I live in the U.K. And had quite a few offers of work using my P4 but have had to decline payments but have done the work for learning purposes, can anyone help me with how you go about obtaining the necessary courses etc

Put your hand out and smile as they place a big stack of Euro's into it. Say "Thank you ...and maybe add " look forward to working with you again". (depending on the size of the stack and the difficulty of working with them)
Claim that money at the end of the year and pay the taxes on it.
Might be good to check with your local laws for licensing for you , the drone and for your "business"  should you get busy enough to start one.
Me, Ill take the cash and worry about keeping my drone in the air. Catch me if you can.

You need a PfCO from the CAA. To get one you'll need to complete a NVQ course, do a flight test, create an Operations Manual, get insured and pay everyone involved some cash to lubricate the system.

Google "UK drone pfco pfaw" , there are quite a few around. Costs about £1500 - £2500 by the time you finish paying out.

If you're not advertising your services I see no problem in taking a bit of cash here and there.

Thanks for the replies, I didn't realise it was that expensive, may consider it if I get made redundant from my job,

Just out of interest what sort of work was it?

Council work

Snowwolfwarrior Posted at 2016-10-29 06:36
Council work

You will need full insurance cover to work for any public body.To obtain such cover from any insurance company you will need to show you have a PFAW/PFCO only obtainable through the CAA..A public body cannot by law enter into a contract with a company or persons on the basis you describe.

If it's council then maybe don't try and bill them. But worth doing freebies for them and getting some good contacts. Join BMFA and you'll get non-commercial insurance up to £25m. That was the only concern from my local council. And then they asked my to fly over a town and I had to explain the rules to them. They lost interest a bit when they found out I couldn't fly down the high street at 10m high videoing the xmas lights at night

Hi Matt, I am a member of the BMFA like you say it does give you some cover on insurance

pi-inthesky@hot Posted at 2016-10-29 02:15
You will need full insurance cover to work for any public body.To obtain such cover from any insur ...

I have to agree surely you would need a licence as well??

Just be aware that the standard BMFA insurance doesn't cover you for doing either commercial, or "demonstration" type flights.  It only covers Sport and Recreation flights.

They do offer an extension to the standard policy that does cover demonstration, data and development though, which is not prohibitively expensive (think it is around £75 a year).  This doesn't cover paid for commercial work, but does cover that grey area between that and sport and recreation flights.

Doing demo work for clients that is not paid, is great way to build up your contacts and portfolio, before splashing out on getting the right paperwork to operate commercially, and the full commercial insurance for your activities.

If you are a member of the BMFA, have a look at getting your PfCO through the route of doing a Multirotor A or B test, writing your own ops manual, and submitting everything yourself.  you don't HAVE to go down the route of a £££££ training course.  That's what I did do done to get my PfCO

Andy

Oh, and, I've always interpreted the law as being not okay to accept payment for flights made, or photos taken during a flight etc.  But that it is okay to charge "expenses" to get me and my kit onsite to do a "demo" of which the outputs are supplied free of charge.

It would look rather dodgy if you are charging £300 expenses for a job 10 miles down the road mind.

Matt-and-Riley Posted at 2016-10-29 17:53
If it's council then maybe don't try and bill them. But worth doing freebies for them and getting so ...

Matt-and-riley not billing the council Snowwolfwarrior will still be walking on thin ice and the council most certainly will.The high street scenario  you mention would be possible  for a CAA qualified pilot if a flight plan with a full risk assessment and mitigation report was put forward to the CAA for their concideration for approval.

Unless you complete the proper courses and obtain the necessary insurances, complete an ops manual etc. then you cannot be legally paid to fly your drone.  However... as far as I'm aware, if you shoot a bit of video for someone (for free) and then give them the footage and inform them that the footage now legally belongs to them then they could technically hand it back to you a day later and ask if you could edit it for them and for that you could make a charge.  It would be an indirect way of making a few quid on the side (providing you know how to edit) and I don't think the CAA could say much about it.

pi-inthesky@hot Posted at 2016-10-29 13:16
Matt-and-riley not billing the council Snowwolfwarrior will still be walking on thin ice and the c ...

Decided it was quicker and cheaper to trundle around in a cherry picker with the osmo attached

I'm liking all the replies they are all very interesting, love this site

andy@andy-sayle Posted at 2016-10-29 12:56
Just be aware that the standard BMFA insurance doesn't cover you for doing either commercial, or "de ...

I looked into the Multirotor A or B test but thought you still needed to take the theory 'test'. Did you have an example Ops manual to work from or just made up your own?

Seems quite daunting to do it all yourself, but I guess that's what they want.

How much for your ops manual?

helidan Posted at 2016-10-29 15:04
Unless you complete the proper courses and obtain the necessary insurances, complete an ops manual e ...

The CAA accept equivalent experience and qualifications as an alternative to a "proper course" as well.  One of those alternatives is the BMFA A or B cert in multirotors (or helicopters) if you want to fly a multirotor.

Matt-and-Riley Posted at 2016-10-29 22:31
I looked into the Multirotor A or B test but thought you still needed to take the theory 'test'. D ...

Nope.  The BMFA certs show that you have a relevant level of knowledge of the rules that are relevant to flying a multirotor up to 20KG around in the UK airspace.  This applies to the practical and theory side of things.  The "tests" put in place by organisations like EuroUSC and RUSTA, are primarily targeted at people who have next to no experience at all.  And are priced as such too.

The CAA website has a framework for an Ops manual, and whilst it is not exactly detailed, it gives you some clear areas that you need to address, in order to create a satisfactory Ops Manual.  The thing to remember about your Ops manual, is that it pertains to how YOU will operate, and as such, it is unlikely copying mine would be entirely right.  It might give you a few ideas about how you might like to operate however.

I would argue that anyone setting up to fly commerically, should write their own ops manual.  It really helps you to clarify and document what it is you will be doing when operating.  From a safety perspective, it is invaluable.

That said, If you wanted to pay my consultancy rate for half a day, I'd happily go through mine with you

Andy

andy@andy-sayle Posted at 2016-10-30 20:32
Nope.  The BMFA certs show that you have a relevant level of knowledge of the rules that are relev ...

Would be interested in seeing another one, the ones I have seen seemed well over the top when it came to cordons, pilot supervision, and the wearing of hi-viz jackets.

Just do the work for "free" and accept "donations" for your time and travel.