Drones

EUROPEAN REGULATIONS FOR FLYING WITH DRONES

In accordance with European regulations, you must register as an operator (if your drone weighs more than 250 grams) and take an online knowledge test to demonstrate your knowledge as a drone operator. Drone flights are divided into risk categories.

Flights with drones in the so-called 'open category' are not allowed in the local air traffic control areas (CTRs) and are reserved for the so-called 'specific' or 'certified' category.

On the website of the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) you will find more information about flying in that category and what is required to obtain an operating permit.

THE FOLLOWING RULES APPLY TO DRONE FLIGHTS IN THE CTR

• Request permission from the Operational Helpdesk at least 24 hours before the start of the flight. Use GoDrone for this.
• The operator (the company or organization performing the drone flight) submits a flight plan via GoDrone for each series of consecutive flights within one flight area. In the case of several flying areas: one application and flight plan per flying area.
• Once the drone has landed for a period of more than 60 minutes (within one flight area) between two flights, the two consecutive flights are considered two independent flights, requiring an application, flight plan, and clearance independently of each other.

CLEARANCE, FLIGHT PLAN, AND CALLSIGN

In the Netherlands, flying a drone is regarded as a VFR flight. VFR flights are subject to certain legal requirements. Are you flying your drone in controlled airspace? Then you need clearance from the tower controller. You must also submit a flight plan and the obligation of two-way radio contact (RTF) applies.

Planning a mission in GoDrone fulfills the obligation to submit a flight plan. In addition, you can specify your intended callsign in the comments in GoDrone. Your callsigndat is a combination of:

Unmanned, plus

• a logical acronym of the company name (for example: Dutch Drone Organization becomes DDO)
• In the case of this example, the callsign becomes Unmanned DDO (delta delta Oscar).

The Operational Helpdesk coordinates your mission plan with the control tower and, depending on the situation, issues provisional permission. You get the real permission to fly, the clearance, from the tower controller.

To monitor the workload of tower controllers, LVNL can set a maximum for the number of drone flights that take place simultaneously in the CTR. When this maximum has been reached, you will not receive provisional permission from the Operational Helpdesk. The tower controller can also decide for safety reasons not to grant clearance or to (temporarily) withdraw an earlier clearance.

FLIGHT EXECUTION

• The flight is operated under visual flight rules (VFR).
• Special VFR is permitted within UDP if clearance has been received.
• The flight remains within the area permitted by the Operational Helpdesk. To do this, set a geocage that corresponds to the allowed flying area. Test the geocage on the ground prior to flight. You may only request flight clearance from tower traffic control if the geocage is working properly.
• Two-way radio contact is mandatory. The use of a 10 m antenna is recommended for the quality of the signal from a low height.
• If you notice during the flight that two-way radio contact is no longer possible, terminate the flight immediately and call the Operational Helpdesk (or FSC outside the opening hours of the Operational Helpdesk) to cancel the flight.