Hello, we have started flying commercially but operating within open category. I am following a local company on insta and they take videos like the attached screen shot.
What permissions or certifications do they likely have to fly like this please so we can aim to achieve th
Now:
An operator ID and a sub-250g drone.
From 1/1/2026:
An operator ID, a flyer ID and:
(OR, from 01/01/2026 until 31/12/2027:
Hello
Thank you for replying. In their videos (cant put link but its Robert Luff on Instagram) they are flying over roads and uninvolved people, and over other properties … literally in the middle of town! hence asking about permissions and certifications to be able to fly like them … what are your thoughts please? Thanks
Is your answer about the Open Category or their flying?
All of those things are entirely permissible in the open category, all you need is a sub-250g drone and an operator ID - as I described in my previous message.
Oh!!! I wasnt expecting that! Sorry for misunderstanding.
What about a drone over 250g? Im currently flying a Spark
Thanks
Different rules apply. Please see our handbook.fpv.uk
Thank you.
So, if I keep flying my current drone, to fly over people I would need to obtain the A2 C of C. This is because it is an old drone and cannot be classified in the new class from Jan.
However, I could purchase a new drone in the new class UK0 UK1 C0 C1 and fly over people?
Is my understanding correct?
I really appreciate your help, i am so worried ill do something wrong, hence all the questions!
Thanks
Claire
A1 is ‘Over People’.
A2 is ‘Near People’.
I.e. you can’t fly over people in the Near People (A2) category.
With a legacy (i.e. non-class-marked) drone you can fly 50m horizontally from an uninvolved person in Near People (A2), with an A2 CofC.
Just to confirm my understanding of the updated regs from Jan 1 26.
You can fly a sun 900g drone without UK1 class mark and without broadcasting an ID.
Any comments?
You can fly a 900g UAS, with no class marking (and therefore no remote ID) ‘Far From People’ (Open A3).
You will need to add remote ID by 01/01/2028 though.
And A1?
just went through the perms again on one of the sites I must have picked UKC1 not legacy. Can a market be added to a legacy and a device to broadcast the ID to allow operation as a UKC1?
No.
To fly in ‘Over People’ (Open A1) you need to be flying a sub-250g drone, or a UK0, UK1 or C0, C1 drone.
Assemblies of people is a vague term, is there a quantifiable metric to go with the term used?
UKC1 isn’t a thing. UK0 to UK6 are the UK class marks. C0 to C6 are the European class marks.
In theory yes, a manufacturer can retrospectively declare a drone as meeting a class mark standard. It could issue a firmware update to update a legacy drone to comply with a class mark standard. Including making a drone transmit Remote ID, that didn’t before.
It is also possible to add an external remote ID module to fulfil the requirements.
Yes. It is on my graphic above.
thats my point “assemblies of people” is subjective along with “their ability to move away” is also subjective.
Define “assemblies” with a metric that can be measured, “move away” how far and how fast? its all subjective…..
If there are a small number of people walking through a park, they can dodge an incoming drone. However, if there are a big group of people all crammed in watching a concert, they can’t move out of the way if a drone comes towards them.
The previous iterations of the rules said 1,000 people. But that was problematic because a) Who counts them? b) What if there are 999 people? Are they then impervious to drones falling on their heads, whereas 1,000 aren’t? The point is not actually how many there are. It is are they crammed in and unable to move out of the way, or are they spaced out and able to dodge an incoming drone?
