The new regulations make no distinction between fixed wing and drones, in fact if it is not a balloon or a kite and flies outdoors, then it's a drone and covered by the regulations,, no exceptions. That means a 250g quad is considered just
as dangerous the same as a 10kg 1/3rd scale Spitfire. Our club guy is quiet pissed because this new clarification makes DLG and flight line models now drones if over 250g and the flight line field is within the new Gatwick NFZ.
That document issued by Failing Grayling is laughable, they couldn't even get the details of the exemption issued to BMFA members by the CAA right, so what hope is there of them not one upping the Canadians when this all goes before Parliment and doing something stupid like making all objects in the air such as birds, illegal.
I asked the CAA for clarification a while ago on what was considered a drone and they couldn't give it because even they didn't know, I asked this because under the way the wording was, it made an r/c car doing stunts at the local skate park a drone, along with footballs, cricket balls etc. I'm glad to see they have clarified it now, but it's still about as clear as mud.
Our club has quiet a good relationship with the local airfield and they've already said they'll give us an exemption if the time comes because these new regulations have now made the 20+ years established flying fields illegal.
As for the "video", we live three clicks from the Police/AA base and that "drone hovering ove the runway" looked an awful lot like the copper chopper does when it's on final approach, so I wouldn't be suprised if again, someone saw the helicopter hovering and screamed drone, which is incidentally what happened a Gatwick.
As
@FDS says, the coppers are so over stretched around here, it took them three days to respond to a burglary in progress at the school over the road last year, so what hope have they of nicking me with my race quad when the battery runs out after 5minutes. Although given that they will be able to issue fixed penalty fines, it wouldn't surprise me if drone reports were given higher priority than burglary and murder, that just the kind of incompetence I've come to expect from Surrey and Susex plod.