Frequently Asked Questions
Below you will some of our frequently asked questions. Please click on the question to expand the answer.
What is the SACAA?
SACAA stands for South African Civil Aviation Authority. This is South Africa’s regulator of all areas related to civil aviation.
Terminology used
RPC – Remote Pilot Certificate (Previously referred to as an RPL).
UA – Unmanned Aircraft: a drone.
UAS – Unmanned Aircraft System: A drone and the controller used to operate the drone.
UASOC – Unmanned Aircraft System Operators Certificate (Previously referred to as an ROC).
UASMT – Unmanned Aircraft System Maintenance Technician (previously referred to as an RMT).
What is a Remote Pilots Certificate (RPC)
An RPC (previously referred to as an RPL) is a Commercial Remote Pilot Certification issued by The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) allowing the holder to operate an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) for financial gain.
An RPC is required for all flights and operations that are not classified as Private flights by the CAA.
What is considered as a private operation?
A “private operation” means the use of a UAS (drone) for an individual’s personal and private purposes where there is no commercial outcome, interest or gain.
A private operation or flight is where a person is flying their drone recreationally.
Line of sight regulations
All flights will be conducted under a specific Line-Of-Sight rule by the pilot.
RVLOS – Restricted Visual Line Of Sight: means an operation within 500 metres of the remote pilot and below the height of the highest obstacle within 300 metres of the aircraft, in which the remote pilot maintains direct unaided visual contact with the aircraft to manage its flight and meet separation and collision avoidance responsibilities.
VLOS – Visual Line of Sight: means an operation below 400 feet above ground level in which the remote pilot, maintains direct and unaided visual contact with the RPA at a distance not exceeding 500 metres.
EVLOS – Extended Visual Line of Sight: means an operation below 400 feet above ground level in which an observer, maintains direct and unaided visual contact with the remotely piloted aircraft at a distance not exceeding 1 000 metres from the pilot;
BVLOS – Beyond Visual Line Of Sight: means an operation in which the remote pilot cannot maintain direct unaided visual contact with the remotely piloted aircraft to manage its flight and to meet separation and collision avoidance responsibilities visually
What can I do with a RPC?
The RPC allows a person to work as a commercial Drone / UAS pilot. The pilot is however required to do commercial work under the authorisation of a UAS Operators Certificate (UASOC) holder.
What is a UASOC?
A UASOC is an Unmanned Aircraft Systems Operators Certificate (previously referred to as ROC) and is a license that a company needs to apply for in order to do UAS commercial work legally.
A UASOC application can take 18 – 24 months to complete.
If I have an RPC why do I need a UASOC?
In order to do commercial work as a UAS/Drone Pilot the SACAA requires both licenses to be in place. If you are caught not having the required license you may be liable for fines. Please visit www.caa.co.za – under the legislation section Part 185 Section 3 for detailed information on the fines that may be issued.
What are the requirements to get an RPC?
To get an RPC a person must:
- Be 18 years or older
- Have a valid Class 3 Aviation Medical Certificate
- Have a Restricted Aeronautical Radio Licence
- Must have a language proficiency level 4 or higher
- Complete the Theoretical knowledge exam/s through an approved ATO
- Complete practical skills training through an approved ATO
- Pass a skills test by an authorized examiner
Is a medical certificate is required?
A Class 3 Aviation Medical is required which is issued by an aviation medical Doctor.
The medical cost is not included in the RPC Course Fee.
A list of Designated Aviation Medical Examiners is available on the SACAA Website and can also be provided by us.
The medical smust be done prior to starting the RPC course.
What is language proficiency?
Language proficiency is a standard introduced by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to measure the level of the understanding of English among aviators.
Students can supply one of the following:
- A South African Matric certificate with a minimum “D” (50% or higher) symbol in English First Language – Automatic level 6 proficiency rating which does not expire.
- A Tertiary education certificate/diploma/degree issued by any SAQA accredited institution where the course is a minimum of 2 years and the language of tuition is in English – Automatic level 6 proficiency rating which does not expire.
- A South African Matric certificate with a minimum “C” (60% or higher) symbol in English First Additional Language (second language) – Automatic level 4 proficiency rating which will require a language proficiency test after 3 years.
Drone-X will make the necessary arrangements should a language proficiency test be required by an accredited SACAA Language Examiner and will include an additional cost not covered by the course fees.
How long is the course?
The Theoretical Course is is split into two theory courses, both done online via live Zoom sessions, once a month as per our course schedule with a study period between the two courses.
The first theory course covers the Restricted Radio Licence Theory, and the second course covers the Remote Pilots Certificate theory.
Theory exams will need to be written and passed for each theory course and the required pass mark is 75% for any exam.
The practical part of the course is another 10-14 days, but this is scheduled according to the student’s own time and preference. The average completion time for the RPC is 4-8 weeks when being completed full time.
The RPC course must be completed within 6 months of the start date (Please refer to the Terms and Conditions).
What exams are required?
The course comprises of the Restricted radio course, followed by 13 RPC modules covered in the RPC theory part of the course but exams are only written on the following subjects:
The Radio exam is a SACAA online exam and this exam is written at an approved SACAA exam Centre. We arrange the booking of this exam once the candidate is ready.
The RPC theory exam will cover the following modules:
- Air Law
- Aircraft technical
- Principles of Flight
- Meteorology
- Human Factors
- Navigation
The pass mark for all the exams are 75%. A student may re-write the exams if failed however additional charges are applicable for the Radio exam rewrite.
Where is the practical training done?
We have two practical training fields, one in the Cape Town region and one in the Johannesburg region.
- Cape Town – Stellenbosch
- Johannesburg – Centurion
Please see our training field locations on the training page.
How does the practical flight training work?
Each lesson is a 2-hour session.
All equipment is supplied by Drone-X for training.
We allow for 6 training sessions with an instructor as well as a final “pre-test” lesson which is called the Letter of Recommendation (LOR) Flight.
Once this is complete the instructor will issue a letter of recommendation for the student to complete the final test with the Designated Examiner appointed by the SACAA.
Where can I fly my drone as a hobby enthusiast?
As a hobby pilot please refer to the SACAA UAS webpage linked below for the acceptable use of drones in South Africa.