Our drones are now called RPAS (Remote Piloted Aerial Systems), in South Africa, and the Civil Aviation Authority has submitted draft legislation in regard to regulating legal operation of "Drones" in our airspace.  I beleive this to be the first legislation of its kind to be submitted wordwide, and quite sure other will follow suit not before long.

I'm pasting a quoted artice below...  It's from the DefenceWeb news portal.  I have spoken to the CAA today to confirm this legislation is in process of being implimented.
Until the legislation is implimented somewhere in April, and first licences issued towards the end of the year, it is now illlegal to operate a drone in SA airspace, anywhere but inside you home.

AS for the legislation itself, in my humble opinion, it just about kills off the entire genre in one foul swoop...

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The draft regulations would require aircraft to be licensed and registered and pilots/operators to undergo training to qualify them to fly the aircraft. Someone would only be able to fly a remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) if they have an RPA Pilot License, an RPA Operator Certificate, a certificate of RPA registration and an RPA Letter of Approval.

Importantly, RPAs will be classified according to their mass, kinetic energy and type of operation (line of sight, beyond line of sight etc.), with ten classes ranging from Class 1A to Class 5 and with masses ranging from less than 1.5 kg to greater than 150 kg.

The draft regulations apply to class 1 and 2 RPAs (up to 120 kg). Private operations of RPAs will be conducted only in restricted visual line of sight with a Class 1A or 1B RPA (up to 7 kg). However, operating a UAV as a hobbyist falls under different regulations.

The draft regulations stipulate that an RPA can only be operated in South Africa with an RPA Letter of Approval (RLA) issued by the South African Civil Aviation Authority, which is in effect a license valid for one year. In addition, RPAs would need to have a registration certificate, which would give them South African nationality.

Pilot license

Someone would only be able to pilot an RPA once in possession of a Remote Pilot License (RPL) in one of three categories: RPL (A) – Aeroplane Remote Pilot License; RPL (H) – Helicopter Remote Pilot License; and RPL (MR) – Multirotor Remote Pilot License. Several ratings are available including visual line of sight operations (VLOS), extended visual line of sight operations (E-VLOS) and beyond visual line of sight operations (B-VLOS).

The License would test things like air law, meteorology, navigation, aerodynamics, propulsion, flight control, batteries etc. Flight training can be a combination of simulator and real aircraft training and would cover things like aircraft inspection, systems checks, flight control/manoeuvres, takeoff, landing etc.

To apply for a license, an applicant would need to be older than 18, be medically fit, hold a restricted aeronautical radio license, be proficient in English, pass a theory exam, pass a skill test and where required, have completed flight training. Once granted, the RPL would only be valid for two years before a revalidation check would be needed for renewal.

RPA pilots would be required to have a functioning airband radio and, using the registration of the RPA as a call sign, make the required radio calls indicating the altitude, location and intended operation of the RPA at required intervals to ensure separation from other aircraft.

Once flying an RPA, a pilot would be required to have a logbook to record flight details and would not be allowed to have a blood alcohol level greater than .02 grams/100 ml or consume alcohol or drugs on duty.

Flying an RPA

For commercial, corporate and non-profit flight operations, an operator would be required to have an RPA Operator Certificate (ROC - valid for 12 months) or air services license, which can only be granted if the operator has a registered aircraft, an operations manual and an RLA. ROC holders would have background and criminal record checks conducted and would have to have third party insurance.

For private use, RPAs would only be flown in restricted visual line of sight (within 500 metres of the pilot) and over property the pilot owns or has permission to operate over.

With regard to operating an RPA, under the draft regulations an aircraft would only be operated in controlled airspace by a holder of an ROC or if the RPA is flown in visual meteorological conditions in an air traffic zone (ATZ) and controlled traffic region (CTR) below 400 feet. RPAs intended for operations within an ATZ or CTR would have to be fitted with a mode C or S transponder, altimeter, strobe light/s and navigation lights.

Various rules have been proposed regarding the safe flight of RPAs, such as prohibiting RPAs from carrying cargo, towing other aircraft, performing aerobatics, being flown in formation/swarm or being flown above or near a nuclear power plant, prison, police station, crime scene, court, national key point or strategic installation.

For beyond visual line of sight operations, an RPA would only be allowed to fly in visual meteorological conditions below 400 ft above ground level, unless otherwise approved. An RPA would only be flown at night in restricted visual line of sight operations.

RPAs would not be allowed to fly directly overhead people or closer than a distance of 50 m laterally to them unless the operator has special permission (or the person being overflown is the operator) or the people are being controlled by the operator. With regard to buildings, an RPA would only be flown further than 50 m laterally from a building (unless permission is obtained from the building’s owner). RPAs would not be allowed to fly over public roads or closer than 50 metres to a public road unless care is taken that no damage will be caused if the RPA loses control.

It is going to be a long haul.   Commercial entities are often more influential than bureaucracy's well-meaning pencil pushers.  It is amazing how much life experience you can cover with a pencil, though.   Hopefully any licenses will not be exorbitant.  As long as you manage to get some footage of your white sharks stalking surfers...  

The industry needs the likes of DJI and other manufacturers to get on board and try to acheive some commonality across borders and respective countries.  

If the Manufactueres and to an extent commercial operators dont stand up and make their concerns heard, we run the risk of not being able to take UAV's into other countries because qualified UAV Pilots in one country will not be recognised in another country.  The BNUC-S certification by EuroUSC, is I believe, now recognised in UK, some Europen Countries and Hong Kong.  

It would be consistant with providing that commonality if other countries signed up to this certification in line with current commercial flying Pilot certification which allows Pilots to fly into and out of other countries for their Operators.

Obviously each country is obviously going to have their own aviation laws, which is to be expected, but if some common ground and common certification was to be recognised by respective country aviation authorities this would be a step in the right direction.

NatalyRead Posted at 2018-5-16 05:42
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