CAA flight exam practice

Adrian VC · Jun 20, 2015

Just thought I would share, CAA flight exam practice... Four batteries, all in ATTI mode...

Storm Chaser · Jun 20, 2015

Looks like my map after practicing orbits around myself the other day! Although I was just in GPS mode.
What route are you taking to become CAA certified? I've looked at it briefly but am unsure exactly what's involved and what the one time costs are and what the annual costs are.

Adrian VC · Jun 20, 2015

Using EuroUSC, in 3 parts really, 2 day course and theory exam. Then you have to wright an operations manual, detailing everything from policy, aircraft specs, health and safety, map reading, etc, etc. once all that is done, it's submitted to the CAA and then you have to do a flight test with each aircraft you intend to use. It's quite involved but will be worth it in the end...

The Editor · Jun 20, 2015

Adrian VC said:
... then you have to do a flight test with each aircraft you intend to use. .

No, you do not. Under current CAA regulations you only have to fly and have an assessment with ONE aircraft in the class you wish to have PFAW granted. Once you have been assessed (and passed) any higher weight category you have automatic permission for all weight classes below as well.
So, pass in the sub 20kg category and you are clear to also fly sub 7kg.
Or, say you pass your assessment on a Phantom (sub 7kg) you can then go out and buy ANY other aircraft in the same class and you do not have to pass anything. The only caveat is you MUST document your entire fleet or change of airframe in your ops manual.
EuroUSC are ripping people off by insisting a separate assessment is taken for each RPA. This IS NOT a requirement of the CAA and is a money making exercise on the part of Euro.

(in my opinion)

rilot · Jun 20, 2015

The Editor is spot on. It's downright dishonest on the part of Euro USC claiming otherwise. What also seems to get people's backs up is them also insisting that you take the flight exam again to renew your PFAW. There is no requirement to do this at all.

Adrian VC · Jun 20, 2015

I have heard this, however, I've paid my money in full knowledge of this... The training was good, the operations manual template was full and exhaustive, the help and assistance I've received throughout has been second to none, heinsight is a wonderful thing, moving forward, I hope to achieve what I set out to do and that was to gain permission for Ariel work... Fingers crossed

The Editor · Jun 20, 2015

Adrian VC said:
I have heard this, however, I've paid my money in full knowledge of this... The training was good, the operations manual template was full and exhaustive, the help and assistance I've received throughout has been second to none, heinsight is a wonderful thing, moving forward, I hope to achieve what I set out to do and that was to gain permission for Ariel work... Fingers crossed

Good luck Adrian - just be aware that current wait time for CAA granting PFAW is around 70 days !!!

There is also an issue currently that prople are unsure when to submit for their renewals since the CAA are taking so long to turn things round.

Adrian VC · Jun 20, 2015

Also, I was told by EuroUSC I would only need to show flight logs confirming I regularly fly to renew my permission.

Adrian VC · Jun 20, 2015

The Editor said:
Good luck Adrian - just be aware that current wait time for CAA granting PFAW is around 70 days !!!
There is also an issue currently that prople are unsure when to submit for their renewals since the CAA are taking so long to turn things round.

Yes, this is a bit of a pain, but it will get done, when it's done, I'm not in a great hurry, yesterday would be nice, lol. I can see trying to work out renewal dates, under the current backlogs will also give me a major headache!!

Leszek Kedziora · Jun 20, 2015

I have just passed my exam today. I wonder if the certificat is valid only in my country or in the whole EU?

The Editor · Jun 20, 2015

Leszek Kedziora said:
I have just passed my exam today. I wonder if the certificat is valid only in my country or in the whole EU?

Country specific. There is no European qualification as yet.

Storm Chaser · Jun 20, 2015

Thanks for the info. So as a ball park figure what would be the initial cost of the certification to use the Inspire commercially? What are the upkeep costs to operate commercially e.g. annual assessments/commercial insurance etc? How does having CAA certification change the scope of your flying - I understand that it allows you to sell footage and that it allows you to apply for permission to fly in areas/situations not allowed to the general public? Could you give some examples of what's possible with the certification?
Sorry for all the questions but most of what I read about is based on the experiences of those not in the UK and I have concerns about calling the CAA approved licensing companies as they are commercial enterprises.

andreweio1 · Jun 20, 2015

I would like to get other members feedback as I have a friend who like me passed with EuroUSC and went through the hoops they stated as I knew no different to get our PFAW.

My BNUC is up for renewal and have been asked by EuroUSC to send them money, a copy of my Ops Manual, a new photo and logs. Why they need the Ops Manual is a mystery to me. Anyway I spoke to my friend as he was one of the very early guys to get BNUC and PWAF and has renewed several times.

Astonishingly he claims that you do not need to renew you BNUC as it is only used by the CAA to prove your flight skills initially, and from then on you only renew with your Ops Manual.

More So, just submit your Ops Manual via SRG 1320 (from memory) to the CAA without the need for all the logs etc. that EuroUSC state and save even more time, effort and money.

It all sounds too good to be true, does anyone have some experience they can share.

Cheers in advance,.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Adrian VC · Jun 21, 2015

Storm Chaser said:
Thanks for the info. So as a ball park figure what would be the initial cost of the certification to use the Inspire commercially? What are the upkeep costs to operate commercially e.g. annual assessments/commercial insurance etc? How does having CAA certification change the scope of your flying - I understand that it allows you to sell footage and that it allows you to apply for permission to fly in areas/situations not allowed to the general public? Could you give some examples of what's possible with the certification?
Sorry for all the questions but most of what I read about is based on the experiences of those not in the UK and I have concerns about calling the CAA approved licensing companies as they are commercial enterprises.

So as a ball park figure what would be the initial cost of the certification to use the Inspire commercially? - approx £1200.

What are the upkeep costs to operate commercially e.g. annual assessments? - approx £75 for annual renewal through EuroUSC, you may or may not need to do this, but EuroUSC say you do....

Commercial insurance - we have £10 million public liability insurance through my company, as it's incorporated with other commercial insurance policies, I do not know the full cost.

How does having CAA certification change the scope of your flying - I understand that it allows you to sell footage and that it allows you to apply for permission to fly in areas/situations not allowed to the general public? Could you give some examples of what's possible with the certification? - It does exactly that, allows you to fly commercially and charge for the service and final photographic products.

I hope some of this helps. I'm still very new at this myself, I can only give my opinion and experiences so far via EuroUSC, so if I'm wrong about anything, please don't shoot the messenger. If you just want to fly, as a hobbiest you can do that almost anywhere, within reason and as long as you have people's safety in mind at all times.

As soon as you want to charge money, even if it's for a biscuit or a bottle of wine as thanks, it's commercial, so it's the CAA permissions route. In my opinion

apsussex · Jun 21, 2015

The Editor said:
Good luck Adrian - just be aware that current wait time for CAA granting PFAW is around 70 days !!!
There is also an issue currently that prople are unsure when to submit for their renewals since the CAA are taking so long to turn things round.

As far as I am aware, people have been getting a quick turn around lately with the CAA, 2 people I know of have had to wait a max of 2 weeks or less to get their PFAW certificate which is amazing. From what I understand its due to an agent assisting someone in the CAA to catch up with the backlog. Whether this continues I have no idea, but I really hope it does.

Adrian do you have your flight exam booked?

Adrian VC · Jun 21, 2015

This is good news

No date for flight exam yet, just submitted my second draft of ops manual back to EuroUSC as a couple of things needed changing... Hopefully will be all ok and then I'll get my date?

What about you?

apsussex · Jun 21, 2015

Sounds great, best of luck with that Adrian, hopefully it will still be fairly quick to sort out. I`m in a very similar situation, just got to submit back my second draft as well, but have one note put on there which is creating a blank for me saying there is likely to be future upgrades for the inspire 1 payload so i need to put a statement about center of gravity and balance limitations.

Adrian VC · Jun 21, 2015

I had the same, had to mark centre of gravity on aircrafts and decided to put in a statement saying no other payloads to be fitted unless they are approved and supplied by the original manufacturers, something like that...

Mossie · Jun 21, 2015

Anybody know whether I have to do the theory exams. I'm a commercial pilot and some schools say i do and some say I don't.
I'm not saying I know it all and it's 25 years since I sat my theory exams, so I've probably forgotten most of it, but I don't want to pay for sitting exams I might be exempt from. Can't get any answer from the CAA regarding this BTW.

SCM660 · Jun 21, 2015

If you hold a commercial pilots licence then you are exempt the theory examinations. You will still need to complete the practical test though. Although we were exempt the theory we still paid to complete an abridged course, as there is a lot of RPAS specific stuff that we weren't aware of with over 50 yrs of Helicopter Flying and Instructing between us. I would recommend doing this as it was invaluable. I would suggest giving Aerial Motion Pictures a try for the training. They are a fairly new accredited provider and based near RAF Benson in Oxfordshire. Really friendly bunch and they follow the policies laid down by the CAA. Once qualified you can fly any airframe within your required weight range so they don't charge for you loads of money for extra tests on different frames. These are the people we used. Highly recommended!