Pit of drone regulation! What are the laws and regulations that apply to toy drones weighing less than 200g?

The most important thing to keep in mind when flying a drone is the rules of aviation law. If you fly a drone in a place or condition prohibited by the Aviation Law, you may be arrested on the spot, so when dealing with a drone, basic knowledge of each drone flight rule such as the Aviation Law is essential. I am.

I'm sure you're wrong too. Three pitfalls of domestic drone regulation ▶

However, so-called toy drones weighing less than 200g are not regulated by the Aviation Law. Therefore, toy drones are very popular because they can fly drones relatively freely without worrying about rules such as aviation law than ordinary drones. Recently, many low-priced and high-performance toy drones are on sale, and they are sometimes used in drone schools as training aircraft before operating a normal drone.

"Is it less than 200g or more? 』\ This can be said to be the most important point when choosing a drone.

However, is it okay to fly a toy drone anywhere, even if it is not regulated by the Aviation Law? In this article, we have summarized the laws and regulations that apply to toy drones weighing less than 200g, which is the pitfall of drone regulation.

Table of contents

Isn't toy drone illegal?

Aviation law is strictly enforced in the operation of drones. As the utilization of drones progresses, such as the addition of new rules for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, regulations for the safe use of drones are becoming more important.

In addition to this background, the small and low-priced toy drone weighing less than 200g is extremely popular as a drone for beginners to purchase for the first time and as a hobby drone. I think there are many people who say, "I'm not sure about buying a full-scale drone, but I already have a toy drone."

So, is it okay to fly a toy drone that is not regulated by the Aviation Law anywhere?

I will explain in detail from the next theme.

6 Laws and Regulations You Should Know When Flying a Toy Drone

This law was just revised in May of this year. The content is "Act on Prohibition of Flight of Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, etc. Over the Parliament Building, Prime Minister's Office and other important facilities of the country, foreign public halls, etc. and the area around the nuclear power plant".

When flying a model airplane outdoors, you have to apply in advance even on your own land in the restricted area. The target area is 300m around the important facilities of the country.

It should be noted that the Drone Flight Prohibition Law applies to all drones of 200g or more and less than 200g regardless of weight, while the Aviation Law prohibits aircraft weighing less than 200g. If you violate this law, you will be punished with imprisonment for up to 1 year or a fine of up to 500,000 yen, so be careful.

The drone and the controller (propo) are communicating by radio waves. In most cases of operating a drone in Japan, the 2.4GHz band, which is the frequency used, is the same as the Wi-Fi radio band of smartphones, etc., so no special permission is required.

One thing to note about drone flight under the Radio Law is that 5.8GHz band drones, which are commonly used overseas, are often sold online. It is also illegal to use a controller (propo) that does not have the technical conformity mark.

Those who want to control FPV in the drone race, which is a hot topic these days, use 5.8GHz for video transmission of FPV control, so they need an amateur radio license level 4 to use this radio wave.

The use of drones in metropolitan parks and gardens is totally prohibited.

Even low-priced drones weighing less than 200g are banned from flying in various parks. You will need to confirm and obtain permission from the person in charge of the district Nagamura who manages the park.

Flying drones is also prohibited around national important cultural properties. When flying a drone around an important cultural property, it is necessary to confirm with the "facility management organization". However, basically, drone photography outside of business is totally prohibited, and it is basically NG to fly a toy drone because there is a high possibility that the radio wave will be cut off in the middle.

Recently, many toy drones weighing less than 200g equipped with high-performance cameras have been released. What is a "toy"? With a drone that can shoot with a high-quality camera, there is a possibility that people will be reflected in the camera.

If you upload a video or image that shows a person to the Internet, it may violate the nuisance prevention regulations as a privacy invasion.

Drones can shoot with a wide angle of view. It is quite possible that you will see an unexpected person. Before taking a picture with a toy drone, check the surrounding environment and whether there are any people.

The Road Traffic Act does not provide clear provisions for drones. However, if you want to fly or take off and land a drone on a public road, you need the permission of the police chief who has jurisdiction over the road.

Editor's Note

Toy drones weighing less than 200g are not covered by the Aviation Law, but there are many laws and regulations that are not surprisingly known when examined. All of the laws and regulations introduced this time apply to toy drones weighing less than 200g. As the name implies, toy drones can cause dangerous accidents if used incorrectly, so we hope that you will refer to this article for safe and sound drone utilization.