Let's start a Talk about the Laws regarding Drones in your Country/State.

I'll start with mine being Austria.

Now Austria this is known to have the worst and most strict Laws regarding Drones on Earth, if you get caught in these Situations you have to pay different fines:

-Flying close to someones property and Recording - 250 000€ fine / or 6 Months Prison (currently 4 Reports being Handled by Court)
-Exceeding 150m in Height, Exceeding 500m in Distance, losing line of Sight, Recording and Posting it Online - 22.000€ fine (12 Reports being Handled by Court at this time)
-Only allowed to fly in Very Un-populated areas, if you want to fly in a City you have to fill in like 700 Formulas and pay over 5.000€ - failed to do so, will result in 22.000€ fines

Oh and 1 more funny thing  not  Regarding Drones  if you ever come for a visit here

If you Jaywalk on Foot and get caught, you have to pay a 200€ fine, but if you are in a CAR (that if my Math is correct weights alot more than a Human being and can do alot more Damage to Property etc) you only have to Pay a 90€ fine, if you ignore Red Traffic Lights.


Tell me your Stories!

I live half the year in Austria. In my village what has worked for me is to get out of my valley village and into the mountains fast and fly there. Stealth is king. Hence, high and far works out better than near and loud. When it comes time to land I don't mess around. Get it down and go. It's a beautiful country of stick walking flower sniffers who place a higher value on order over human freedom. That's why I feel a million times better flying my drones, hauling ass in my loud old cars and walking my big dog without muzzles when I'm at my second home in Freiheitalia where calling "authorities" for anything is frowned upon. Regardless, no matter where you are, loitering about at treetop height will give you more headaches than high and far. Just last year there was mention here in my Italian village about a drone flown by a tourist over sunbathers at, again, treetop height. A fellow drone pilot/policeman laughed when he said that for the same month, every day, his drone and mine were near the same beach at 120 meters up. Every day. But nobody heard or saw a thing. See where I'm getting at here? Stay away from airports or the usual. Take off and get it away. Far. When it comes time to descend, full down, full forward until near and then land and go. Don't loiter about. This is what invites unwanted attention.

I'm going to Germany in December and have been looking for information about flying there. This is what I've found so far. If there are any Germans reading this I'd appreciate if you have any further detail.

-don't fly higher than 400 feet
-Don't fly near Airports
-don't fly over crowds of people
-don't fly over emergency situations
-Respect personal privacy
-don't be stupid.

Here in Droneworld we I live no property or people may come near a drone or it / they will be fined....  (Did I say Droneworld?  I meant Dreamworld!)  It is a ongoing problem these days to hear how people are without freedom and once they get freedom how easily it is abused to be taken away from them.   I live in a rural area where I find more curiosity than animosity - for now.  I guess the rule is to not attract too much attention and stay away from doing stupid things.  Usually laws / rules are not for the 95% but for the 5% forcing authorities to take action.  Pity!  As drones get more and more advanced and can take longer and longer flights my guess is that it will not be long before many countries will have serious security issues with drones.  As it stands today, the latest drones already can be a toy, a tool or a weapon...   

That's my situation in Austria or Italy. Small villages populated by drunken tourists. More curiosity than anything else. But that is for the one time in a thousand where a single person can see me. No matter whrere I am in the three countries I live in, I fly like I speed in cars. Out of sight, out of mind. That's how it is with anything remotely enjoyable in the 21st century. As for Germany, their drone laws along with England's, are about the best you can find in the G8. And considering the fact that right now Germany has far greater problems on their hands, you should be able to fly in peace. Throw in my recommendations of not controlling from a "look, I'm here" location and don't loiter about at treetop, and you'll be even better off. Treat it like speeding. As for those who want to drone fly or drive loud, fast cars/motorcycles, the sooner you outgrow the lure of hipster filled big cities, the better off you'll be.

zach5150 Posted at 2016-10-18 13:38
I'm going to Germany in December and have been looking for information about flying there. This is w ...

right, but most important: you need an insurance (80 Euro per year)

Highfive Posted at 2016-10-18 08:06
right, but most important: you need an insurance (80 Euro per year)

Thank you for the comment! Are you talking about liability insurance? Would any drone liability insurance (as long as coverage is applicable in Germany) be acceptable?

I live in the US where I can normally fly without too much concern.  I've been asked to stop a couple of times, stopped immediately, and went on with my life.

However, I have a trip coming up to Peru in December (hopefully with a Mavic and not a P3P).  They allow drones to be flown in their country with pretty typical rules.  This sadly includes not flying over Macchu Picchu, but oh well.  They also require an expensive permit just to bring a tripod into that site, so it seems that they really just want to limit commercial photography.  I researched ahead of time and discovered that a new law recently passed so that all drones coming into the country will be confiscated for 10 days.  As my trip is 10 days, this pretty much meant that drones were a no-go.  Luckily, I speak halfway-decent Spanish and after dozens of emails with the MTC (Peruvian FAA) and Customs, I am on my way to getting pre-approval to bring the drone in, which hopefully will be smooth sailing.  I think that flying it in rural areas will be easy except at extremely tourist-filled destinations.  Now, just to hope that it doesn't rain.

In a past trip, I was able to fly VERY freely in Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland a little over a year ago.  I was shocked at how easy it was.  For instance, I went to a castle for a tour and just brought out my drone on the front lawn and flew it with no fuss.  The craziest moment was when I was in a town of a few hundred people in a very remote section of Latvia.  A 90 year old woman approached me that spoke zero English but somehow knew the word "drone" and met the P3P with curiosity and excitement, not fear.

Oh, and one more story about a flight in the US.  I recently flew a residential real estate gig on the East Coast of Florida (near Daytona Beach).  The man who owned the house next to where I was filming approached me.  He was in a pickup truck wearing full camo with a beer in his lap and a crossbow in his passenger seat.  I was terrified about what he was going to say when he rolled down his window.  He really just told me that if I crash in his lawn, his dog will eat the drone.  Suureeee.

Ireland requires registration for drones ov 1kg in weight, I'm sure this will change with the advent of Mavic , height restrictions 120meters line of site distance 400 meters , flying over people without permission 120meters with permission 50 meters, privacy laws regarding drones are the same as all privacy laws, Ireland is a great place for flying very little hassle best to ask permission when flying around private property people are very accommodating, I sincerely hope it stays that way.

steven@madow.co Posted at 2016-10-19 02:28
I live in the US where I can normally fly without too much concern.  I've been asked to stop a coupl ...

Loved the stories Steven, especially that last one.

zach5150 Posted at 2016-10-18 17:18
Thank you for the comment! Are you talking about liability insurance? Would any drone liability in ...

yes, it should work

Highfive Posted at 2016-10-18 22:14
yes, it should work

Here in Sweden we have the same drone regulations as most of Europe - max altitude 120 m, max distance 500 m and only flying with the drone in sight for the naked eye.

However, the recent video surveillace act is downright ridiculous:  you are not allowed to film or take pictures in places available to the public from non-hand held platforms such as drones, dashcams, helmet mounted cameras, bike cameras, tripods or even placing the camera on a bloody rock and taking a selfie. You must hold the camera in your own hands at all times, or it will count as a surveillance camera, for which you need to apply for a permit. Up to this date, not a single private person or company has been granted one.

But the police is too busy with more important things and would not even bother unless there was blood, so as long as you avoid control zones, crowds, prisons, city centers and avoid flying repeatedly above or near people's gardens or backyards, you should be good to go.

/// Tom

In Australia, new rules came in at the end of September. they are easy to abide by. Recreational fliers just need to use manners and common sense to stay out of trouble.
If anyone is interested here is a link:

https://www.casa.gov.au/aircraft ... ng-drones-australia

The UK is both very sensible but also very confused. The new Air Navigation Order that came into force in August 2016 does clarify and simplify a number of things and removes a formal height restriction on any UAV less than 7kg but you must maintain VLOS at all times. However you cannot fly over "congested" areas using any UAV that is capably of surveillance - where congested is defined as "in relation to a city, town or settlement, means any area which is substantially used for residential, industrial, commercial or recreational purposes" - which can be interpreted as either the entire country (what isn't used for one of these purposes?) or just those parts that are "substantially" populated (used) - does that mean at different times of day there are different rules?

I much prefer the direct language of the Australian regs, posted above, which says things like:

You must not fly closer than 30 metres to vehicles, boats, buildings or people.

You must not fly over populous areas such as beaches, heavily populated parks, or sports ovals while they are in use.

If only other countries were this clear.

In Italy there are a lot restiction as usal, can not fly on a lot of people drone always on sight. max 70  h and 200 m distance far 15 km from aiport or ctr not in city on monuments pratical you can use only drone at park without people etc. if you want you can have  licence thath allow to h 150 m and distance 200 mt

Mimoid Posted at 2016-10-19 05:03
Here in Sweden we have the same drone regulations as most of Europe - max altitude 120 m, max dist ...

Also, I just got done with a back and forth email conversation with Civil Aviation and Maritime Department at the Swedish Transport Agency about my upcoming visit to Sweden and flying my drone there.

Apparently you have to have a license (or a foreign license), insurance, and very specifically planned location and time approved ahead of time!

I asked about hobby flying and they said that is not allowed.

Denmark
======

In general:

Max. height: 100m.
Distance to military airports: 8km.
Distance to civil airports: 5km.
Distance to built-up areas (Bymæssig bebyggelse): 150m - Note: Also includes habitated campingareas.
Distance to major public roads (Større offentlig vej): 150m - Note: major public roads should equal roads with a road-number.
You are not allowed to fly above other people.
Always keep the drone in sight and under control.

There are some extra special zones, but above is the general. I think the rest can be concluded by ommon sence (don't fly near or over accidents, royal property, prisons, fragile wildlife areas, etc...)

Additionally there are some general rules regarding privacy and camera use, and from New Year (January 2017) I hear you will need a "Drone-license" which can be obtained online by answering a QA to verify you know the rules.

Okay, maybe I'm stepping a little easy over the privacy-part. But those rules are always up for interpretion. My best advice is to generally show respect to privacy.

Above is my translation and summarize.

In Danish:
http://droner.dk/regler-for-droneflyvning



Visting Copenhagen?

I'm still waiting for my Mavic and haven't spend much time looking for places to fly near Copenhagen. But for sure there are limited opportunities near the city.
However close to (almost inside) the city and not too far from where I live, there is a "model airplane course" in the big nature area "Amager Fælled". You can find an area on each side of the walking path right here:

55°39'11.0"N 12°34'29.8"E
55.653051, 12.574955
(Was unsuccesful trying to get google maps links to work, forum doesn't like google map links? - But you can search with above coordinates)

If you are an experienced drone-flyer, you might quickly be looking for other options, but this is where I plan to learn to control my Mavic. And I guess there should be a pretty nice view around above the ground.

cicciopilota Posted at 2016-10-19 05:11
In Italy there are a lot restiction as usal, can not fly on a lot of people drone always on sight. m ...

I am going to Italy for two weeks in July.  Can you point me to a web page where it states the drone laws in Italy?  I would love to bring the Mavic there but only if it is worth it.  Thanks!

kevinelliott Posted at 2016-10-19 14:07
Also, I just got done with a back and forth email conversation with Civil Aviation and Maritime De ...

And today there was a new law in Sweden that says that you are not allowed to fly and film in public areas. {:4_157:}

You need to have a permit to distribute material, photo or footage

And you can't take photos nor footage according to a Rule of surveillance. (which is so contradicting to the permit to distribute).

If you need more info about distribution material I can send you some links to the Swedish authorities.

Have fun on your stay

I live on Borneo.

"Don't go near the airport lah, 5 km OK, and don't annoy people (too much)."

That's... well that's about it really.

If there are any other laws then nobody will know or care anyway. I can't say the same for the mainland but judging by Youtube it's quite normal to fly around in the capital city, but again, keep away from airports.

I moved here from the UK mostly to be with my lovely wife of 11 years, but was going to leave the UK anyway (was planning on Thailand) due to the Nanny State mindset and outright attacks on men/boys/fathers. It wears thin after awhile.

To be honest I'm surprised drones are even still legal in the UK. The British government remind me of the Puritans, of whom Mencken once said something along the lines of "They are gripped by a haunting fear that someone, somewhere, might be happy."

Even more surprising considering that flying drones is predominantly a male hobby, so having a drone must be "oppressing women" and part of the "patriarchy" bletch.

If I ever feel down, an itchy mozzie bite, a hot humid day, monsoon season, no Ryvitas in the shops.. I just remind myself; 'Could be worse, much worse. I could be in England.'

That always cheers me up and reminds me how lucky I am

Italian drone laws....well, we drive pretty damm fast down here. Remember, loitering about at treetop height within the limits will often attract more attention than stretching those limits. And always choose the least conspicuous place to control your bird. Not something I see most others doing. Regardless of what country I fly in.

The laws in Norway have been written by a committee of lawmakers.
By that i mean you have to be a expert to figure out what you can and can not do with a drone.

From what i can extrapolate:
-Max altitude of 120 meters
-You have to fly LOS
-50 meters away from other people and vehicle
-150 meters away from crouds over 100 people
-Keep away from airports, military bases and accident sites
-You can fly close to people and vehicle you "have control over".

You can take pictures and video as long as you don't make money off them.
If you want to make money off aerial photography you need:
-A business number thingy. (Orginasjonsnummer in Norwegian)
-RO2 operator license
-Insurance
All of theese things cost money. I have not checked prices.
I was never approached when flying my previous drone. I just used common sense.

StianGel Posted at 2016-10-20 00:18
The laws in Norway have been written by a committee of lawmakers.
By that i mean you have to be a ex ...

You are lucky! We in Sweden are not allowed to fly a camera equipped drone at all. Nowhere, no way.

Oh, wait, actually you are allowed to fly inside your own home but you will have to cover the windows first (no kidding).

/// Tom

Croatia...

-min. of 30m from people, animals, objects, vehicles, boats, railroads and powerlines
-min. of 150m from a group of people
-3km from airport
-no flying at night
-LOS only or 500m max distance
-can't fly without a permission from geodetic administration(or someone else;not sure)
-insurance
-proff of mental and psychophysical abilities

There's a 4000$ fine if you fly without a permission or post online without a permission
There's more...

At least you are allowed to fly them. In Sweden, flying camera-equipped drones have now been made illegal. All of them. Just like that.

And why? Because they count as permanently mounted surveillance cameras. Yes - permanently mounted. I mean, 27 minutes of flight time is pretty impressing and I can imagine that we will see even longer flight times in the future, but "permanent"? Really?

The amount of incompetence and ignorance behind this law is simply astonishing. I have all my life been an honest and law-abiding citizen, but this time I just won't give a rat's ass.

/// Tom

I'm living in Germany and I don't find any strange law for having/flying a drone!

Mimoid Posted at 2016-10-23 08:31
You are lucky! We in Sweden are not allowed to fly a camera equipped drone at all. Nowhere, no way ...

But you are still allowed to play with the drone on the street. And if it accidentally flies away it can take almost 27 minutes to bring it back..?  

peter@wonderlan Posted at 2016-10-19 16:35
The UK is both very sensible but also very confused. The new Air Navigation Order that came into for ...

I agree the UK CAA laws are confusing.

For example:
Small unmanned aircraft
94.—(1) A person must not cause or permit any article or animal (whether or not attached to a
parachute) to be dropped from a small unmanned aircraft so as to endanger persons or property.
(2) The person in charge of a small unmanned aircraft may only fly the aircraft if reasonably
satisfied that the flight can safely be made.
(3) The person in charge of a small unmanned aircraft must maintain direct, unaided visual
contact with the aircraft sufficient to monitor its flight path in relation to other aircraft, persons,
vehicles, vessels and structures for the purpose of avoiding collisions.
(4) The person in charge of a small unmanned aircraft which has a mass of more than 7kg
excluding its fuel but including any articles or equipment installed in or attached to the aircraft at
the commencement of its flight, must not fly the aircraft—
(a) in Class A, C, D or E airspace unless the permission of the appropriate air traffic control
unit has been obtained;
(b) within an aerodrome traffic zone during the notified hours of watch of the air traffic
control unit (if any) at that aerodrome unless the permission of any such air traffic control
unit has been obtained; or
(c) at a height of more than 400 feet above the surface unless it is flying in airspace described
in sub-paragraph (a) or (b) and in accordance with the requirements for that airspace.
(5) The person in charge of a small unmanned aircraft must not fly the aircraft for the purposes
of commercial operations except in accordance with a permission granted by the CAA.

So what about drones with a mass of less than 7kg, are they included in these laws?

Then....

Small unmanned surveillance aircraft
95.—(1) The person in charge of a small unmanned surveillance aircraft must not fly the aircraft
in any of the circumstances described in paragraph (2) except in accordance with a permission
issued by the CAA.
(2) The circumstances referred to in paragraph (1) are—
(a) over or within 150 metres of any congested area;
(b) over or within 150 metres of an organised open-air assembly of more than 1,000 persons;
(c) within 50 metres of any vessel, vehicle or structure which is not under the control of the
person in charge of the aircraft; or
(d) subject to paragraphs (3) and (4), within 50 metres of any person.
(3) Subject to paragraph (4), during take-off or landing, a small unmanned surveillance aircraft
must not be flown within 30 metres of any person.
(4) Paragraphs (2)(d) and (3) do not apply to the person in charge of the small unmanned
surveillance aircraft or a person under the control of the person in charge of the aircraft.
(5) In this article, “a small unmanned surveillance aircraft” means a small unmanned aircraft
which is equipped to undertake any form of surveillance or data acquisition."

So can you only really fly in the middle of nowhere where there are no people around at all?

Then there is an exception for FPV flying General Exemption E 4185 which states:

Small Unmanned Aircraft – First Person View (FPV) Flying2) This exemption only applies if the conditions at paragraphs 3 to 7 are met.
3) a) The person in charge is the person piloting the SUA (see Note 2).
b) The person in charge is accompanied by a competent observer who maintains direct unaided visual contact with the SUA sufficient to monitor its flight path in relation to other aircraft, persons, vehicles, vessels and structures for the purpose of avoiding collisions and advises the person in charge accordingly.
c) The maximum take-off mass of the SUA does not exceed 3.5 kg, including any batteries or fuel.
4) The person in charge must not fly the SUA:
a) in Class A, C, D or E airspace unless permission of the appropriate air traffic control unit has been obtained;
b) within an aerodrome traffic zone during the notified hours of watch of the air traffic control unit (if any) at that aerodrome unless permission of any such air traffic control unit has been obtained;
c) at a height of more than 1,000 feet above the surface (see Note 3);
d) over or within 150 metres of any congested area;
e) over or within 150 metres of an organised open-air assembly of more than 1,000 persons; f) within 50 metres of any vessel, vehicle or structure which is not under the control of the person in charge of the aircraft;
g) within 50 metres of any other person, apart from the competent observer, except when taking off or landing in accordance with paragraph (h);
h) within 30 metres of any other person, apart from the competent observer, other adjacent model operators, or any model flying club members, during take-off or landing; or
i) for the purposes of aerial work

So this looks very similar to the regulations for drones over 7kg with the difference that this exception is specificly for FPV flying with drones under 3.5kg and you can go to a height of 1000ft assuming a spotter can still maintain line of sight with a drone.

Big question for me is how high can I fly a Mavic in normal flight (no FPV goggles) as the normal rules seemingly do not apply as it is less than 7kg and the exception doesnt apply because it would not be flying in FPV?

It may seem a trivial question but I live in Blackpool and am itching to legally film Blackpool Tower which stands at 518ft.

still waiting.. Posted at 2016-10-23 22:18
But you are still allowed to play with the drone on the street. And if it accidentally flies away  ...

No, you are not allowed to play with it on the street either. It's a total ban.

/// Tom

StigNygaard Posted at 2016-10-19 20:16
Denmark:

In general:

Thanks for this!

kevinelliott Posted at 2016-10-31 09:53
Thanks for this!

You're welcome, and I just did a little update on it.
Enjoy your stay :-)

StigNygaard Posted at 2016-10-31 18:57
You're welcome, and I just did a little update on it.
Enjoy your stay :-)

Thank you. One of my ancestors was Danish, so I'm excited to visit a place of my heritage. Any tips for where to go in Copenhagen?

steven@madow.co Posted at 2016-10-18 14:28
I live in the US where I can normally fly without too much concern.  I've been asked to stop a coupl ...

Good luck getting the permit in Peru in a short time. Let us know how it went when you come back. After learning from Peruvian friends of the problems with customs to bring a drone, I have been afraid to take my P3P on vacations to Peru. Now I am patiently waiting for my Mavic.

fans0c9de1cb Posted at 2016-10-31 10:41
Good luck getting the permit in Peru in a short time. Let us know how it went when you come back.  ...

hah, it has been interesting at this point.  I got official approval to have my drone in country for ten days!!

HOWEVER, the 10 days started immediately upon acceptance of my application and has since expired.  I am about to reapply for 100 days, which will cover the time before my trip and my entire time there.

Some people have talked about Peru here.  Apparently there is a change in the law that enables the use of a single non commercial drone without the need of a permit.

http://www.mtc.gob.pe/comunicaciones/concesiones/internamientos/documentos/RD_479-2016-MTC27.pdf

Does anyone have experience with this process?

Switzerland allows Drones rather flexible with some specific rules and some no flight zones. most importantly is that drones more than 0.5KG in weight require Insurance.

This is actually some useful information, OP maybe you should edit your first post and include all the different places, would help a lot of other users find all the different countries they want to visit.
And maybe DJI Ken or DJI Mindy could sticky this for other users to find!

Anyways I live in Canada and here are the rules we are suppose to follow.

If you operate your drone for commercial use or if the drone is heavier then 35KG then you must get a Special flight operation certificate (SFOC), which then it puts you to the class of flying like a small maned aircraft (must call the flight towers prior and after your flight including your flight plans and such)

For non-commercial and lighter 35KG
-9KM away from any airports/helipads
-lower then 90M
-150M away from other people, buildings, structures or vehicles (unless you have permission)
-must be LOS
-away from any restricted or control airspace

More information can be found on Transport Canada's website - https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/drone-safety.html

superjet96 Posted at 2016-10-19 15:24
I am going to Italy for two weeks in July.  Can you point me to a web page where it states the drone laws in Italy?  I would love to bring the Mavic there but only if it is worth it.  Thanks!

Hi superjet give a look here https://www.enac.gov.it/La_Norma ... info-122671512.html

Hope it helps

Ciao

Seems like most things in the modern world, the drone laws in many countries are overly draconian. A bit like speed limits that keep getting slower. Soon we'll be back to needing a man to walk in front of our vehicles with a red flag.

Rules like 9km or 15km away from airports mean that you can't fly in any city with a an airport, even if you're flying at home. It's just daft. Outside of Europe things probably get a little better.

The larger the country the easier things tend to be as in the middle of nowhere there's usually no-one to report or enforce laws. In parts of Bolivia and Peru it's easy to go a three days without seeing anyone. Probably similar in the Sahara, and areas of Patagonia. Canada must have huge swathes of land to play on where you're not going to cause any problems.

Hi, I'm visiting there for a week for meeting for my company. I was considering bringing in a mavic to fly around the countryside of Graz. Is this ok? Will there be issue at custom/immigration?

peter@wonderlan Posted at 2016-10-19 00:35
The UK is both very sensible but also very confused. The new Air Navigation Order that came into force in August 2016 does clarify and simplify a number of things and removes a formal height restriction on any UAV less than 7kg but you must maintain VLOS at all times. However you cannot fly over "congested" areas using any UAV that is capably of surveillance - where congested is defined as "in relation to a city, town or settlement, means any area which is substantially used for residential, industrial, commercial or recreational purposes" - which can be interpreted as either the entire country (what isn't used for one of these purposes?) or just those parts that are "substantially" populated (used) - does that mean at different times of day there are different rules?

I much prefer the direct language of the Australian regs, posted above, which says things like:

I understood we simply have to keep a 50 metre bubble away from people's property when flying outside congested areas in the UK.
So for me, I live in a village and I can take off and fly out over other people's  properties to the countryside as long as I@m 50 metres away or above them....

We can fly up to 1,000 feet or around 300 metres as long as we have an accompanying friend who acts as spotter. That's another CAA regulation exemption they give us despite the 150 metre height limit being the usually quoted limit.  That said, I rarely go higher than 100 metres; it all gets too small...    

Ian