Free EASA A1/A3 Exam Flashcards

The drone, always. UAS.OPEN.060(2)(b) makes the remote pilot keep a thorough visual scan of the surrounding airspace to avoid any collision with manned aircraft, and discontinue the flight if it poses a risk. Give way early: descend or land clear rather than assume the crew has seen you.

From the closest point of the surface of the earth, not from your take-off spot. The limit follows the terrain, so flying out over a valley eats your margin even though the drone has not climbed.

Two. Within 50 m horizontally of an artificial obstacle taller than 105 m you may fly up to 15 m above its top, at the request of the entity responsible for it. An unmanned sailplane under 10 kg may exceed 120 m from the surface provided it stays within 120 m above the pilot (UAS.OPEN.010(3)-(4)).

A gathering so dense that people cannot move away. No Open category subcategory ever allows overflight of one, whatever your drone class or certificate. This is the hardest limit in the whole framework.

Anyone not taking part in the operation, or not aware of the instructions and safety precautions given by the operator. Bystanders who stop to watch you fly still count as uninvolved.

Report it to the competent authority. Article 19(2) of Regulation (EU) 2019/947 makes every UAS operator report safety-related occurrences in line with Regulation (EU) No 376/2014, and the data feeds EU-wide safety analysis. The duty covers hobby flights as well as commercial ones.

A portion of airspace the competent authority establishes to facilitate, restrict or exclude drone operations for safety, privacy, data-protection, security or environmental reasons (Article 2(4)). Zones are national, so the rules change when you cross a border.

On the official map or app of the national aviation authority for the country you are flying in. Member States must publish zone data in a common digital format; a drone maker's built-in map is not the legal source.

Aerodromes and heliports are normally covered by a UAS geographical zone that restricts flights or requires prior authorisation, so check the zone conditions before you plan the flight. A small drone at low height is not exempt, because approach and departure paths run low and wide.

You must not fly close to or inside an area where an emergency response effort is under way unless the responsible service authorises it. Police, fire, ambulance and rescue helicopters get the airspace.

It proves your competence in every EASA Member State, but it grants no access to airspace. Recognition of the certificate and permission to enter a geographical zone are two different things.

An on-board system that warns the pilot when the drone approaches an airspace limit or zone boundary. C1, C2 and C3 drones must have it, and the operator must update its data for the intended location before flying.

(EU) 2019/947 governs operations, categories and pilot competence. (EU) 2019/945 governs the products and the C class marks. Operations versus products is the split to remember.

A proof of completion of online training, not a pilot licence. It is earned by an online course plus a 40-question exam at 75%, lasts five years, and is the pilot requirement for a C1 drone in A1 and for every A3 flight. It never unlocks A2.

C0 under 250 g; C1 under 900 g, or below 80 J impact energy; C2 under 4 kg; C3 and C4 under 25 kg. C0 and C1 fly in A1, C2 in A2, C3 and C4 in A3, and a C2 may also be flown in A3 on this certificate. Every Open category drone stays under 25 kg.

Keep a safe horizontal distance of at least 150 m from residential, commercial, industrial and recreational areas, and expect no uninvolved person to be endangered anywhere within the drone's range.

Since 1 January 2024, only in A1 if it is under 250 g, or in A3 if it is under 25 kg. No sticker or retrofit changes that, and with no manufacturer declaration the pilot has to check the actual mass.

16, and a Member State may lower it by up to four years, so 12 is the floor. No minimum applies to a C0 toy, a privately built drone under 250 g, or flying under the direct supervision of a qualified remote pilot. A lowered age counts only in the State that lowered it.

You must not act as remote pilot under the influence of alcohol or psychoactive substances, or when unfit through injury, fatigue, medication or sickness. This duty sits on the pilot personally.

Past a few hundred metres it shrinks below what the unaided eye can resolve and blends into the background. Losing sight of the aircraft, not losing signal, is the usual first link in a fly-away.

With the nose pointing back at you, a left roll input moves the drone to your right. Fly nose-away, or use a heading-referenced mode, so your reflexes match the picture under pressure.

Both narrow attention and slow decisions, so the pilot fixates and stops scanning. Land while you still have judgement left rather than flying one more battery.

Camera fixation breaks visual line of sight and hides approaching aircraft, people and obstacles. The screen is for framing the shot; your eyes belong on the aircraft.

Flying towards the sun washes out the drone and makes distance and height hard to judge. Set up with the sun behind you and keep a fixed landmark as a reference.

Continuous unaided visual contact with the drone, good enough to scan the airspace and avoid collisions. Binoculars, goggles and the video feed do not count as seeing the aircraft.

Follow-me mode in subcategory A1 with the drone no more than 50 m from you (UAS.OPEN.020(3)), or an unmanned aircraft observer beside you who watches the drone unaided while you stay in clear, effective communication (UAS.OPEN.060(4)). Article 4(1)(d) allows nothing else.

Permitted, but UAS.OPEN.060(2)(g) requires a green flashing light on the drone to be switched on. Orientation is far harder in the dark, so pick and light your landing site before you launch.

Get current geographical zone information, survey the site for obstacles and uninvolved people, confirm the UAS is fit for the flight, keep any payload within the manufacturer's MTOM and the class limit, and check that direct remote ID is active and up to date where the class requires it (UAS.OPEN.060(1)).

The drone runs its programmed failsafe, usually return-to-home. Set the return altitude above the tallest obstacle on the route before you fly, or the failsafe will drive the drone into it.

Check propellers for chips and cracks, motors for free and quiet rotation, arms and fasteners for play, and the battery for swelling and secure seating. A chipped propeller unbalances the motor and can fail under load.

Never charge a swollen, punctured or crashed pack, never leave charging unattended, and store at partial charge in a fire-resistant container. A LiPo fire feeds itself and cannot be smothered.

Cold raises the cell's internal resistance, so voltage sags under load and the low-battery warning arrives early. Warm the packs before flight and plan a shorter mission, not a normal one.

Reinforced concrete, vehicles, power lines and metal railings distort the magnetic field and cause circling or drift after take-off. Launch from open ground away from metal.

It gives position hold, return-to-home and track logging. It does not see obstacles or other aircraft, and it degrades near buildings and cliffs where signals are blocked or reflected.

Extra payload raises take-off mass, cuts endurance and increases the energy released in a crash. It can also push the aircraft past the mass limit of the class it was certified in.

As soon as the images relate to an identified or identifiable person. Faces, number plates, house fronts and location traces tied to someone are all personal data, even if captured by accident.

Capture only what the flight genuinely needs, and use it only for the purpose you collected it for. Turn the camera away or stop recording while transiting over homes and gardens.

Being legally airborne does not make the recording lawful. Capturing identifiable people or private property without a lawful basis is a data protection breach, judged separately from the aviation rules.

Keep footage only as long as the purpose requires, keep it secure, then delete it. Posting clips online is a further use that needs its own justification, not a free consequence of having filmed them.

The national data protection authority, not the aviation authority. One flight can therefore trigger two separate investigations with two separate penalties.

Minimum third-party liability insurance for aircraft operators. For aircraft with a maximum take-off mass under 500 kg the minimum cover is 750 000 SDR per accident.

That regulation does not apply to model aircraft with a mass under 20 kg, so most Open category drones sit outside the EU minimum. National law then decides what you must carry.

EASA says no EU requirement applies below 20 kg, but most EASA Member States mandate third-party liability cover anyway. Check the authority of the country you are flying in, not the one you live in.

Injury to other people and damage to their property. Damage to your own aircraft is hull cover, which is a separate product and is never implied by a liability policy.

Minimum amounts and conditions are set nationally, so cover written for one Member State may not satisfy another. Confirm the territorial limits before you travel with the drone.

These are protected both by national geographical zones and by criminal law. A flight there can be handled as a security offence, not merely an airspace infringement.

A live local broadcast, receivable by ordinary mobile devices, of the operator registration number, the aircraft serial number, its position and height, its course and speed, the remote pilot's position (or the take-off point) and any emergency status. C1, C2 and C3 drones must fly with it active and updated.

On a label on every drone that triggers registration (Article 14(8) of Regulation (EU) 2019/947), and uploaded into the direct remote identification system that C1, C2 and C3 drones must fly with active and updated. The number identifies the operator, so the same number goes on all of your aircraft.

Install firmware only from the manufacturer, protect the controller and account with strong credentials, and never leave the drone unattended. If someone else takes the link, the flight is still on your registration.

Call the police for immediate danger and the national aviation authority for airspace breaches. Never try to intercept, jam or shoot down another drone; jamming breaks radio-spectrum law and downing an aircraft is a criminal offence in its own right.