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Most of the owners of drones in Germany are currently no longer allowed to practice their hobby.
The reason for this is an EU regulation that has been in force since January 1, 2021
and provides for a “drone license” for flying drones weighing more than 500 grams.
Such an EU proof of knowledge is issued by the Federal Aviation Office after an online check.
As the authority announced on request from WELT, so far only just under 75,000 people in Germany have received this proof.
However, that should only be a small fraction of the people who either own drones or model airplanes.
Because the EU regulation on the rules and procedures for the operation of unmanned aircraft applies equally to both aircraft.
According to estimates by the Unmanned Aviation Association, there are more than 450,000 privately used drones in Germany.
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However, the number of drone pilots is likely to be fewer as some of them have multiple devices.
There are also model flight athletes.
The German Model Aviation Association (DMFV) is the largest lobby group and has around 90,000 members.
Since the beginning of the year, operators of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAS) have also had to register with the Federal Aviation Office.
“So far we have recorded well over 100,000 registrations from UAS operators,” it says.
But here there is a transition period until the end of April "for technical and administrative reasons".
There is no such transition period for the drone license.
Anyone who received a national certificate of knowledge in 2020 can still use it until the end of the year - but only in Germany.
Drone pilots have already needed this certificate in the past if they either wanted to fly drones weighing more than two kilograms or in locations where they needed a flight permit from the state aviation authority.
Rule confusion should end
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But that was only a minority of the drone pilots.
Every operator of a drone that weighs more than 250 grams or carries a camera must register.
However, a driver's license is only required if the drone weighs more than 500 grams.
From January 1, 2023, this lower limit will also drop to 250 grams.
However, this grace period does not apply to new models that will have to have an EU classification between 0 and 4 in the future.
For these devices, the 250 gram limit applies from commissioning.
Proof of knowledge is now required for most of the popular drone models in Germany.
All drones from the market leader DJI - including the Phantom, Mavic and Inspire models - fall into the 250-gram category or have a camera.
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The new EU regulation protects drone pilots from the chaos within the European Union.
Because now the same applies to all countries: No permit is required for private flying, the maximum altitude is 120 meters, there must always be visual contact with the drone, the minimum age of the pilot is 16 years, the drone must not weigh more than 25 kilograms, Do not transport dangerous goods and do not discard any objects.
Observers attribute the fact that many pilots have not yet registered and are reluctant to obtain a drone license due to ignorance of the legal situation.
Because the hurdles are very low.
Both registration and the exam are free.
This is because the German cost regulation has not yet been adapted to the new EU regulation.
According to the Federal Aviation Office, that should change in late spring.
Then the drone license, which is valid for five years, has a price.
Exam is "a joke"
The level of difficulty of the exam is also limited.
The exam is only activated after successful online training, in which 75 percent of 20 multiple-choice questions must be answered correctly.
However, if an answer is wrong, it can be corrected at any time.
The Luftfahrt-Bundesamt states that the online training takes three hours.
Among other things, it concerns flight law, liability issues and data protection.
Example: Who is liable if damage is caused by an unmanned aircraft?
Nobody, the pilot, the injured person or the aviation authority?
Guessing is easy for many questions.
The actual exam then consists of 40 questions, 30 of which must be answered correctly within 45 minutes.
Wrong answers cannot be corrected immediately, but the entire test can be repeated without waiting until everything is correct.
Hardly any abuse expected
"Spiegel Online" speaks of a "walk".
The news portal “Heise online” described the test as a “joke”.
In the test, WELT was able to complete the online training and the exam in around 25 minutes.
Even laypeople should hardly have any problems here.
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Proof of knowledge entitles pilots to even fly heavy drones weighing up to 25 kilograms.
Should there be any misconduct, greater damage could result or serious accidents could occur.
Is the test too easy after all?
"On the European side, the aim of this regulation is that drone operators deal with the legal and technical requirements - it is actually an awareness training with the gentle pressure of an examination at the end," said a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Office.
It sounds quite risky if a drone weighing 25 kilograms is theoretically allowed to be flown.
This is not the case, however, because devices of this weight class can only be flown away from people, industrial buildings and residential areas.
In the worst case, the drone would fall down and be broken.
Provided you stick to the rules.
Since the exam is carried out online, the Federal Aviation Office cannot be sure that the examinee will not simply google the answers or hire an expert to answer them.
"We currently estimate the risk of manipulation to be very low, since drone flights in the open category are usually a hobby," the authorities say.
"And we assume that 99 percent of the test subjects adhere to the applicable rules."
If, however, abuse is found, appropriate adjustments and measures against fraud cannot be ruled out.
At the same time, the Luftfahrt-Bundesamt points out that it could be worthwhile for drone pilots to know the rules: "Because anyone who violates the regulations must expect high fines." There was a risk of fines of up to 50,000 euros.
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