UK UAS Pilots Register

The House of Lords EU Committee is suggesting recommendations for a UAS owners register.

This has been on the horizon for the past year now, and i am fully behind most the recommendations. I appreciate the comments, that those wishing to use a UAV for illegal or terrorist activities, are not likely to register their name and home address! But it is a step in the right direction.

The database will initially include business and professional organisations. However i was under the impression that this information was already stored in the CAA database, which is available to the public. I blogged about on the 15th Feb, there were 483, this figure is grown to 536!

Click to access 26Feb15%20RptUAVcurrentDates.pdf

I wonder who the House of Lords wants to add to this list? Individual UAS Pilots name, business, CAA number and approval date? Or will this be the start of more Big Brother excuses from the Powers that Be, and every individual who buys a UAS has to register…..then how long is it before everyone who registers needs to pay an annual fee or ensure everyone has UAS insurance or even make every user pass a competency exam?

I think this is a fantastic opportunity for Britain and the CAA to lead the world in Commercial UAS regulations AND use. There is no point having all these rules but restricting their future application (AmazonPrime Air in looking at you guys). We are just scratching the surface for UAS application. For an industry set to worth Billions, employing Thousands across Europe, we need to get it right, right from the start.

This is all my wild speculation, and may not happen, but here are some recommendations that will….

• Greater use of geo-fencing – programming drones not to be able to take off from or fly into certain locations based on their GPS co-ordinates. This could include airports, prisons and other high risk sites
• Clearer guidance for police about how they should enforce existing safety rules
• The use of a kite mark or other logo to denote drones that have been classed as safe to use
• More guidance to be given to commercial drone operators about what insurance cover they need to buy.

All wise suggestions and i think these will be appreciated by the law abiding recreational and commercial UAS community in the UK….

What won’t help though, are frankly, stupid, comments made by those is power or authority. Professor David Dunn, who has written about this for the Royal Institute for International Affairs, was quoted saying…

“The technologies have the capacity to crash into people and kill them, as they have done in the States….”

WHAT!?!?!?!? Not one single person has EVER, been killed by a commercial UAS, in America or anywhere in the World. Yes, Military Drones kill people everyday, but no one has ever lost their life because of a rogue DJI Phantom! Comments like this, taken out of context do our Industry, no favours what so ever.

You can find more information of the story, from my source BBC News

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-31735662

I will be keeping an eye on UAS forums over the next few days to gauge the response from those of us it will affect the most.

Safe flying

TU

The start of things to come?

This is what every UAS Pilot fears. The Police swooping in, taking your Drone and arresting you….maybe not like this though.

How is snatching the control system from a qualified Pilot, passing amongst yourselves while you attempt to bring it down, be safe?!?!?

Is this a case of heavy handed Policing, or a simple lack of awareness from the offices who attended, about the law and how UAV’s are flown and controlled?

One one hand, you have a lack of public trust and awareness of Drones (other than the horror stories they read in the Daily Mail) so they see one and automatically panic and call the Police, assuming its dangerous and Illegal.

One the other hand you have the Police, who still across the UK, don’t seem to understand the laws relating to the use of UAV’s. As i mentioned in a previous post, I actually called my local Police Force, and told them about what I was doing, when and where. They had no idea where to direct my call, or even whom I might contact, to help them, have a better understanding on the laws in place, and how we are a town could help pioneer more a ‘Proactive’ approach to the use of Drones.

When I called, they just asked for my name, address, where I would be flying. I was told they would store my details for future reference. That was it.

The Chap in question is called Eddie Mitchell, someone I follow on twitter, and is one of a few qualified and licensed Photojournalists in the UK. I would like to suggest that he is one of the few people the Police and Government should be getting on side, not arresting!

There is such a lack of awareness and fear regarding the use of UAS’s in the UK, and its stories like this and the approach by the police that is making matters worse.

They should encourage links between ‘experienced’ and ‘accredited’ pilots, who know the industry better than anyone. Most importantly, its users like Eddie and other CAA accredited Pilots, who want regulation, who want proper laws putting in place, so the Industry is allowed to exists and we can make a living from it.

It is one of my big worries that one day ill turn around to see the flash of blue lights coming towards me.

Eddie Mitchells Twitter is

https://twitter.com/brightonsnapper

Surrey Police arresting me a UAV Pilot in Gatwick ATZ whilst the UAV is in mid air,released after nearly 5 hours NFA http://t.co/qvg1J5xkh2—
eddie mitchell (@brightonsnapper) December 30, 2014

The article was in the Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/31/photojournalist-police-arrest-drone-complaints

Till next time

Thumbs Up!

3 Hours Later…..

So after a total of 2 hours 54 minutes on the phone to my local council,                 (who tried to be very helpful, but weren’t) i finally got hold of the right department.

Trying to inform the local authority that you are operating a UAS for recreational and commercial purposes was a nightmare. No one knew which department I should speak to; New Business, Licensing, Data Protections, Parks and Recreation. No one was sure.

Eventually, after a very helpful person literally went and asked every head of department she could find, put me in touch with Planning and Buildings, and it was the Council Land Department.

I informed Planning that i wanted to visit my local park and fly my new Phantom 2 a couple of times a week for an hour or so. Not for commercial purposes but to practice before my Flight Assessment in January.

The guy told me he had never had this request before, so could i put everything in writing.

• What i wanted to use the park for
• Why did i want to use this park
• What would i be flying
• For how long would i be flying, when and how often
• When would i likely be flying and for how long
• My personal details
• Any Insurance i had in place

Sufficed to say, i put it all together in an email and i will report and what they come back with.

On a side note, i will be looking to go and see my local authority as soon as i get my full licence to speak to them about the inevitable growth of UAS use in our area in the future, and their lack of preparation for when it comes!

Till then

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