turn it off - I leave mine on). I think this is because in the US you need to ring the tower to notify them of your flight. OzRunways should show you the actual airspace category if you read the chart correctly. So my area is a SFC-FL005 (so 500ft) for a NOTAM area, that is it is normally not restricted but it can be on occasions (so new years for example). The next controlled airspace is at FL007-FL025 (so 700ft to 2500ft). I am restricted to 400ft in the area as it is within 3nm of channel 9 and RNSH's HLS.
Sorry to have to put this in but some people may misconstrue what I'm saying, so to be clear is I wouldn't be flying anywhere that I could impact full scale aircraft nor do I support anyone doing it. That is I wouldn't even consider flying near a large active airport, just not worth it.
Hope it helps to clear things up. Best advice is email CASA they are a good bunch who are trying to help keep you within the regs.
Chris
Chris ..... I'd like some more clarification on this one from you please mate.
"Firstly there is no ban on flying within 5.5 (3nm) of an airfield at all. The regulation is clear, the flights must be under 400ft in those areas. You also must stay out of the way of full scale aircraft and not interfere while landing or taking off. So stay well out of the approach zones. If what he said was the case then there would be almost no where in Sydney you could fly, this is simply not the case."
I know that's how I read the regulations but I've been told by a couple of RPAS pilots that it's a no-go and you can also see it in planning software such as Mission Planner and OzRunways that they are complete exclusion zones.
Is this just something that is not fully understood? If you can help clarify that would be super. Cheers
Hi Alex, there are a number of inaccuracies in that article. Not sure if you have any connection to them but if you do then you should pass on the below. My comments are for the hobby related items.
Firstly there is no ban on flying within 5.5 (3nm) of an airfield at all. The regulation is clear, the flights must be under 400ft in those areas. You also must stay out of the way of full scale aircraft and not interfere while landing or taking off. So stay well out of the approach zones. If what he said was the case then there would be almost no where in Sydney you could fly, this is simply not the case.
Secondly the 400ft rule only applies if you are within 3nm of an airfield or in controlled airspace (remember most airspace has an alt floor). If you look at CASAR 101.085 has a part b) which is otherwise permitted. If you look at 101.400 (which is in Sub Part G - Model A/C), it clearly states that you can operate above 400ft if kept in VLOS and not in a populous area (an empty soccer field is not a populous area - this has been confirmed by CASA). This means that since airfields or HLS are all over the metro areas you are limited in normal suburban areas.
Night flying is permissible if following the rules of an AAAO (so if your an MAAA member then you can fly according to their MOP)
In my opinion the person writing them should not be advising anyone or offering training in this area considering they have so many fundamental items wrong. They seem to have applied the commercial rules to hobby flyers - which has no night flying and does have a 400ft AGL hard ceiling - unless exemptions or area approvals are granted.
I have had these clarified by CASA in a series of email correspondence and my understanding is correct.
If the author had bothered to contact CASA and ask questions first then they may have been able to provide better advice to people. Yes CASA will try to push those items at first but once you ask questions they quickly agree the regulations not match the message they are pushing. Note they made no attempt to change those rules in the recent updates (that take effect in Sept).
This is a topic that I'm passionate about and instead of trying to 'have simple rules I'd rather people think a bit more as was intended with our regulations.