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UK OSC

Joined
Aug 7, 2016
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Hello,

I have been operating for a few months and had to turn down a few jobs due to the proximity to roads.

I have started to look at submitting an OSC for reduced distance permissions.

Can you submit a general case or do you have to submit one for each specific flight?

Also I have seen that the ANO has been updated but cap 722 is still the same. Any one heard if there are any changes to the standard permissions likely?

Cheers
 
Hi Mike,

I think you probably can obtain a standing safety case as I've seen an operator promoting this (but can't remember which one) though I think this was just for London. So not really much help, sorry.

BUT, I don't if you're aware that the CAA issued clarification on the 50m rule a few months back which may be of help pending your OSC. You can read it here:

http://www.uavacademy.co.uk/caa-clarifies-50m-rule/

Regarding SUSA it basically confirms that 50m can be considered in three dimensions, as a bubble not a radius. So theoretically if the drone is above 50m AGL the ground radius becomes 0m in terms of person, vessel, vehicle, structure (depends on height of structure I guess) not under your control. However all other restrictions within your PFAW will still apply, so no flying directly overhead any of these and nothing that could endanger people or property, etc. Although visually stunning I can't believe some of the footage we see on this forum (particularly from the USA) where flights are clearly being made over towns, cities, highways, etc. - sorry I digress!

So this suggests that once you're airborne and at 50+m AGL you can fly very close to roads so long as you have taken any necessary precautions to ensure it's safe to do so. Be aware that the radius increases surprisingly quickly with a drop in height, approximate distances are: H 49m - R 10m, H 45m - R 20m, H 40m - R 30m, H 30m - R 40m. Strictly speaking the 30m take-off limit increases to 50m once airborne than decreases with altitude but in practice I guess 'take-off' can be considered as continuing until you've reached your operating height.

I'd welcome confirmation / clarification from any other contributors.

Hope this helps.
 
Hi Mike,

I think you probably can obtain a standing safety case as I've seen an operator promoting this (but can't remember which one) though I think this was just for London. So not really much help, sorry.

BUT, I don't if you're aware that the CAA issued clarification on the 50m rule a few months back which may be of help pending your OSC. You can read it here:

CAA Clarifies 50m Rule | The UAV Academy

Regarding SUSA it basically confirms that 50m can be considered in three dimensions, as a bubble not a radius. So theoretically if the drone is above 50m AGL the ground radius becomes 0m in terms of person, vessel, vehicle, structure (depends on height of structure I guess) not under your control. However all other restrictions within your PFAW will still apply, so no flying directly overhead any of these and nothing that could endanger people or property, etc. Although visually stunning I can't believe some of the footage we see on this forum (particularly from the USA) where flights are clearly being made over towns, cities, highways, etc. - sorry I digress!

So this suggests that once you're airborne and at 50+m AGL you can fly very close to roads so long as you have taken any necessary precautions to ensure it's safe to do so. Be aware that the radius increases surprisingly quickly with a drop in height, approximate distances are: H 49m - R 10m, H 45m - R 20m, H 40m - R 30m, H 30m - R 40m. Strictly speaking the 30m take-off limit increases to 50m once airborne than decreases with altitude but in practice I guess 'take-off' can be considered as continuing until you've reached your operating height.

I'd welcome confirmation / clarification from any other contributors.

Hope this helps.
This is exactly how I was able to do a job recently for a local Heritage site (Windmill).
On one side was open fields so no issue but on the other was a road and a level crossing!

I simply flew around the Windmill but increased height as I approached the road/railway side. This brought my horizontal separation down to just a few meters but maintained the required 50m by way of altitude. :)
 
Cheers guys, good info.

I had a chat with the caa today and they were very helpful.

They do not like quads however!

I pointed out that a much heavier octo has it own problems but they seem to think lots of rotors is the winner.

I am submitting my osc with my Inspire anyway so fingers crossed.

Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk
 
Cheers guys, good info.

I had a chat with the caa today and they were very helpful.

They do not like quads however!

I pointed out that a much heavier octo has it own problems but they seem to think lots of rotors is the winner.

I am submitting my osc with my Inspire anyway so fingers crossed.

Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk

Let us know how you get on. I have just received a reply from CAA about clarification on OSC, it took them 7 weeks to reply to my e-mail and then the reply was not answering my question!
 
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