Solved Petrol Planes And the New laws

[OlliePackman]

I am so confused with the new laws with RC. I have registered with the BMFA as a Junior and taken my online proficiency test because my planes are above 250g so I am fine there. However, what are the rules regarding my age (14) country (UK) and flying petrol Planes.

 

[Piotrsko]

That's a question for @CarolineTyler

 

[CarolineTyler]

I am so confused with the new laws with RC. I have registered with the BMFA as a Junior and taken my online proficiency test because my planes are above 250g so I am fine there. However, what are the rules regarding my age (14) country (UK) and flying petrol Planes.

There's no difference regarding the method of powering your plane. I would definitely join a club if going for engines, the whole running them, tuning them etc is more of an art that is best learnt with a mentor.

 

[FDS]

Anything over 250g requires you to fly with a registered adult operator, you can not fly any 250g + plane on your own, because you are too young to be an operator, you can be a pilot. Your BMFA A licence only exempts you from the dumb online test, it doesn’t mean you can fly alone. It also means you will have to have an operator register in order to get the operator ID you are supposed to put on your planes somewhere.
If you are flying in a sensible place and being responsible the chances of the police rocking up to check your licence are virtually nil however.
A club may provide the operator at the field for you but they won’t be able to do that for you to get an ID number.
There may be changes as we go along as well. As @CarolineTyler suggests actively attending your local club will now be the best solution to your problem, as they will clarify things and their field will be ideal for flying gassers on.

 

[OlliePackman]

Anything over 250g requires you to fly with a registered adult operator, you can not fly any 250g + plane on your own, because you are too young to be an operator, you can be a pilot. Your BMFA A licence only exempts you from the dumb online test, it doesn’t mean you can fly alone. It also means you will have to have an operator register in order to get the operator ID you are supposed to put on your planes somewhere.
If you are flying in a sensible place and being responsible the chances of the police rocking up to check your licence are virtually nil however.
A club may provide the operator at the field for you but they won’t be able to do that for you to get an ID number.
There may be changes as we go along as well. As @CarolineTyler suggests actively attending your local club will now be the best solution to your problem, as they will clarify things and their field will be ideal for flying gassers on.

I'm in a club already. What is the operator register?

 

[FDS]

If you are under 18 you can only be a PILOT, the CAA want anyone under that age to be supervised by an OPERATOR, they are the ADULT registered either with the BMFA or via the govt registration scheme. In practice it means nobody under 18 can fly anything over 250g unsupervised. Your club cannot currently be your OPERATOR.
To stay totally the right side of the law an adult will have to register and complete the operators test to take responsibility for you, wether you are a BMFA member or not, since you are under 18. It’s rubbish, unenforceable and discriminatory like the rest of the scheme. You won’t have to take the govt PILOT test, as your BMFA licence is enough for that.

 

[OlliePackman]

If you are under 18 you can only be a PILOT, the CAA want anyone under that age to be supervised by an OPERATOR, they are the ADULT registered either with the BMFA or via the govt registration scheme. In practice it means nobody under 18 can fly anything over 250g unsupervised. Your club cannot currently be your OPERATOR.
To stay totally the right side of the law an adult will have to register and complete the operators test to take responsibility for you, wether you are a BMFA member or not, since you are under 18. It’s rubbish, unenforceable and discriminatory like the rest of the scheme. You won’t have to take the govt PILOT test, as your BMFA licence is enough for that.

Right that makes sense now. Funny that I can't fly an rc plane but I have soloed a full size glider.

 

[FDS]

Yeah, that shows the level of stupid that our government operates on.

 

[quorneng]

I am not defending the scheme but to be fair to get your gliding solo you had to be monitored and approved to do so by a BGA qualified instructor if flying at a registered site.
My own guess is that eventually we will end up with a similar sort of thing for all RC UAS operations.

 

[FDS]

My personal hope is they abandon the nonsense scheme altogether and just make all 250g+ pre built drones geofence airports, then go back to the previous system of leaving us alone to enjoy flying.

 

[OlliePackman]

I am not defending the scheme but to be fair to get your gliding solo you had to be monitored and approved to do so by a BGA qualified instructor if flying at a registered site.
My own guess is that eventually we will end up with a similar sort of thing for all RC UAS operations.

Yeah, it would be good if you had to get your A certification and then u could fly on your own or something like that.

 

[FDS]

It discriminates against young flyers, especially those who have gone down the BMFA or other certified route. The whole thing is BS.
Most “problem” fliers are middle aged blokes who bought an expensive camera drone and think that the act of opening their wallet qualifies them to do what they like with it.

 

[OlliePackman]

It discriminates against young flyers, especially those who have gone down the BMFA or other certified route. The whole thing is BS.
Most “problem” fliers are middle aged blokes who bought an expensive camera drone and think that the act of opening their wallet qualifies them to do what they like with it.

True. The types of teenagers that actually go outside to do things things like fly a model aren't generally the ones that are likely to be silly or unsafe with it anyway.

 

[FDS]

Exactly. Plus it’s hardly a cheap hobby. Most of the throwaway drones and planes are awful and more of a danger to the ground than anything else!
The only reason they didn’t want clubs to be the operator was so they could collect more money and data directly.

 

[OlliePackman]

Exactly. Plus it’s hardly a cheap hobby. Most of the throwaway drones and planes are awful and more of a danger to the ground than anything else!
The only reason they didn’t want clubs to be the operator was so they could collect more money and data directly.

Yes, and there is enough money coming from me into the sport already!