Kevin, the review on the video is great and this helps everyone... I’m still trying to get my “story’s” down from 4 minutes to 90 seconds ... then I might hashtag mail you haha. But all I have in my mind now days is “tell a story” and that concept seems to make everything else improve... good vid. Thanks again Dylan
Cheers Joseph.. the caveat to the 90 sec is a good story will hold you.. that could be 10 minutes, 2 hours or even just 20 sec.. see the 90sec as a challenge, be brutal with the edit and make one decisions ..👍🏻
I am an 83yo newbie who bought himself a DJI Mini 3 Pro fro Christmas. So far I seem to be breaking al the rules - flying indoors , at night, with the gimbal shield on, in high winds and in a small garden trying to avaoid flying over my neighbour who has made his feelings known about drones. My one credit so far is that I have not crashed her. She is known as Amelia bu the way. Sorry, I'm wafling. I just wanted to say that I stumbled across your channe and #imail looking for afvice about where I can launch from. You have a very entertaining, informative approach which I found very appealing. I have not published any drone videos yer - I am still trying not to crash her - but they will appear soon. I will keep an eye on you and look forward to your next videos. Thank you for the pleasure you are gibing me. Adrian
Hi Dylan. Using Excel is a good idea, with the aid of a few formulas, it could write itself...! KISS is a good mantra, an aircrafts operations manual is thick because an aircraft has redundant backups to make sure it can remain airborne. It could shut down an engine, it's in constant communication with the ground, there's a black box (which is actually orange!), just incase it doesn't make it. If a drone has a problem it falls out of the shy! There's no backups and you need all four motors to stay airborne. So simple is best!
Hi Dylan, thanks for answering my questions, you have confirmed what I was thinking about the operations manual. Thanks also for the critique, again I agree with what you said, I shoot b-roll for a stock agency. This was the last time I flew just before lockdown but hopefully on Thursday Nicola Sturgeon will announce we can go out again in Scotland but we have to stay local. I will have to think more about how each clip is shot and how they could tell a story. Stay safe and keep up the good work.
Great Question John.. especially as they delayed the new legislation, and some who thought they weren't going to renew due to location, now have to.. Keep up the good work, look forward to see what you hit me with..👊💥
Hi, you dont need to add any flight logs as per the last CAA email. You add a file stating no flights were done due to CV, as long as your PfCO is current and not overdue. I did this at the begining of MAY 2020 and my PfCO was renewed. If renewing your Permission, with less than two hours currency If, on submitting your Permission renewal application, due to the Government restrictions you have been unable to carry out your two hours of currency in the last three months, then you can continue to submit your application to renew your Permission, without providing any evidence of currency. When applying to renew your Permission using the online form you will be requested to attach your currency flight logs. As you have not been able to complete any currency flights, in this upload section, please create and upload a document which states, “Unable to carry out any currency flights in the last three months due to the COVID-19 restrictions”. This must be uploaded as part of the requirements to complete the form process. We ask for operators to meet the currency requirement to make sure remote pilots retain the necessary skills required to operate unmanned aircraft safely and to make sure that their unmanned aircraft are working correctly. to achieve this we require the remote pilot to carry out flights for up to an hour before undertaking their next commercial task to ensure everything is in order. There is no specific way to do this but if you have committed to a commercial task you should carry out the currency flight beforehand. This only has to be done once at your next commercial task and not each and every one as you would have ensured your unmanned system is working correctly and you are confident in operating again after not being able to carry out your currency flights previously. You do not have to submit records of this flight to us but should retain records of it should you be subject to an oversight audit.
Scroooo dat, i let my pfco lapse, spent 2k getting it originally, they didnt like my renewal application when i tried to renew so fuk em, I still fly by the rules. Sometimes 🙄. 2:53 - or dont fly atall and fill the log out 😂😂 they changed the laws and i couldnt work out exactly what i was supposed to quote and remove from my manual and what i did change they rejected. Great video bud, i did the same as you with 'excel' for log n battery, worked well
Its a mess to be fair.. especially when they call it a "Standard Permission".. they would save cost/time all around if they produced a "Standard" manual..that you just signed.. 🤷♂️
Ikopta Indeed i totally agree. Im very bitter about it tbh, caa wouldnt even attempt too help me, they just said its youre responsibility to know the rules.. Well I do, but literature, hyperlinks and I dont go well together
I think my PfCO is about average at 50/60 pages long including appendices. I have heard of one which is 15 pages which is very very well written, conversely there are some out there 250 pages +. Whatever the length of the manual the critical thing is that you operate in accordance with it. Make sure you read it every now and then to familiarise yourself with it.
#mail Hi Buddy, can you still sell your historic drone footage i.e stock footage in a a few years time if your PFCO has expired? Keep up the great work.
Good question... legally its about the intention when you shoot the footage as far as CAA concerned. The only other thing to check is that the subject matter isn't covered by image rights..
Excellent video, I just obtained my pfco... I didn’t included a battery log in the Opps manual which was approved as is... So I don’t keep a battery log....
When your ops manual is so complicated you don't bother reading it does that make it safer or more dangerous? I'm in the same boat. PfCO renewal dew 12th July. I used the ops manual template provided by the training provider to write mine last year. Even then it took ages. Can understand we need to know the basics but boy it's so over complicated (& off putting - maybe that's a good thing). I have on-boarded with another provider who now keeps my ops manual current - phew - that takes the pressure of as drone flying is only a small part of what I do. But I live in The Highlands of Scotland so flying a drone up here is perhaps not as complicated as down south. I'm definitely switching to the A2 CofC when it's available in November as being a PfCO (soon to be GVC) holder is too onerous for me. I can understand you need to be really serious about safety and procedures if you're flying around city centres shooting commercials, but that's so different from flying in unpopulated areas so the A2 CofC makes so much more sense. Lasts for 5 years too, which is a bonus. Will still do basic flight planning but all the other stuff is too much unless you're doing it full time and can justify keeping on top of all the reg changes and the admin.
So right Steve.. thats why two things have to happen.. Either we write our own.. just a basic on 3- 4 pages or CAA need to produce a standard we all fly to.. after all, it is called a "standard" permission.
New regulation delayed.. was due July 2020.. because of Covid-19.. earliest Nov 2020.. so if commercial flyer, you still have to renew..even if you expired in August...🤦♂️
I think the PfCO Operations Manual is a a very unfunny joke. When I take my driving license to prove that I can drive safely, the instructor/assessor doesn't just say, "Go on then, show me how you drive". He/she asks me to carry out a series of manoeuvres that provide evidence for a base level of competence. I would expect the CAA to be setting out the framework of the operations manual, I can even imagine an online form that asks you to document how you approach certain aspects of flight safety, maybe even upload videos of flight manoeuvres, or demonstrating a particular practice like navigation. I would expect the output of this form be reviewed by the CAA and approved, after which, you can simply print it out and that's your operations manual. This 'write something down and we'll approve/reject it' is just a crap idea.
With you David... The problem is there is not standard PFCO course, they are all different, just assessed by CAA.. No standard ops manual.. yet they call it a standard permission. The same with all types of regulation," this what you need to achieve , but we won't tell you how to achieve them".. Think they are afraid of liability if their direction its wrong...🤷♂️
@@IkoptaUk If so, they should take themselves aside and ask themselves, "Who in the country is best placed to provide authoritative advice and guidance on flight safety?", then they should grow a pair 😉 Must admit, I voted leave but I do think these new EASA rules are a better way forward; flight safety is flight safety, shouldn't matter _why_ I'm flying.
Kevin, the review on the video is great and this helps everyone... I’m still trying to get my “story’s” down from 4 minutes to 90 seconds ... then I might hashtag mail you haha. But all I have in my mind now days is “tell a story” and that concept seems to make everything else improve... good vid. Thanks again Dylan