Everyone is Matt Williams, mr. mpw, and in today’s drone expert secrets, video we’re going to talk about separation distances everyone, its Matt Williams, mr. mpw, welcome to the channel. If you are new here, welcome we’re here to help you learn and build and grow, hopefully build a successful, growing business and if nothing else, to fly safely and understand the rules and regulations. If you’re new, please don’t forget to subscribe to channel press that Bell button.

Next, to subscribe button just that you stay up-to-date with all of the new content that were dropping all the time. If you do like the videos smash that thumbs up button, give us a like that really helps us out. You don’t like it press that thumbs down button twice and drop your reasoning down in the comments below. So here we go one of the biggest things. I think that one of the biggest bones of contention that we’ve had over the last few years since really the drone regulations existed all the way back in what 2014 2013 when the first ones came in is the kind of context or the idea this.

This concept of the separation distances now the CIA recently bought out a new version of the cap 7 to 2, which is our guidance document as drone operators. It’S now split into two different volumes as cap 72, a which is the document really which lets us as drone operators, know what we can and can’t do. It helps us to understand the law as it’s written within the air navigation order and then Part B perhaps isn’t relevant to most people at the moment. That is primarily aimed at the training organizations the NQ EES, as they are at the moment when you’re watching this video. Who knows what they’re going to be called?

You know, but at the moment, up until the middle of July or until June July 2020. We think that those organization will be called NQ E’s and they are who the cap 70 to be is primarily aimed at now. Separation distances the long and the short of it is that if you don’t have a PFC, oh you must. You must at the moment, stay more than 150 meters, 150 meters or more away from a congested area. You must also stay 50 meters or more from any person vessel vehicle or structure, and that is how it is in the air navigation order done now.

That is all well and good, but those separation distances are amended slightly and what we can and can’t do with in congested areas is amended slightly for permission for commercial operation holders, the PF Co holders and the PF Co. The wording on the PFC – Oh, has changed slightly over the last 18 months and it now allows in black and white operations in congested areas. So once you have your PFC, oh – and this is one of the main advantages above – I guess, having a PFC. Oh we’ve talked about that in previous videos on the channel is that you can now operate your drone inside congested areas, which is awesome, but that doesn’t mean – and this is some that we’ve seen on the forums. This is something that we’re getting questions about all the time on the channel.

Now that doesn’t necessarily mean that you can fly anywhere in a congested area. All it allows you to do realistically is to fly in a congested area where you can maintain the appropriate separation distances. The CAA have also removed the line which used to be in the PS gos, which said that you couldn’t directly over fly a congested area so that in itself has opened up a whole can of worms. We’Ve talked about that in one of the previous videos. I’Ll cover it again in a second, if I get chance and can get round to it in time, but the separation distance thing that we’re going to talk about today briefly, and I will dive into it in more detail – we’re going to do a couple of videos On this, where we’ll throw some trigonometry in which may confuse the situation of, hopefully it doesn’t.

Hopefully it makes things more simple for you. What we’re going to talk about is the idea that the CIA have put forwards in the cap of 72, a the latest version version, seven that came out on the 30th of July 20, 1944 in the drone industry. The separation distances were 50 meters from any person vessel vehicle or structure. You couldn’t over fly a congested area, although you could potentially operate inside a congested area, and that was a column that was centered on the aircraft that extended up to space. So you physically couldn’t put anyone or anything within that 50 meters.

Unless it was under your control, then the kind of rumour mill started that the CIA were telling some people that actually all he needed to do is maintain a 50 meter separation and the word in change slightly in the PFC. Oh, that removed the 50 meters. Lateral separation, so all of a sudden everyone starts to talk about a bubble, and that was a bubble around the aircraft was the room. Now then, this has now been nailed down in black and white and, as you can see on the screen, the CIA have now confirmed that it is a 50 meter bubble around the aircraft, but that is only once you are airborne, so you still need to maintain A 30 meter, lateral separation from anything or anyone, not under your control during takeoff and landing, then once you are above, I suppose, effectively the the 50 meters in height you’re, then into this situation, where the aircraft is surrounded by a bubble. Now then, this is actually really good.

I think because it provides a lot more flexibility and what you can and can’t do, and it means that actually, some operations can now be conducted without an operating safety case and OSC in congested areas where perhaps, if we would maintain in to the letter of the Law, the intent of the regulations originally, if we were maintaining that 50 meter separation once we’re airborne, things were very difficult, but the one thing I would say that the bubble doesn’t do is remove our responsibilities as a remote pilot, your responsibility as an sua operator. If that’s the position you hold to enable or allow or convince people to overfly persons, vessels vehicles or structures, not under your control. Now, yes, by the letter of the law, you can do it absolutely and people are – and I would say now – we’ve kind of got the evidence in the data that suggests that drones can do this and do it safely. But what a would suggest is a modicum of caution in that, because if heaven forbid something goes wrong and that aircraft was to fall onto someone or damaged something, then you will be liable. You could potentially be liable for prosecution under the air navigation order, and probably article 241.

You know, and the reckless endangerment side of things endangering human life side of things than the a navigation order, and again we’ve talked about those in previous videos. If your drone was to hurt someone – as I say, it’s very unlikely to happen nowadays, but this is where really the OSC comes in. I agree with what everyone says: the OSCE doesn’t intrinsic make people safer, but what it does do is force people to think about their risk assessment. Think about more importantly, I say their risk mitigations so that when they are overflying persons, vessels vehicles structures not under their control when you are over flying congested areas, you’re doing it as safely as possible. You’Re, not just taking a Mavic which has no redundancy forget.

Don’T forget up and flying it over someone or something which isn’t under your control, so yeah separation. This is it it’s a lot simpler now than it used to be, and as long as you maintain that 50 meter bubble around the aircraft, you know you can over fly things. A kind of 60 meters potentially and you’ve got that 10 meter separation, but you’ve just got to be really careful, don’t flout the rules and regulations, but certainly operate within them. We will, as I say, dive into in future videos the trigonometry, if that 50 meters, which may mean that you could fly 37 meters in height above the surface and actually be 33. I think it is when you do the trigonometry something like thirty three point.

Four meters away from things and we’ll do that trigonometry will we’ll do a video for that when we get the opportunity to. But if you’ve got any questions about this, if you’ve got any points about this, please drop them down in the comments below please get in touch mat at mr M PWM we’ve got questions coming in all the time now, which is really good. I hope you’re enjoying the content and before I go sorry I’ll just out of them. One thing you still even with a PFC. Oh, if you don’t have an operating safety case, you need to stay a hundred and fifty meters away from organised open-air Assemblies of a thousand people or more.

So yes, if there’s 999 people you can get to within 50 metres of them. If there’s a thousand or more you’ve got to stay 150 metres away, I would say – and this is really kind of semantics – if there’s nine hundred people stay 150 metres away all right again. Yes, some are arguing and they’re saying that if there’s no notice how people within the law, I can get that close, but I wouldn’t risk it. I was still personally from an aviation perspective, and I think this is where we’re at now there’s people crossing over from the aviation side and that safety element of it. The industry seems to be getting more and more mute.

It which is fine because, as the technology improves and advances and redundancies are built in then maybe we can start to do things more safely and where originally we would have had more risk because there were more inherent failures in aircraft and systems. Maybe that’s disappeared now, but anyway we’ll explore this as we go like I said. I hope it’s been useful bit of clarification on the separation distances. I say if you got any comments, questions please put them down below drop us an email. I’Ve been Matt Williams, fly safe and blue skies.