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,  and 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...

The CAA have just published the following update: https://www.caa.co.uk/Consumers/Unmanned-aircraft/Our-role/Drone-and-model-aircraft-registration/ which is provided in full below: The UK’s new Drone and Model Aircraft Registration and Education Scheme will go live on 5 November 2019 (please note that you cannot register before this date). There will be two elements to the online system. Anyone responsible for a drone or unmanned aircraft (including model aircraft) weighing between 250g and ...

EASA have now published documents outlining their Acceptable Means of Compliance (AMC) and Guidance Material (GM) in support of the EU regulations for unmanned aircraft. The documents can be found here: https://www.easa.europa.eu/document-library/agency-decisions/ed-decision-2019021r The AMC for Article 14 includes our suggested provision to permit registration numbers to be carried inside a model aircraft, which is consistent with what we agreed recently with the DfT/CAA.  “If the size of th...

The Science and Technology Parliamentary Select Committee will today publish their report into ‘commercial and recreational drone use in the UK'. The BMFA provided several written inputs to the Committee on behalf of the UK model flying associations and BMFA CEO Dave Phipps appeared before the committee on the 9th July to provide oral evidence. We are pleased to report that the Committee have incorporated many of the comments we provided as well as a number of comments submitted directly by m...