What Weight Category Will Your Remote Pilot Licence Be

When considering which Remote Pilot Licence (RePL) is right for you, it is important to consider each drone type training course and the drone weight categories that exist within those drone types.

Remotely piloted aircraft systems dramatically increase the available opportunities to your business or organisation. To make sure your potential is being met, you must ensure your licence provides you with the appropriate weight category whilst allowing you the room to expand and further business prospects.

mutirotor aircarft type

The four different drone types used for commercial work are categorized as Multirotor, Fixed Wing, Powered Lift (VTOL) and Helicopters and each of these drone types will require a separate endorsement. Aviassist RPAS training covers use of the drone type and is independent of the type of sensor that may be used for drone photography, drone mapping or drone surveying.

During a Remote Pilot Licence (RePL) training course a single drone type is provided. Should you need multiple drone types, they may be added to your initial Remote Pilot Licence course or added at a later stage.

The next consideration is the drone weight categories, per individual drone aircraft type. While officially there are 2 weight categories; in reality, there are 3 categories. While there are broad weight categories of sub 25kg and sub 150kg, a Remote Pilot Licence flight test conducted on a sub 7kg drone will see a restriction of 7kg placed on the Remote Pilot Licence.

The weight of an aircraft is determined by Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW), which includes the weight of the aircraft, fuel/batteries and payload. You will only be able to legally and safely operate the drone aircraft type, up to the maximum allowed weight, that your Remote Pilot Licence states.

Drone flying Multirotor

Once a drone has an MTOW above 25kg, the licensing is per individual aircraft type. In these circumstances, your Remote Pilot Licence will be for the individual manufacturer and aircraft design.

FIXED WING MULTIROTOR HELICOPTER POWERED LIFT
<7kg <7kg <7kg <7kg
<25kg <25kg <25kg <25kg
Per aircraft type Per aircraft type per aircraft type Per aircraft type

The other weight category, which incorporates all drone types, is less than 25kg. This category can be further restricted to less than 7kg by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), if your training was conducted on an aircraft less than 7kg.

At Aviassist, we have observed a high level of need across the board, to operate larger Multirotor type aircraft. We noted many students were not meeting industry needs and required retraining and as a result adapted our training courses to reflect this.

Aviassist offers Remote Pilot Licence training on Multirotor aircraft up to 25kg, Fixed Wing aircraft up to 7kg and Powered Lift up to 7kg. Should these weight categories not match your needs Aviassist can in certain circumstances create training to suit. Alternatively for Remote Aircraft above these weights, CASA has a facility for a flight test to cover licensing requirements.

Choosing the right aircraft type and weight category is an integral part of utilising drones effectively in commercial business.

Call us on 1300 359 772 to help you find out what’s best for you!

powered lift aircraft type

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