What rules should you follow if you own a drone below 250 g?

Maura N.

The Last Black Unicorn
The biggest advantage of owning a drone under 250 g is that you don’t have to register it. However, weight is not the only aspect you need to be aware of. There are other regulations that still apply. In the US, drones are considered UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle).

Here are a few regulations that you need to be aware of:

1. Never fly your drone near another aircraft

2. Never fly your drone after consuming alcohol or drugs

3. Always stay below 400 ft above the ground level (or the maximum height allowed for that specific area)

4. Always keep a safe distance when flying over people.

5. Never fly over crowds. Big groups of people cannot move away quickly because of their number and other people around them. Examples of such crowds are: sports events, marches and rallies, music festivals and concerts, etc.
 
I will be honest with you guys. I did not know there were these rules, because I heard everyone talking that if you own a drone under 250g, you do not have to worry about regulations.
 
I will be honest with you guys. I did not know there were these rules, because I heard everyone talking that if you own a drone under 250g, you do not have to worry about regulations.
I talked with many drone owners and most of them have the same idea, that they don't have to worry about any rules just because of the weight limit. This is a common misconception.
 
Up until this point I had no idea that I cannot fly a drone if I drink a beer
Every day you learn something new I guess. It is the same for me, some of these rules are new for me as well but now I know. I started to do a bit of research online and I found even more. I really need to update my knowledge about drones
 
I tweaked what @Maura wrote above at German standards. As a Drone pilot i went through a training and did a test which got me a personal id (drone pilot) and a personal number which is also required to have when flying and or requested. The drone in it's category it's required to be registered and needs to be handled with caution and respect for privat sphere.


Here are a few regulations that you need to be aware of:

1. Never fly your drone near another aircraft. (A drone pilot must use his hearing and visual sense's and as long as his drone is in the air if there is an aproaching flying maschine the Drone pilot is required to land it's drone as soon as possible in a safe matter.) Also to this rule a drone pilot is not allowed to lift his drone in a closed aerial space such as those near airports, hospital's etc...

2.Never fly your drone after consuming alcohol or drugs

3. Always stay below 400 ft above the ground level (or the maximum height allowed for that specific area). (In European standards being somewhere near 400ft could get you in trouble, there is however a must that the drone pilot must respect the 120m celling.(393ft))

4. Always keep a safe distance when flying over people. (There are exceptions to this rule and here there are those special drone licenses which allow the pilot to do such manovers over crowds at events, but that doesn't mean that it's safe... Accident's can happen.)

5. Never fly over crowds. Big groups of people cannot move away quickly because of their number and other people around them. Examples of such crowds are: sports events, marches and rallies, music festivals and concerts, etc. ( No amateur drone Pilot is allowed such manovers with any type of drones).


Also very important to know when traveling to other countries it's very important to first inform yourself on the Law's regarding drone flying. Every country has it's own rules regarding Drones...

In the end I leave you a spreadsheet if you take your time and translate it, it's about what is about to happen if you break the law. (It's in German).


Infografik-Welche-Strafen-fuer-Drohne-zu-hoch-fliegen-768x576.png
 
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I'm posting this warning to all fellow European Drone colleagues, considering the development of the Ukraine war and escalations, NATO is holding more intense training drills on different European countries. That said please take into notice that the airspace in your country might be closed during such exercises and flying your Drone in those situations could lead to hard consequences...

In this link i'm posting only for informational purposes, the schedule in which NATO will do training exercises and in which country.

Be extra vigilent about local news regarding such drills to be better informed.

Best regards,

AMV


https://shape.nato.int/nato-exercises
 
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