Earlier in the week we reported that the CAA expected BMFA members to receive their Operator I.D. numbers by the end of the week. However, as of Friday afternoon, only 4000 BMFA members I.D. numbers had been processed due to a technical problem with their system.  The DMARES guys have informed us that they will be working over the weekend to process the remaining records.  They anticipate that all members (who provided an email address) will be in receipt of their Operator I.D's by Monday morni...

If you are one of the 18,500 members who registered with the CAA as an Operator via the BMFA prior to the 10th February, then you should be receiving your operator number within the next few days.  The automated email sent to the first 2000 BMFA members uploaded by the CAA earlier this week included reference to the requirement for a Flyer I.D. (which members are exempted from in accordance with CAA General Exemption E 4972).  This has now been amended to reduce confusion. The purpose of the or...

There appears to be a considerable amount of myth and misinformation circulating about the status of the exemptions issued by the CAA including those which recognise BMFA Achievements and exempt members from registering as Operators by the 30th November (and doing it instead as part of their BMFA Membership Renewal).  Full details of the CAA exemptions can be found at www.be-lawful.bmfa.org. Concern has been expressed by some that the exemptions are only effective until June 2020.  There is how...

Article 94F of the Air Navigation Order introduces the requirement that from 30th November 2019  all remote pilots of model aircraft or drones (small unmanned aircraft, SUA) with a mass of 250gm or more flown outdoors, including free flight, not to fly the SUA unless the CAA has issued the remote pilot with an acknowledgement of competency valid for the flight.   However the CAA have issued an exemption for BMFA members who hold a Basic Proficiency Certificate,  or either A or B Certificates. ...

Following Saturday's AGM, 2020 BMFA fees will remain unchanged from their current level. Senior - £38Junior - £17Family Senior - £38Family Partner - £25Family Junior - £13 2020 membership will be available from the 1st of December. For 2020 we will be introducing a new optional BMFA membership card, this will be a plastic credit card sized card and comes with the option to sign up to BMFA Rewards which gives you the chance to make savings at many UK retailers, restaurants, cinemas, hotels e...

Without any fanfare (or even notification through their usual channels) the CAA have now published CAP1804, their response to CAP1775 (the consultation on the charging proposal for the 'Drone Registration and Education System - DRES)'.  You can read the response here: https://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP1804_DRES_consultation_%20response.pdf

The CAA have launched their DRES system today (5th November) to allow operators of unmanned aircraft to pass a competency test and register as operators. https://register-drones.caa.co.uk/ . They have also launched a scheme to return lost ‘drones’ to their registered owners (see https://www.caa.co.uk/News/Drones-Reunited/). As has been widely discussed, with effect from the 30th November 2019, the law requires that anyone operating an unmanned aircraft outdoors which weighs more than 250g (e...

Since the CAA finally announced details of its Drone Registration and Education Scheme (DRES) last week we have published several explanatory notes both on the BMFA website and directly to members by email.  However, the flurry of correspondence and comments on various forums and groups suggests that there is still considerable misunderstanding of the scheme and ill-feeling in some quarters about what the BMFA has been doing to support its members.  From the outset, the UK model flying Associat...

Since the CAA finally announced details of its Drone Registration and Education Scheme (DRES) last week we have published several explanatory notes both on the BMFA website and directly to members by email.  However, the flurry of correspondence and comments on various forums and groups suggests that there is still considerable misunderstanding of the scheme and ill-feeling in some quarters about what the BMFA has been doing to support its members.  From the outset, the UK model flying Associat...

Further to the announcement earlier this week, we will be working with the CAA to clarify the detail of how we can best assist our members to comply with the Registration and Competency requirements which were introduced in the 2018 changes to the Air Navigation Order and become law on the 30th November 2019 for those operating unmanned aircraft. The changes to the law are in part to address established issues arising from unlawful operation, but also to help facilitate the wider integration of...