Am I going to keep it up??

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone and also referred to as an unpiloted aerial vehicle and a remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), is an aircraft without a human pilot aboard.

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Shepherd
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Am I going to keep it up??

Unread post by Shepherd »

Hi to the community here...


I need your help, I am not sure what to do next with regards to my RPL...

Been certified for almost 2 years now, this means I need to renew the many degrees of paperwork, check rides, medicals, etc...

Now as it stands, I have a total of 29 mins in my official log book, 11 of those were for my CAA test on the day of getting the license the remaining 18 minutes were two forced training flights with the training school. (I few RC helis for many years, drones are exactly the most challenging thing to control when compared to helis...)

I have not been able to register my DJI drone, because the shop I bought it from years ago dont want to help with getting the ICASA certificate you to submit, etc... So cant build official hours that would help me "show" my skill to a respective ROC, despite many years of RC heli experience as I mentioned before.

SO where have I been flying...

Well I have done some flying in vary remote parts and uncontrolled airspaces and really to be fair this was under hobbyist rules which I did not need an RPL for as it was not for clients or "commercial gain," my own private photos and playing around.

I have also had the pleasure of flying in some other countries while on assignment there and that obviously have enabling laws which allows one to fly for "commercial gain." Thats long for, I spent 5 minutes flying to get an establishing shot of a wedding I photographed in Bali and years ago some work in Mozam.

WHERE does this leave me...

In my heart I want to keep the license active, for many reasons, but on the logical side I am not too keen to pay a few grand and have a paper trophy to show. <--- I know this answers my own question, but what is the sentiments out there from the community...

Are you seeing something I am not in the industry or for the future of UAV's / Drones in SA?

Kind Regards,
Tim
- Commercial Drone Pilot and aspiring PPL/CPL (H)
- Professional Photographer
- Freelance Film Producer
Shepherd
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Posts: 654
Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2012 8:27 am
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Re: Am I going to keep it up??

Unread post by Shepherd »

Long story short...

I have booked my renewal, lets keep this circus going... Something has to change at some time....
- Commercial Drone Pilot and aspiring PPL/CPL (H)
- Professional Photographer
- Freelance Film Producer

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