Applying for NATS permission to fly

General
1

Does anyone have experience of applying to NATS for permission to fly - have a couple of questions:

  1. Date range - as we have to apply 14 days in advance with no idea of weather conditions could you apply for a range of potential dates when you might want to fly (of course aware you have to call and confirm pre and post each flight). Is there a maximum period for a date range… i.e days, months etc

1a. Also NATS say 14 days, how long does it take in practice?

  1. The form asks if this is an open or specific flight… article 16 flights - would this be under specific for the purpose of the NATS form ( the reasons for specific that come up dont seem to apply i.e. flight will remain below 400ft, below mtom of 25kg and not beyond vlos). Also it asks for name of model aircraft flight club… is this FPVUK or is this for if its a particular local club.

  2. Any other tips to help make the application process smoother would be appreciated.

My application on this occasion would be to fly in a private field that is within the edge of the Heathrow FRZ for photography purposes; but the above would be useful to know for other applications too.

Thanks in advance

2

Hi Amit

I’ve never done it but I’ve seen people saying it is fairly straightforward on social media.

I agree that you should input Specific Category and FPV UK as the club if you’re using our Article 16 Operational Authorisation.

All the best

Simon

1 Like