Drones, RPAS, UAVs…

Most of us know them as “drones”, they’re legally called RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems) and commonly called all sorts of other things. In Australia operation of drones is regulated by CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority).

How does it all work?

Drones in Australia operate under CASR Part 101 and the Part 101 Manual of standards. These pieces of legislation set out all sorts of rules and limitations.

To start with let’s look at the SOC (Standard Operating Conditions). Under the SOC an operator must:

  • Fly below 120m or 400ft above groound level (AGL)
  • Fly within the visual line of sight of the pilot
  • Not fly within 30m horizontally of people (whether those people are inside a building or vehicle or not)
  • Not fly over populous areas (think suburbs, concerts, sports grounds…)
  • Not fly over or near emergency services activities
  • Not fly close to other aircraft or controlled airspace
  • …

It’s a pretty restrictive set of conditions.

Then there’s the matter of licencing. If you operate a “very small” excluded category (under 2kg) drone and you operate it within the SOC you must register the drone with CASA and you must have a commercial accreditation and an Aviation Reference Number (ARN) from CASA.

If you want to fly larger drones and fly outside the SOC then there’s another set of hurdles.

Commercial Drone Operators

Commercial drone operators, like Zuline AvTerra, operate under a more complex regulatory regime and can operate in much more complex environments. Under this regime operators and pilots need:

  • A ReOC (Remote Operators Certificate). Our ReOC number is 8886 and you can check it out here
  • A RePL (Remote Pilots Licence) for each pilot
  • An operations manual approved by CASA which sets out what we can do and how we can do it

This means that Zuline AvTerra can do things like:

  • Fly drones at night;
  • Apply for approval from CASA to fly close to controlled airports (places like Melbourne and Sydney airports) and in other restricted areas (like Sydney Harbour)
  • Seek approval for EVLOS (Extended Visual Line of Sight) operations;
  • In certain circumstances fly closer than 30m horizontally from people;
  • And much more…

Ask us about your job requirements. We love solving operational challenges.