Members may recall that when the requirement for CAA Operator Registration was first introduced in November 2019, that control line flyers were exempted from the requirement to register.
When the EU regulations came into effect on the 31st December 2020, the situation changed because the EU regulations only exempted those operating control line aircraft weighing less than 1Kg from the requirement to register.
We are pleased to report that following a recommendation from the CAA, the UK Government have just made some amendments to the EU regulations retained in UK law. As a result, the previous situation will be restored and pilots of control line aircraft weighing less than 7.5Kg operated on lines of no more than 25 metres will once again be exempted from the requirement to register with the CAA as an operator. This change applies from the 20th November 2021.
The CAA’s rationale for the change can be found here: http://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/33/20211015CAAOID0004.pdf
The Statutory Amendment enacting the changes to the EU Regulations retained in UK law can be found here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2021/1203/pdfs/uksi_20211203_en.pdf
We would like to record our thanks to the RPAS team at the CAA (who have always supported the BMFA’s position on the requirements for control line pilots) for making the case to the Government.