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Drone regulations

Important things to check before you fly your drone

Flying a drone is not very difficult, especially when buying a drone of high quality and from an experienced manufacturer such as DJI. It only needs a bit of practice. There are a few things though which you have to pay attention to. And you need to check those before each flight and in each new drone flight location. We describe below the main things to pay attention to. This list may help you, but not be exclusive.

General advice

What to pay attention to when wanting to fly your drone?

People around

I try to avoid flying in places with people around. Sometimes, I like to ask those people which are present if they mind if I were starting my drone. The noise of a drone can be very annoying and people may get upset (even if officially allowed to fly in the given location). So be respectful and think about other people around.

Electricity lines

Watch out for any wires, such as electricity lines or cable cars in your vicinity when starting your drone. Once you're an experienced drone pilot, you'll be able to manoeuvre your drone around those, but best is to simply not take-off nearby such installations.

Spot to start the drone

Make sure the ground is even, that the gimbal/camera can turn without touching anything and that the propellers won't hit anything when starting. Use a landing pad such as the one I describe in my drone equipment for additional protection during takeoff and landing.

Wind

The DJI drones are pretty stable, even with quite some wind in the air. However, there is a maximum of wind strength I would not feel comfortable flying anymore (approx. 30 km/h). I suggest you fly your drone up to the officially permitted wind strength, as indicated by the manufacturer, but not with more wind than you feel comfortable.

Rain

Don't fly your drone if rain is near! If you're not flying far, OK, you can bring back your drone before the rain starts. So don't venture out far with dark clouds around or don't start at all if you're unsure if it's going to start raining all of a sudden. Better be safe!

Water surfaces

You may fly near water surfaces and probably nothing is going to happen. But don't fly too close! I suggest to keep a distance of at least a few meters. There are reports that drones could not measure the distance to the water correctly or started to land. So be careful and keep distance!

Airplanes

Basically nowhere you are allowed to fly your drone in the proximity of an airport. However, even outside the permitted radius, I am always very conscious about planes. As soon as I hear one, I immediately bring the drone into lower altitude and closer to where I am. The worst thing ever would be a collision.

Drone regulations

It's of utmost importance to follow the official drone regulations in the countries and places where you fly. I like to refer to UAV coach website for drone regulations worldwide. Below this section, you can find more details on drone regulations in Switzerland.

GPS signal

Sometimes when starting your DJI drone, the drone does not immediately find GPS signal. In such cases, you better wait or switch off and restart the drone. In most cases GPS signal will be found. You may fly your drone without GPS signal, but I wouldn't recommend to do so.

Drone regulations in Switzerland

Is it allowed to fly a drone in Switzerland?

Switzerland offers many beautiful places, and we are pleased whenever our guests use their drones to produce films about Switzerland’s sights

- Switzerland Tourism (click here)

1200px-Flag_of_Switzerland.svg.png

Switzerland currently shows a very positive attitude towards drone pilots and drone flights. While some countries make it difficult to fly your drone (or almost impossible due to official approval required before takeoff), Switzerland encourages drone pilots to take drone pictures of the beautiful mountains, landscapes and other sites.

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Of course, there are some drone regulations in place to adhere to, even though they are currently still quite relaxed. You can find all regulations under the following link (available in English language):

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https://www.bazl.admin.ch/bazl/en/home/good-to-know/drones-and-aircraft-models/allgemeine-fragen-zu-drohnen.html

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The "New drone regulation" based on EU standards was planned to apply starting 1st iJanuary 2021. These new regulations are more restrictive than before and will require online registration and online training for most drones:

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https://www.bazl.admin.ch/bazl/en/home/good-to-know/drones-and-aircraft-models/Europaeische_Drohnenregulierung_uebernommen.html

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We suggest you already register your drone and do the online examination despite the delay of integration into Swiss law. So you are well prepared once the rules come into effect and also for your travels to EU countries.

Register your drone!

Do online training and examination!

Interactive drone map

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The following interactive drone map allows you to check easily whether you are allowed to fly your drone in a certain location within Switzerland and if so, until which altitude. It has been created by the BAZL (Bundesamt für Zivilluftfahrt) which is a governmental body. So the map is totally trustworthy.

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To find your location:

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  • Write your location in the search field

  • Or zoom into the map manually

  • Or use the GPS location function within the map

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Coloured areas: No Fly Zones (e.g. near airports, sometimes exceptions can be applied for) or only up to a certain altitude

No color (grey) areas: No further restrictions apply (other than those under above links which always apply)

Note: Currently, in some areas, restrictions only apply to drones with 500 grams or more. However, today's drones sometimes weight below 500 grams and are still very powerful. Consequently, even if your drone is lighter than 500 grams, I suggest to stick to the mentioned regulations. It is "common sense" to not fly your drone near and airport or airstrip (even if that one is lighter than 500 grams).

Click here to use GPS and identify your location

The integration

of European provisions

on drones has been postponed

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