UAV's and regulations/training

MrSing

I have a few questions on regulations and licencing on using UAV'S, Hopefully some of you can give me some pointers

First off i'm considering an financial investment in aerial technology for commercial reasons and I want to do everything above board with licencing/training and being registered with the IAA or whatever bodies or regulations are required to use this technology in a commercial manner.


I have read the IAA guidelines on the use of UAV'S but its pretty basic

What kind of training is available to fly these craft

This is page one for me here, I can see potential in this technology on a pretty large scale in the near future, maybe i'm wrong.

Any advice would be very much appriciated

Watch Ryder

The training is either or through a hobby group or just teach yourself as you go along.

Keep clear of public areas / crowds and take it at your own pace. Don't get too over-confident.

I taught my self everything about this, you can too.

Gatling

There's more to it than that this coming from a noob.
Especially if your planning to fly commercially

mr potato head

If you haven't flown any R/C before, get something cheap to learn basic flight skills and get some idea of the motor skills needed. If you can do this through a club/group you can accelerate your learning curve and get pointers.
Crashing a €1000 DJI Phantom is bad enough, never mind a €5000-€20,000 commercial platform, breaking a couple of cheaper bits will be money worth spending.
Another useful bit of kit is a simulator which works with R/C radio gear.

If it's a multirotor you will be looking to work with get a ready-to-fly micro quadcopter (Eachine 3D X4 or Hubsan X4) you can fly them indoors they cost €30-€35 from china. Then look at building something a little bigger which can carry a action cam, I suggest building one because it will give you a grounding in the repair and upkeep of the systems before you invest €1000's
If its a fixed wing get a trainer plane first, then build a fixed wing which can carry an action cam to learn about basic aerial imaging.

As Watch Ryder says, be sensible about where you fly while you are learning, if you can find private land to practice on it will make learning safer and less stressful.
The only way to get good at flying is practice!

If you are going to fly commercially you should look at doing RPAS Training. This is generally Ground School first, then you work though preparing the documents you need for managing your flight safety (Operations Handbook) and then a flight test.
It will cost the guts of €2000-€2500 to do it, but if you want to do full commercial work you will need to do it and get insurance.

Some FAQs here: iFly FAQ

There are a few IAA approved training centres, it's worth ringing around and asking what training they provide. Might be worth asking about what platforms they provide training for (fixed wing, small multirotor, large multirotor), and what applications (film, surveying, inspection etc.). There might be one which suits the type of work you are looking to do and know about the platform you are thinking of using.

EuroUSC
SkyTec Ireland
RPAS Ireland
iFly Technology
National Flight Centre

MrSing

mr potato head wrote: »

If you haven't flown any R/C before, get something cheap to learn basic flight skills and get some idea of the motor skills needed. If you can do this through a club/group you can accelerate your learning curve and get pointers.
Crashing a €1000 DJI Phantom is bad enough, never mind a €5000-€20,000 commercial platform, breaking a couple of cheaper bits will be money worth spending.
Another useful bit of kit is a simulator which works with R/C radio gear.

If it's a multirotor you will be looking to work with get a ready-to-fly micro quadcopter (Eachine 3D X4 or Hubsan X4) you can fly them indoors they cost €30-€35 from china. Then look at building something a little bigger which can carry a action cam, I suggest building one because it will give you a grounding in the repair and upkeep of the systems before you invest €1000's
If its a fixed wing get a trainer plane first, then build a fixed wing which can carry an action cam to learn about basic aerial imaging.

As Watch Ryder says, be sensible about where you fly while you are learning, if you can find private land to practice on it will make learning safer and less stressful.
The only way to get good at flying is practice!

If you are going to fly commercially you should look at doing RPAS Training. This is generally Ground School first, then you work though preparing the documents you need for managing your flight safety (Operations Handbook) and then a flight test.
It will cost the guts of €2000-€2500 to do it, but if you want to do full commercial work you will need to do it and get insurance.

Some FAQs here: iFly FAQ

There are a few IAA approved training centres, it's worth ringing around and asking what training they provide. Might be worth asking about what platforms they provide training for (fixed wing, small multirotor, large multirotor), and what applications (film, surveying, inspection etc.). There might be one which suits the type of work you are looking to do and know about the platform you are thinking of using.

EuroUSC
SkyTec Ireland
RPAS Ireland
iFly Technology
National Flight Centre

Thanks, that was a very helpful response.

I have not flown any R/C before and I'm totally new to it, on the positive side I'm looking into this with a partner who has photography/film production/editing background so at least one of us knows what we are doing.

Would we be nuts to purchase an Inspire 1 and learn all the in's and out's about that particular craft (with some training beforehand obviously) as it seems pretty automated and programmable if you know what I mean, it has a lot of specs we were looking for and the indoor flight setup with sonar is exactly what we want.

tawnyowl

The answers to these could be put in stickies, say:
*One for regulations/licencing.
*One for training advice.
*One for suggestions for models for beginners and other skill levels.

Watch Ryder

This is what I started on:

This is what I transitioned to:

This is what I'm on now:

Take it up in stages, you'll get there mate.