Flying drones, the rules

[bob10]

From Westprint Friday five.


Drones

Drones(properly known as Remotely Piloted Aircraft) are becoming increasingly popular and CASA is responsible for the governing of these aircraft. Below is a list of operating conditions. Please be aware that during bushfire conditions when aircraft may be operating ‘If you fly, they can’t’.
Below are the standard operating conditions
You must only fly during the day.
You must only fly by visual line of sight (VLOS)-close enough to see, maintain orientationand achieve accurate flight and tracking.
You must fly no higher than 120 metres (400 feet) above ground level.
You must not fly any closer than 30 metres from other people.
You must not fly in a prohibited area or in a restricted area without the permission of the responsible authority.
You must not fly over populous areas, such as beaches, parks and sporting ovals.
You must not fly within 5.5 kilometres (3 nautical miles) of a controlled aerodrome - one with an operating control tower.
You must not fly in the area of a public safety operation without the approval of a person in charge of the emergency response. This includes situations such as a carcrash or any police, fire fighting or search and rescue operations.
You must only fly one RPA at a time.
Want to know more? For details on the changes and general information on drone operations in Australia, including an eLearning module suitable for all operators, visit: www.casa.gov.au/rpa (http://www.casa.gov.au/rpa) email rpas@casa.gov.au

[BigJon]

I fly proper radio control aircraft (with wings, not spinny things :whistling:) at a club field where I am a member. I sometimes fly electric aircraft at a park, but I always follow the rules. I would suspect that many drone "operators" wouldn't have a clue where they can and can't fly. I have seen one above my house on two occasions, the dog doesn't like it at all.

[fitzy]

Shoot them down.
Just curious as to what height above ground level does a property owner have right/ control over.
Anyone?

[Bytemrk]

Totally agree big jon. For anyone who is frying drones - they may be interested in a new App released this week by casa. It's called 'can I fly there' and it seems very good - giving lots of information on what restrictions may be on the area you currently are. I suspect it won't be long before Australia follows many other countries and all drones - including those used recreationally will need to be registered.

Can I fly there? - Drone safety app | Civil Aviation Safety Authority (https://www.casa.gov.au/droneapp)

[Tombie]

Shoot them down.
Just curious as to what height above ground level does a property owner have right/ control over.
Anyone?

Someone did that - and went big time.

Even squirting it down with a hose makes you up for property damage etc...

[fitzy]

Someone did that - and went big time.

Even squirting it down with a hose makes you up for property damage etc...

Hence the question , at what point could the flying thing be trespassing ?

[Tombie]

Hence the question , at what point could the flying thing be trespassing ?

Good question.. remember though people learning in their back yards do make mistakes.. so has to be kept in mind..

As I've been able to find out it's about 500' btw but there's no hard and fast rule.

Btw, it's usually only trespassing if you ask them to leave and they don't.

[fitzy]

Good question.. remember though people learning in their back yards do make mistakes.. so has to be kept in mind..

As I've been able to find out it's about 500' btw but there's no hard and fast rule.

Btw, it's usually only trespassing if you ask them to leave and they don't.

I'm not stressed about it we have one flying around once a fortnight, someone probably having some fun, and possibly perving at my land rovers
One analogy that comes to mind is driving a remote control car onto private property would be covered by the same regs?

[Tins]

Hence the question , at what point could the flying thing be trespassing ?

Irrelevant, really. If someone trespasses, the only 'right' you have is to call the police.

[Meccles]

There was recent article about a woman in Darwin In her backyard and she spotted a drone pretty obviously perving on her. She was nude at the time. It was about 30 m away. On checking- she basically had no rights at all with current legislation. She had to prove ownership and intent to be able to even start process. A real can of worms. A bit like our pitiful consumer protection laws relative to many others.

[Homestar]

Privacy laws in general are way behind in every respect, not just when it comes to drones.

I have several, but fly them for my own enjoyment so take them to large areas a long way from anyone or to make a fly over of places I'm camping, but as the unit I have a camera on is huge, it generally doesn't go far, but when I have a bit of money to spare I'll buy a smaller one for camping and a decent gimbal for my big one that can hold a DLSR camera for some really good pics.

There are plenty of dumb arses around though who don't know or don't care about the rules (probably both)

I don't have to worry about what someone would do I feel I flew it over their property as I would never do that myself without the owners permission (like at the inlaws farm)

[ramblingboy42]

A friend of mine sells, trains operators and flies drones for certain customers whom shall not be mentioned.

His equipment is not small , they carry payloads of up to 25kg.... mostly camera equipment.... but will accurately deliver parcels.

There is no legislation to control who can buy and operate drones of this size. There is also no registration on the drones themselves.

These drones can be downloaded with a flight schedule , an allotted task , a time group to operate and can be left completely to their own device to take off and return to any preset grid reference , anywhere there is satellite transmission available , at any time of day.

He is flat out travelling all over Australia to clients , doesn't know who most of them are or what their real intentions are.

Kind of scary when you consider the payload potential.

BTW , they have collision avoidance systems and fly at altitudes and flight routes that wont bother general aviation anyway.

[pop058]

A friend of mine sells, trains operators and flies drones for certain customers whom shall not be mentioned.

His equipment is not small , they carry payloads of up to 25kg.... mostly camera equipment.... but will accurately deliver parcels.

There is no legislation to control who can buy and operate drones of this size. There is also no registration on the drones themselves.

These drones can be downloaded with a flight schedule , an allotted task , a time group to operate and can be left completely to their own device to take off and return to any preset grid reference , anywhere there is satellite transmission available , at any time of day.

He is flat out travelling all over Australia to clients , doesn't know who most of them are or what their real intentions are.

Kind of scary when you consider the payload potential.

BTW , they have collision avoidance systems and fly at altitudes and flight routes that wont bother general aviation anyway.

Not really collision avoidance but when the return to home function is used, mine climbs to a programmable height (to avoid trees and such) before it returns.

[AK83]

..... There are plenty of dumb arses around though who don't know or don't care about the rules (probably both)

The problem that those dumb arses have zero respect for others, and hence rules need to be made to restrict the level of disrespectfulness they believe to be their right.


..... I don't have to worry about what someone would do I feel I flew it over their property as I would never do that myself without the owners permission (like at the inlaws farm)

That's it .. respect. If everyone had ingrained into their psychology (best done at an early age) .. there be less need for authorities to create rules to meet modern demands .. and then the laws wouldn't necessarily be 'behind the times' every other day!

[Tombie]

Thing is even with the route "smarts", you by law must retain Line of Sight to your drone.. and it's not allowed over people either...

Commercial drones also tend to have 1:5 flight ratio. 1 in every 5 end up in parts replacement.

The biggest risk is BOP strikes taking them down.

25kg Payload is small. Not a particularly large drone or price tag...

I was involved with rotary and fixed wing drones here a while ago - stuff that needs commercial licences and big $$$.

They're pretty impressive! We couldn't fly them on our northern leases without a tonne of paperwork either (WPA) but I can tell you they make light work of Aerial Survey [emoji6]

[BigJon]

Shoot them down.
Just curious as to what height above ground level does a property owner have right/ control over.
Anyone?

Don't know the answer to that, but the rules state that you can't fly them within 30 metres of any persons not involved in the flying of the drone. So I guess if one comes low over your house and it then you hose it down, throw a ball at it, etc, you could claim self defence, or something :tease:.

[Captain_Rightfoot]

Shoot them down.
Just curious as to what height above ground level does a property owner have right/ control over.
Anyone?
Interesting.. this video might be interesting .. from 1 minute. Does the drone affect your enjoyment of your property?

How Much Land do You Really Own Above and Below Your Property? - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7F9V6yZjJXQ)