◇ Tag
Posts tagged “specific-category”
2026-07-17
DJI Dock in Alpine Avalanche Rescue — What an Autonomous Drone Dock Shows About BVLOS
A permanent DJI Dock 3 + Matrice 4TD system at Val Thorens launches within 10 seconds of an avalanche alert — what it means for specific-category operators and why an A1/A3 pilot can't replicate it.
- bvlos
- specific-category
- search-and-rescue
2026-07-17
EU Lifts Aerial Spray Ban — What It Means for Agricultural Drone Operators in 2026
The EU has amended the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive for the first time in 16 years, opening a legal pathway for spray drones — but Italy's stalled implementing decree shows the national level isn't ready yet, and spraying stays a specific-category operation regardless.
- agriculture
- regulation
- eu
2026-07-17
Sadales tīkls is inspecting power lines with drones — what it means for an A1/A3 pilot
Sadales tīkls plans to survey 10,000 km of its power grid with drones this year — a real Latvian industrial-inspection example that shows where the line sits between the Open and Specific categories.
- industrial-inspection
- latvia
- specific-category
2026-07-11
Drone Mapping and Surveying: Orthomosaics, 3D Models and Where the Accuracy Comes From
A mapping flight doesn't photograph a site — it measures it. The orthomosaic and 3D surface model are only as accurate as the overlap, ground control points and RTK/PPK behind them — and large sites hit the visual-line-of-sight ceiling before they hit the sensor's.
- commercial
- open-category
- specific-category
2026-07-11
Drone roof and infrastructure inspection: safer, faster surveys of hard-to-reach structures
A drone replaces scaffolding and rope access for roof, facade, chimney and solar-array surveys — faster and without fall risk. But the work happens right next to structures and often above the people living or working under them — which is where the A1/A2 choice and, sometimes, Specific category come in.
- commercial
- open-category
- a2
2026-07-11
Drones for Agriculture: Crop Scouting, Mapping and the Spraying Catch
NDVI scouting and field mapping fly comfortably inside the Open category, on the same A1/A3 baseline as most commercial drone work. Spraying does not — EU rules place it in the Specific category on its own, plus a separate national layer for plant-protection products.
- commercial
- agriculture
- open-category
2026-07-11
Drones for construction: progress monitoring, surveying and site documentation
A construction site is one of the few places a drone earns its keep every week — progress photos, stockpile volumes, orthomosaics. But a live site is also one of the harder places to fly legally: cranes, scaffolding, close neighbours, and a large site often pushes the job out of Open into Specific.
- commercial
- specific-category
- open-category
2026-07-11
Drones for events: the aerial shots everyone wants — and the crowd problem
Weddings, festivals, races — commercially attractive, legally one of the hardest niches, because the Open category bans flying over assemblies of people in every subcategory. Pros work around it with standoff framing, timing and, rarely, a Specific-category authorisation.
- commercial
- open-category
- specific-category
2026-07-10
A2 vs the Specific category: when does the Open category stop being enough?
A2 lets you work a C2 drone 30 m from people — 5 m in low-speed mode. The Specific category is not a "better A2": it is a different regime with a declaration or authorisation, an operations manual and a higher exam bar. Here is an honest framework for the choice.
- a2
- specific-category
- open-category
2026-07-10
STS-01 vs STS-02: the two EU standard scenarios compared
STS-01 is VLOS with a C5 drone over a controlled ground area that may sit in a populated environment; STS-02 is BVLOS with a C6 drone and airspace observers in a sparsely populated one. The exact parameters — heights, distances, buffers and the pilot certificate — from Appendix 1 to Regulation (EU) 2019/947.
- sts
- specific-category
- bvlos
2026-07-10
What are STS, PDRA and SORA? The Specific category, explained
When a flight no longer fits the Open category — BVLOS, above 120 m, over 25 kg — it lands in the Specific category. Three routes in: an STS declaration, a PDRA, or a full SORA risk assessment. Here is how they differ and how it works in Latvia.
- specific-category
- sts
- sora
2026-07-10
When do you need the Specific category for a drone — and when Open is enough
The Specific category is not the next licence tier — it starts the moment your plan crosses any single Open-category boundary: above 120 m, BVLOS, over 25 kg, dropping material or spraying. Here is the full trigger list and the three routes in.
- specific-category
- regulation
- sts
2026-07-07
EASA NPA 2026-103: the 100-gram drone rule is now on paper
EASA's draft NPA 2026-103 moves the training and Remote ID line from 250 to 100 grams and adds a takeoff lockout without an operator ID. The Specific category, meanwhile, gets lighter. First changes no earlier than mid-2028.
- regulation
- easa
- eu
2026-06-08
BVLOS in the EU: The One Rule the Drone Market Turns On
Flying beyond visual line of sight is banned in the Open category — it moves you into the EU's Specific category. Here are the four routes to a BVLOS authorisation, why it unlocks delivery and inspection, and the real bottleneck: airspace integration.
- regulation
- easa
- eu