Can you make $ from a recreational drone. Yes I had a chat with CASA and here’s how.

A common question when it comes to drone flying, is “How can I make money from this?”

Whilst the obvious option is to take aerial photography and video – with real estate being a popular choice – it is not quite as simple as that in the real world.

As a rule of thumb,under CASA regulations, with CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority) being the governing body in Australia, in order to sell drone photography or video in Australia; in other words using your drone for commercial use, you need to have what is called an RePl, or Remote Pilot’s Licence.

This ensures you have undergone training and testing to understand the rules and regulations in place.

There is a special exclusion from this, which has been a source of confusion to many though. CASA says that if your drone weighs between 250g and 2Kg, which under their classification systems is known as a Very Small drone, there is no need for an RePl.

However you will be limited to operating within CASA’s standard operating conditions which means:

• No flying at night.
• No flying near other people (30m is the listed distance).
• No flying more than 120 m above the ground.
• The drone must stay within line of sight.
• Do NOT fly where emergency operations are in place ie bushfire, car crash, police operations etc.

Additionally, you need to have your drone registered with CASA and you personally need to have an ARN (Aviation registration Number).

If your drone weighs under 500g (typically a DJI Mini 2/3,Avata, or Autel Nano say), then registration is free. Drones with a weight greater than 500g costs AUD$40.

Now be aware the fines for non-compliance are a tad heavy. For example, failure to register could cost you up to AUD$11,000. Fines for noncompliance of the CASA’s standard operating conditions can be up to $1,375, and anyone can report you to CASA if they feel you have broken the rules.

Example 1

So say you have a DJI Mini 2, and you have a mate who is a real estate rep. He / she asks if you can take some aerial shots of a rural property they have listed. What do you need?

Although the drone is <500g, as it will be for commercial gain it MUST be registered, although this will cost you nothing. You will also need get an ARN (which is also free). But you must stay within the normal standard operating conditions as detailed above.

Example 2

You are out on a commercial game fishing boat and you have your DJI Air2S with you. The skipper asks if you can get some video if they hook up a decent fish.

Again as the drone is less than 2Kg, you will not need an RePl, but also again, you will need to register it and yourself. In this case though, as the Air2S weighs more than 500g (mine comes in at 605g with battery), it will cost you AUD$40 for the drone registration (although your ARN is free).

As you are not registered commercially however, you still need to stay within the CASA’s standard operating conditions as above.

Councils and Other Stuff

While writing this article I had occasion to have a few conversations with CASA in order to get clarifications in some areas. The one that is still not absolutely clear though is whether anyone other than CASA has the power to issue fines or declare areas “no fly zones”. An example would be if a council puts up a “No Drones” sign for example.

The spokesperson I had a conversation with said that as far as CASA was concerned, if the Fly Safe app says it is OK to fly, then in their view, it is, well OK to fly. Further, she said that the DJI geofencing uses the same system as they do, so you can trust that with no issues if you are a DJI owner.

As to whether a council (or other entity) can issues fines for a perceived non-compliance, my contact said she did not believe they could, but added, to her knowledge a challenge “had never been tested” either. The consensus was that CASA has jurisdiction over the airspace and the council over the physical land. But if you did fly, it is difficult to see what, if any, laws or by-laws might have been broken.

I guess like in all things, common sense would prevail and if in doubt, call the CASA Hotline on 131757. There is also a LOT of info at its website in the drone area at https://www.casa.gov.au/knowyourdrone/drone-rules

By the way, if you want to get an RePl, there are a number of companies around that specialise in this area. CASA tells me to make sure they are an accredited organisation with CASA though. A quick ring around seems to suggest the fee to get a full RePl is around AUD$2800 mark.