Tuesday 11 August 2020

Legislative regulation of multicopter flights (on the example of strict Russian legislation)

 In the Russian Federation, a permitting procedure has been established for flights of all unmanned aerial vehicles without exception. Article 33 of the Air Code of the Russian Federation determines which UAVs are subject to registration, and which ones are subject to registration, but at present there are no legal consequences for the lack of registration / registration of unmanned aerial vehicles by citizens. For flights without a permit for the use of airspace (IVP), liability is provided under Art. 11.4 Administrative Code - for individuals a fine of up to 5,000 rubles, up to 50,000 rubles. for officials and up to 500,000 rubles. for legal entities. To obtain a permit for air travel within a populated area, an application for an air travel must be submitted in advance to the local self-government body, in which the flight plan must be indicated. At the same time, there are restrictions - in terms of time and territory (prohibited zones and flight restrictions). For example, flights near airports, military and other guarded facilities, correctional facilities are certainly prohibited, and during the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the Federal Air Transport Agency imposed restrictions on air travel over the cities of the championship from June 1 to July 17, 2018.

 

Photo or video filming using unmanned aerial vehicles is separately regulated. Shooting from the air belongs to aerial work, even when it comes to obtaining artistic photographs. In accordance with current legislation, such filming requires:

 

Permission to shoot the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces;

Permission for filming of the operational management of the headquarters of the military district, in the area of ​​responsibility of which the filmed object is located;

Permission from the territorial security agencies of the FSB;

After the filming is completed, the filmed material is transferred to the regional UFSB for declassification and subsequent use in the public domain.

 

Toy multicopters can be freely used at home.

Recently, miniature quadrocopters have appeared that fit in the palm of your hand (Walkera Ladybird, WLtoys V929, Blue Arrow nano Loop, etc.). They are practically safe (the mass of the apparatus is less than 100 g), at the same time, they allow you to get basic flight skills on a multi-rotor apparatus, since the principle of their control is no different. Quadrocopters of this size can be launched at home without risking harm to people or objects.