Drone and model aircraft airshows: what rules apply in the UK?

A public model aircraft show can have spectators, a display programme, high-performance aircraft and formal display controls. A drone light show can put hundreds of aircraft into the sky for an audience.

That does not necessarily make either event a Flying Display under Article 86 of the Air Navigation Order 2016.

UK Regulation (EU) 2019/947 contains the main operating rules for civil UAS in the UK. The Air Navigation Order 2016, usually shortened to the ANO, applies alongside it and contains the legal framework for conventional Flying Displays. Understanding where those two systems meet is the key to working out which rules apply.

How UK law treats unmanned aircraft

UK Regulation (EU) 2019/947 establishes the Open, Specific and Certified categories for UAS operations. The Air Navigation Order deals with other parts of UK aviation law, including Flying Displays.

The terminology matters because some familiar words have narrower meanings in regulation.

An unmanned aircraft, or UA, is defined as:

"any aircraft operating or designed to operate autonomously or to be piloted remotely without a pilot on board"

A UAS, or unmanned aircraft system, is:

"an unmanned aircraft and the equipment to control it remotely"

The UA is the aircraft. The UAS includes the aircraft and the equipment used to control it.

"Drone" is an everyday term and does not identify a separate legal class of aircraft.

Model aircraft sit within the wider unmanned aircraft framework. For the CAA's model flying arrangements, a model aircraft is:

"An UA used for sporting and recreational purposes, flown by direct control inputs made by the RP without any autonomous capability other than for flight stabilisation purposes."

RP means remote pilot.

The CAA explains that a multirotor drone can fall within this definition when it is being used for sport or recreation and flown through direct control inputs. An automated flight mode which changes the position of the aircraft can take the operation outside the model aircraft definition.

So a "drone" and a "model aircraft" are not mutually exclusive descriptions. A multirotor may qualify as a model aircraft for one operation and fall outside the Article 16 model aircraft definition in another, depending on how it is being used and controlled.

Where Article 16 fits

Article 16 is Article 16 of UK Regulation (EU) 2019/947. Its title is "UAS operations in the framework of model aircraft clubs and associations".

It allows the CAA to issue an authorisation to a model aircraft club or association. Members can then conduct model aircraft operations covered by that authorisation under the conditions and procedures attached to it.

Article 16 sits within the Specific Category, but it works differently from an operator applying for its own Operational Authorisation. The association obtains the authorisation from the CAA and its members operate under it. Article 3 of Regulation 2019/947 expressly recognises an Article 16 authorisation as a Specific Category route.

The UK currently has Article 16 authorisations covering the British Model Flying Association and British Drone Flyers, the Large Model Association, the Scottish Aeromodellers Association and FPV UK.

The authorisations are not identical. Only an association whose authorisation permits model aircraft display activity can use the display-permit mechanism. The CAA's current Article 16 material and CAP 403 identify the BMFA, SAA and LMA in this context.

For anyone organising or participating in a model display, the current authorisation and display procedures of the relevant association still need to be checked.

Why Article 86 does not normally apply to ordinary UAS

Article 86 of the ANO deals with Flying Displays.

CAP 403, the CAA publication covering Flying Displays and Special Events, uses the ANO definition of a Flying Display:

"any flying activity deliberately performed for the purpose of providing an exhibition or entertainment at an advertised event open to the public."

An Article 86 Flying Display requires permission from the CAA. CAP 403 sets out the requirements for the Flying Display Director, display pilots, display areas, separation and event management. The current publication is CAP 403 Edition 23.

Read in isolation, that definition appears broad enough to cover a public model aircraft show or drone show.

Article 23 of the ANO changes its application to most ordinary unmanned aircraft.

Article 23 disapplies most of the ANO to specified classes of aircraft, while listing the provisions which still apply to them. One of those classes is an unmanned aircraft other than an unmanned aircraft subject to certification.

Article 86 is not one of the provisions reapplied to those aircraft.

The CAA states the consequence directly in its Article 16 guidance: model aircraft operating in the Open or Specific Category are excluded from the Article 86 Flying Display rules by Article 23.

A standalone model aircraft show can therefore meet the CAA definition of a Model Aircraft Flying Display while remaining outside the Article 86 Flying Display regime.

The model flying still needs a lawful regulatory basis. That may come from an Article 16 authorisation and the relevant association display permit.

The reference in Article 23 to an "unmanned aircraft subject to certification" is important because Certified Category UAS are treated differently. That concerns the higher-risk end of UAS regulation and will not normally affect the model aircraft and ordinary drone displays discussed here.

Model Aircraft Flying Displays

The CAA defines a Model Aircraft Flying Display as:

"Any flying activity deliberately performed, by model aircraft, for the purpose of providing an exhibition or entertainment at an advertised event."

That definition sits within the Article 16 framework.

Where the relevant Article 16 authorisation permits it, the association can issue a display permit and apply the controls required by that authorisation.

Those arrangements can cover matters such as spectator separation, the display area, pilot competence and currency, risk assessment, height limits and notification to other airspace users.

The CAA approves the association's procedures and the scope of its Article 16 authorisation. Where display permits are included, the association can approve qualifying displays within those limits and provide the additional oversight required by the authorisation.

The CAA also encourages associations to use CAP 403 and the CAA Flying Display Risk Assessment Template as references when developing their model display risk-assessment procedures. That helps explain why some model aircraft display arrangements resemble conventional airshow procedures even though Article 86 does not apply to the model aircraft itself.

If the proposed operation falls outside the limits of the Article 16 authorisation, another lawful UAS route is required. Depending on the operation, that may mean a CAA Specific Category Operational Authorisation.

What about a normal drone display?

A UAS display which does not qualify as model aircraft flying follows the Open or Specific Category rules, as applicable.

There is no separate regulatory category called a "drone airshow".

A display involving individually controlled UA could potentially remain in the Open Category if every applicable Open Category condition can be met. The aircraft, location, proximity to people, airspace, flight profile and method of control all affect whether that is possible.

Several aircraft flying at the same time also do not automatically make the operation a swarm.

CAP 722D, the CAA's master glossary for the CAP 722 series, defines Swarm Operations as:

"The operation of more than one uncrewed aircraft (UA) controlled collectively rather than individually."

Ten aircraft flown by ten separate remote pilots are therefore not a swarm under that definition simply because they are airborne together.

A drone light show using collective control does fall within the CAA's swarm definition. Those operations sit within the Specific Category and the CAA publishes specific policy for rotary-wing VLOS swarm operations in CAP 722E.

The regulatory classification depends on how the aircraft are actually being operated. The number of UA involved does not decide it by itself.

When CAP 403 applies

CAP 403 becomes relevant when model aircraft or other UAS participate in an event which is already an Article 86 Flying Display.

Edition 23 deals with this in Chapter 18, "Model aircraft and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) as part of a Flying Display".

The Article 86 Flying Display continues to operate under its CAA permission and CAP 403 arrangements. The UAS element also needs its own lawful regulatory basis.

For model aircraft, CAP 403 requires the relevant Model Aircraft Flying Display Permit. The CAA names the BMFA, SAA and LMA because those associations have the delegated arrangements used for model aircraft participating in Article 86 Flying Displays.

For UAS which are not model aircraft, CAP 403 requires the appropriate CAA authorisation to be in place. It specifically refers to UAS used for activities including filming and swarm displays.

The Flying Display Director remains responsible for the overall Flying Display. Supervision and organisation of the model aircraft or UAS element is delegated to a Model Flying Display Director. CAP 403 also requires suitable separation from other display activity and direct communication between the FDD and MFDD.

The Article 86 permission and CAP 403 govern the Flying Display as a whole. The model aircraft or other UAS must also comply with the authorisation or operating rules that allow its own flight.

How this works in practice

A standalone public model aircraft show may operate under an Article 16 authorisation and association display permit. Article 86 does not apply simply because the models are being flown for an audience.

A coordinated routine involving several individually controlled drones may be possible within the Open Category if all of the applicable conditions are met. Multiple aircraft alone do not make the operation a swarm.

A collectively controlled drone light show falls within the CAA definition of a swarm and needs the appropriate Specific Category regulatory route.

If a model aircraft act or drone display is included in the programme of a conventional Article 86 airshow, CAP 403 applies to its integration into that Flying Display as well as the underlying UAS requirements.

Calling an event an airshow or drone show does not decide which rules apply. You have to look at the aircraft, how they are being operated, the regulatory route being used and whether the UAS activity forms part of an Article 86 Flying Display.