Flying drones in California for leisure - anything I should be aware of ?

[McAl]

I will visit California in the future (travelling from the UK, I just got my flyer and operator ID required over here) and I was hoping to fly my Anafi there.

Could anybody confirm if any authorization, insurance or else is required for leisure flying and/or filming?

 

[Jagerbomb52]

I will visit California in the future (travelling from the UK, I just got my flyer and operator ID required over here) and I was hoping to fly my Anafi there.

Could anybody confirm if any authorization, insurance or else is required for leisure flying and/or filming?

If you are not a U.S. citizen and plan to bring your drone when you visit the United States, here are the rules you need to follow.

Information for International UAS Operators in the United States

www.faa.gov

 

[McAl]

If you are not a U.S. citizen and plan to bring your drone when you visit the United States, here are the rules you need to follow.

Information for International UAS Operators in the United States

www.faa.gov

Thanks so much.
It looks like a mountain of paperwork, including an exam which can only be taken in person going to specific testing centers, it sounds a bit crazy for leisure flying of very small aircrafts such as the Anafi, unless perhaps I am misunderstanding and the RPC is only a requirement for commercial operations.
Pity because CA local legislation sounded much less cumbersome, with only a $5 registration required, which is similar to the £9 test and yearly certification we have here in the UK.
I might pass on this, for a few hours of family videos it is probably not worth the hassle..

Thanks for taking the time to point me in the right direction!

 

[Jagerbomb52]

From my understanding of how it works you need to register on the FAA site (i did no problem) and pay the 5 US dollars to register. That will give you numbers but as a international user you are not required to use them, only produce your copy of the registration that you filed with them. Of course if you plan on doing commercial work I am sure there is more to it.

 

[McAl]

From my understanding of how it works you need to register on the FAA site (i did no problem) and pay the 5 US dollars to register. That will give you numbers but as a international user you are not required to use them, only produce your copy of the registration that you filed with them. Of course if you plan on doing commercial work I am sure there is more to it.

Thanks, that is what I understood too initially.
But what confuses me is the way they drafted the document.

Flying Your Drone for Fun: this section seems to only refer to the $5 registration (However it also specifies "The FAA will consider the certificate issued to be a recognition of ownership rather than a certificate of U.S. aircraft registration ". Now, in the UK we have both a certificate of ownership and a piloting one.
Flying Your Drone for Commercial Purposes: Perfect, this does not apply to me
Flying Your Drone: ??? this seems to refer to flying in general, for fun or else, and mention either having an RCP or being supervised with buddy cable by someone with an RCP.

If they meant only the first section to be relevant to leisure flying, and the rest to commercial operators and pilots, I think they should have drafted differently.
Is it possible that for Canadian nationals the requirements might be more relaxed?

 

[Jagerbomb52]

I would try emailing them to get clarification as I can only speculate on what is required.

 

[McAl]

I would try emailing them to get clarification as I can only speculate on what is required.

Thanks again, I'll try and see if they get back to me!