Class C4 Drones - Defined

In order to maintain some consistency between classes I’m going to cover the following areas of the Delegated Regulation requirements for each class in the same order:

  • Weight / Dimension / Speed / Height

  • Controllability / Design / Power / Battery Alerting

  • Noise Emissions / Serial ID / Lighting

  • Remote ID

  • Geo-Awareness

  • System Intervention and Follow-Me

  • Data Link Failure Behaviour

  • User Manual and Box Content

Class Marking Symbol

The following symbol will be used to show this class of drone

Class C4 Drones - Defined Image 0.png

Weight / Dimension / Speed / Height

The Maximum Take-Off Mass must be no more than 25kg.

There is no maximum size.

There is no maximum speed.

There is no maximum attainable height.

Controllability / Design / Power / Battery Alerting

The drone will need to be safely controllable and maneuverable by an RP following manufacturer instructions and under all anticipated operating conditions including failure of one or more systems.

There are not Design / Power / Battery Alerting requirements.

Noise Emissions / Serial ID / Lighting

There are no Emissions / Serial ID / Lighting requirements.

Remote ID

There are no Remote ID requirements.

Geo-Awareness

There are no Geo-Awareness requirements.

System Intervention and Follow-Me

There are no System Intervention or Follow-Me requirements however the aircraft must not have any automatic control modes except for flight stabilisation (with no direct effect on the trajectory) and lost link assistance.

Data Link Failure Behaviour

There are no Data Link Failure Behaviour requirements.

User Manual and Box Content

The User Manual shall clearly identify:

  • Class

  • Mass (with reference config) and MTOM

  • Allowed payloads (mass, dimensions, interfaces and restrictions)

  • Equipment and S/W to control UA Remotely

  • Behavior in case of loss of data link

  • Clear Operational instructions

  • Limitations (including meteorological, day/night)

  • Risks related to UAS operation

  • Maintenance instructions

  • Troubleshooting Procedures

The box shall contain an EASA Info Notice detailing laws etc. applicable to the drone.

Based on the above my interpretation is that these drones are more likely to be traditional uremote-controlled aircraft such as a fixed-wing Super Cub or Spitfire. However, it’s important to know that drones placed on the market prior to these regulations can’t be claimed to fall into any of these Classes. They fall under a different set of rules that have been set up to cover the use of legacy drones.

Small Print: These posts are a summary only, include my personal interpretation and are not intended to be a replacement for reading the actual rules.