On 01.01.2021, the new EU drone regulation will come into force.
It means many changes for pilots and UAV operators.
Until then, we will regularly explain to you the essential changes from the delegate and implementing regulation of the Commission. Today we will be dealing with the class identifications. These are classes in which unmanned aerial vehicles must be classified based on their technical details.
There are 7 classes in total. They are defined from C0 to C6. They provide information on where and how the aircraft is allowed to fly.
MTOM < 250 g
Maximum speed horizontal flight of 19 m/s
Max. flight altitude 120 m above ground
Remote identification not necessary
MTOM < 900 g
OR constructed so that, on impact at terminal velocity against a human head, the energy transmitted is less than 80 joules
Maximum speed horizontal flight of 19 m/s
Max. flight altitude 120 m above ground
Remote identification necessary
MTOM < 4 kg
No maximum speed
Max. flight altitude 120 m above ground
Remote identification necessary
MTOM < 25 kg
No maximum speed
Max. flight altitude 120 m above ground
Remote identification necessary
MTOM < 25 kg
No maximum speed
No max. flight altitude
Remote identification not necessary
No MTOM
No maximum speed
No max. flight altitude
Remote identification not necessary
No MTOM
Maximum speed horizontal flight of 180 km/h
No max. flight altitude
Remote identification not necessary
COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) 2019/945 describes remote identification as “a system that ensures the local transmission of information about a UA in operation and includes the identification of the UA so that this information can be retrieved without physical access to the UA.”
The data sent out by the aircraft:
- UAS operator number
- Serial number
- Position data and current altitude
- Flight direction
- Airspeed
- Starting point/position of the pilot
*Classes C5 and C6 can be considered C3 class drones with additional requirements.
Ideally, you should know where you want to fly and how you want to use the drone before you buy a new device. Accordingly, choosing a suitable drone.
The introduction of UAV-classes is intended to simplify drone registration. The higher the class, the more complicated the procedure.
There will be a transition period until 01.01.2023 for already purchased and older devices. So they will be allowed to fly until New Year 2023. We will elaborate in part 2 of this blog series.
The class of your UAV also determines the operating category in which it may be flown.
What this means will be explained in Part 2: “The Operating Categories”.
This article is part of a series about innovations and changes due to the EU drone regulation. Among other things, we will explain how the new operating categories are divided, which requirements drones and pilots must meet on which deadlines, and what changes are taking place in the airspace for unmanned aircraft. We welcome feedback, additions, and suggestions in order to provide all readers with understandable and up-to-date information.
Your FlyNex Team
Source: DELEGATED COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) 2019/945; Annex Part 1 to Part 17
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