UK air law is documented in ’The Air Navigation Order’ issued by the Civil Aviation Authority. You can view the ANO it in its entirety here: http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP393.pdf
As model pilots we fall under “Small Unmanned Aircraft” and in some cases “Small Unmanned Surveillance Aircraft” and as such we are exempt from the vast majority of the Air Navigation Order. The articles that do apply to us are: 131, 138, 161, 164, 166, 167, 232
The following 4 are not really relevant to R/C and FPV and paraphrased descriptions are included here only for completeness – please open the PDF if you would like to read them in full.
131 = Dropping for the purposes of agriculture
161 = Power to prohibit or restrict flying
164 = A glider must not be winched or ground towed above 60 metres
232 except 232(2)(a) = CAA’s power to stop flying
The articles which are relevant to R/C, and FPV flying are: 138, 166 and 167.
Bold parts in the text below have been added by FPV UK to emphasise the key points.
Endangering safety of any person or property
138 A person must not recklessly or negligently cause or permit an aircraft to endanger any person or property.
Small Unmanned Aircraft
166 (1) A person must not cause or permit any article or animal (whether or not attached to a parachute) to be dropped from a small unmanned aircraft so as to endanger persons or property.
(2) The person in charge of a small unmanned aircraft may only fly the aircraft if reasonably satisfied that the flight can safely be made.
(3) The person in charge of a small unmanned aircraft must maintain direct, unaided visual contact with the aircraft sufficient to monitor its flight path in relation to other aircraft, persons, vehicles, vessels and structures for the purpose of avoiding collisions.
(4) The person in charge of a small unmanned aircraft which has a mass of more than 7kg excluding its fuel but including any articles or equipment installed in or attached to the aircraft at the commencement of its flight, must not fly the aircraft:
(a) in Class A, C, D or E airspace unless the permission of the appropriate air traffic control unit has been obtained;
(b) within an aerodrome traffic zone during the notified hours of watch of the air traffic control unit (if any) at that aerodrome unless the permission of any such air traffic control unit has been obtained; or
(c) at a height of more than 400 feet above the surface unless it is flying in airspace described in sub-paragraph (a) or (b) and in accordance with the requirements for that airspace.
(5) The person in charge of a small unmanned aircraft must not fly the aircraft for the purposes of aerial work except in accordance with a permission granted by the CAA.
Small Unmanned Surveillance Aircraft
167 (1) The person in charge of a small unmanned surveillance aircraft must not fly the aircraft in any of the circumstances described in paragraph (2) except in accordance with a permission issued by the CAA.
(2) The circumstances referred to in paragraph (1) are:
(a) over or within 150 metres of any congested area;
(b) over or within 150 metres of an organised open-air assembly of more than 1,000 persons;
(c) within 50 metres of any vessel, vehicle or structure which is not under the control of the person in charge of the aircraft; or
(d) subject to paragraphs (3) and (4), within 50 metres of any person.
(3) Subject to paragraph (4), during take-off or landing, a small unmanned surveillance aircraft must not be flown within 30 metres of any person.
(4) Paragraphs (2)(d) and (3) do not apply to the person in charge of the small unmanned surveillance aircraft or a person under the control of the person in charge of the aircraft.
(5) In this article ‘a small unmanned surveillance aircraft’ means a small unmanned aircraft which is equipped to undertake any form of surveillance or data acquisition.
At first it would appear that FPV flying would fall under article 167 for small unmanned surveillance aircraft because the ANO definition of an unmanned surveillance aircraft is as above in 167(5). However in situations where a camera is used for the sole purpose of controlling the aircraft the flight is not considered surveillance or data acquisition. CAP 722 (http://www.caa.co.uk/cap722) article 3.6 in Section 3 Chapter 1 page 4 refers to this, copied here: “The provision of image or other data solely for the use of controlling or monitoring the aircraft is not considered to be applicable to the meaning of ‘Surveillance or Data Acquisition’ covered at Article 167 for Small Unmanned Surveillance Aircraft.”
However if the video is captured in some way and used for other purposes the CAA considers the flight to have been for data acquisition and article 167 does apply.
Exemption to Article 166(3)
On the 26th September 2012 the CAA issued a general exemption to 166(3) of the Air Navigation Order 2009 for all UK model aircraft flyers wishing to fly FPV without a buddy lead but only under certain conditions.
The complete exemption is reproduced here:
Small Unmanned Aircraft – First Person View (FPV) Flying *1
1) The Civil Aviation Authority, in exercise of its powers under article 242 of the Air Navigation Order 2009 (‘the Order’), exempts any person in charge of a Small Unmanned Aircraft (SUA) from the requirement at article 166(3) of the Order to ensure that direct unaided visual contact is maintained with the aircraft sufficient to monitor its flight path in relation to other aircraft, persons, vehicles, vessels and structures for the purpose of avoiding collisions.
2) This Exemption only applies if the conditions at paragraphs 3 to 7 are met.
3) a) The person in charge is the person piloting the SUA *2
b) The person in charge is accompanied by a competent observer who maintains direct unaided visual contact with the SUA sufficient to monitor its flight path in relation to other aircraft, persons, vehicles, vessels and structures for the purpose of avoiding collisions and advises the person in charge accordingly.
c) The maximum take-off mass of the SUA does not exceed 1.8 kg for an aeroplane, or 2.5 kg for a rotorcraft, including any batteries or fuel.
4) The person in charge must not fly the SUA:
a) in Class A, C, D or E airspace unless permission of the appropriate air traffic control unit has been obtained;
b) within an aerodrome traffic zone during the notified hours of watch of the air traffic control unit (if any) at that aerodrome unless permission of any such air traffic control unit has been obtained;
c) at a height of more than 400 feet above the surface;
d) over or within 150 metres of any congested area;
e) over or within 150 metres of an organised open-air assembly of more than 1,000
persons;
f) within 50 metres of any vessel, vehicle or structure which is not under the control of the person in charge of the aircraft;
g) within 50 metres of any other person, apart from the competent observer, except when taking off or landing; or
h) within 30 metres of any other person, apart from the competent observer, during take-off or landing.
5) For the purposes of this Exemption, a ‘competent observer’ means someone whom the person in charge of the SUA has designated as the competent observer.
6) Before designating someone as the competent observer, the person in charge of the SUA must be satisfied that he or she:
a) has been briefed in accordance with paragraph 7;
b) is competent to perform the tasks which he or she may be called upon to perform in accordance with paragraph 7; and
c) is competent, by direct unaided visual observation of the SUA, to assist and advise the person in charge with the safe conduct of the flight.
7) The person in charge must ensure that:
a) the competent observer is fully briefed on the planned flight and what is expected
of him/her taking into account the prevailing conditions;
b) the competent observer understands that he/she must stay directly adjacent to the person in charge and maintain direct unaided visual contact with the SUA at all times, to visually and aurally monitor the airspace for other aircraft and the take off and landing area for any persons;
c) the competent observer has been instructed on the actions to take in the event of another aircraft being spotted and a risk of collision is assessed; and
d) the competent observer understands that he/she must advise if the SUA is proceeding beyond the point at which he/she is able to monitor its flight path sufficiently to identify a risk of collision.
(8) This Exemption has effect from the date hereof until 30 September 2013, unless previously revoked.
*1. First Person View flying is the ability to control a radio controlled aircraft from a “pilot’s eye” perspective through the use of an onboard camera and ground based receiving and viewing equipment. The viewing equipment is normally a set of video goggles.
*2. The person in charge remains responsible for the safety of the operation and may only fly the SUA if reasonably satisfied that the flight can safely be made.
J E Benyon
for the Civil Aviation Authority
24 September 2012
NOTE: This exempts only from article 166(3). The other provisions of article 166 and the whole of article 167 continue to apply, so far as may be applicable. In particular, article 166(5) prohibits flight for the purposes of aerial work except in accordance with a permission granted by the CAA.