Drones or UAV “Unmanned aerial vehicle”

~GUEST POST BY: DEREK CROTS~

Drones were already used in 1970 in the South African Defense Force. The use of drones in a more commercial way in South Africa only really started taking off in 2015 by the Company called DJI. They are the current leader in the commercial and personal drone supply in the world.

In the world of aviation, a drone refers to an unmanned aircraft. As a Licensed insurance broker, Risk Manager and Photographer I was fascinated by the photos and videos drones could take. Most drones like the Parrots Anafi and DJI Mavic Duel Enterprise that I fly, have excelled cameras.

The Parrot Anafi has a ½.4-inch 21-megapixel sensor 4K Cinema Camera and the Mavic 2 Enterprise Duel with a ½.3” CMOS 12-megapixel 4K camera and it also have a Thermal camera separate.

Because of a lot of negative publicity and reckless use of drones, all governments had to put strict rules into place for the flying of drones. Most insurance companies expect you to hold a remote pilot’s license (RPL) to be able to insure your drone with them. The risk of losing or crashing your drone is extremely high. The biggest risk is that you do not know the risk.

You can contact me on any insurance related questions for drones, as I have extensive knowledge about drone insurance and the risk of flying a drone.

derek@intfingroup.co.za or derek@ssmanagementsolutions.co.za

One of the biggest rules in the drone world is Safety.

For more information on South Africa’s drone’s regulation visit:

General Information - sacaa

www.caa.co.za › Pages › RPAS

"Remotely piloted aircraft" (RPAS) means an unmanned aircraft which is ... only to be operated in terms of Part 101 of the South African Civil Aviation Regulations.

Part 101: Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems already is in operation from the 1st of July 2015.

Do I need a Licence to fly a drone in South Africa?

If you are flying a drone as a hobby (personal and private use) then a license is not required, however you still have to follow the South African Civil Aviation Authority's (SACAA) regulations on Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS)