Wednesday 1 May 2019
Important update, read and take action.
Following the recent publication of CAP1775 which launched a consultation on the CAA's proposed arrangements for registration fees for operators of unmanned aircraft, the UK model flying associations (BMFA, LMA, SAA & FPVUK) held a meeting last night with advisers.
The text in CAP1775 is far more serious than the issue of registration fees alone. The consultation reveals that key policy decisions (such as age limits, not allowing us to register members on their behalf and repetitive competency requirements) appear to have been imposed on us in the absence of either consultation or the further discussions the DfT/CAA publicly promised earlier this year.
The policies outlined are inconsistent with the EASA Regulations for model flying associations, because they mandate requirements which should instead be subject to negotiation and agreement with us prior to incorporation into our operational authorisation. As the scope of the consultation is limited to the fee arrangements, it does not invite comment on these wider policy issues.
As the CAA/DfT have evaded engagement with us on policy development since the end of 2018 and have now seemingly closed the door on us with CAP1775, we believe that it is now time for members to hold them directly to account.
The document available heresummarises the views of the UK Associations, explains what we hoped to achieve and outlines where we believe the CAA/DfT have failed our members, who are the largest single stakeholder group affected by CAP1775 and details what you can do to help.
Please feel free to use this document as part of a response or print and pass to members who have not received this email.
Unfortunately, the issue of the Journal that you have just received went to print before this happened, which is unfortunate timing!
This call to action is just one element of a wider co-ordinated campaign. There is still a long way to go with this and please be assured it is by no means the end of the story.
We need a big response on this and we would urge every member to help us.
Any questions, as ever, please let me know.
Best Regards
Rob Buckley Secretary - Large Model Association
secretary@largemodelassociation.com
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4 comments:
This is what I sent to my MP - as yet no reply.
Maybe of help to others so copy & paste and send to your MP but you must remember to include you name and address...
I have marked it where you can insert it.
Regards Peter
To: Gordon Henderson MP
Subject: CAA REGISTRATION
Dear Gordon
The CAA have just published a consultation (CAP1775) on their proposed charges for the registration of all operators of unmanned aircraft. While clearly intended to reduce the number of incidents attributed to rogue "drone" operators, it is going to severely impact on the activities of the law-abiding model aircraft community.
The CAA acknowledge that the model aircraft community is not the problem, yet it is highly likely that the *only* people to be affected by this proposal will be the very people whose behaviour is not at issue! Furthermore, the registration process is a clear duplication of effort, as the vast majority of model flyers are already registered with the British Model Flying Association, or one of the smaller sister organisations (Large Model Association and Scottish Aeromodellers Association).
The CAA is proposing to charge £16.50 for this registration process. This appears to be based on the assumption that 170,000 registrations will be made. This is a flawed argument on two accounts.
Firstly, while it is accepted that the EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) regulations do mandate the registration of all operators of unmanned aircraft (including model flyers) in their country of residence, they also state that, in terms of model flying , ‘Associations may register their members into the registration system on their behalf’. The CAA have completely disregarded this option in their consultation document. The consultation document also fails to mention that the charge proposed by the CAA is substantially higher than in other comparable European countries - indeed, in France it is completely free to register!
Secondly, as many "drone" purchases appear to be made via the internet, it is highly unlikely that any purchasers of "drones" will be even aware of the requirement to register. The BMFA has a membership of around 30,000 and the other associations somewhat less. The total for all three is probably less than 70,000. It is therefore difficult to see from where the CAA has plucked this magical figure of 170,000, or how they intend to notify purchasers of this requirement.
The most likely scenario is that the only people likely to register are the existing BMFA / LMA / SAA members, who will then face even steeper charges to make up for the shortfall in income to the CAA. Once again, this government seems to wish to punish the innocent for the crimes of the guilty.
Obviously, this all stems from the incident at Gatwick over the Christmas period. However, the perpetrators of that incident - if indeed the drone ever existed at all - were already in breach of existing, unenforceable regulations. It is difficult to see how this knee-jerk reaction will improve matters.
Indeed, it is widely acknowledged that most of the chaos at Gatwick was actually caused by a Sussex Police drone sent up to try and catch the original drone - and there is no evidence that that original drone even existed!
This is a complete and utter shambles. Unfortunately it seems that the Department for Transport and its minister are only able to lurch from one crisis to another, leaving the long-suffering members of the public paying for their total ineptitude.
I hope you can bring these matters to the attention of someone who can get a grip of the situation, but I suspect that this is a forlorn hope.
Yours Sincerely,
OUR NAME
YOUR FULL ADDRESS.
I doubt it will do any good, but perhaps if enough write in similarly, it might concentrate a few minds - especially in marginal seats, with the possibility of an election looming!
I look forward to some kind of reply to my letter.
https://youtu.be/Lha_puQpOus
News has travelled the world and are just as perplexed as us!! 3😤
Hi Paul.
I have forwarded on your supplied video to Gordon Henderson our MP.
Thx Peter :) still can't believe it... It's the British way make the hard working honest people pay !!! 😤
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