Has anyone applied for a COA for a CS8? I could go read all the ones released in the FOIA request, but that would take a lot of time; I thought someone might already know.
COA is a term from the Federal Aviation Authority in the USA: There are two acceptable means of operating UAS in the NAS outside of “restricted” airspace: a Special Airworthiness Certificate – Experimental Category or a Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (COA).Andy.
Good luck getting a COA unless you are a government agency. I haven't seen anyone on the civilian side get one and even someone who was sponsored by Fish and Wildlife and BLM got rejected. Also if I remember correctly one of the requirements is that the operator (pilot) have an FAA medical, not sure if 3rd or 2nd class, and a FAA Helicopter pilot license, think that was a commercial rating.
Right, only government agencies can get COAs. I am with a state university so that's what we are going to do. A big part of the COA application is flight characteristics of the craft. I was hoping to cut and paste that off of someone else's COA application. The COA application requires a pilot that has passed the FAA's knowledge test. It has to be for a private pilot license or better. It doesn't matter which one though; it could be for a plane, or a helicopter, or one of the others. To take the knowledge test you have to have passed the FAA's physical and have taken a ground school course.
You can only fly craft like the Cinestar in the U.S. without permission if you fly for recreation. If you fly commercially you need permission. If you're a private entity you need to be a licensed pilot and have an air worthiness certificate for the aircraft. The air worthiness certificate can only be in the experimental category. So you can't use it for doing any jobs; you can only fly the aircraft to test the aircraft. If you're with the government you can get a Certificate of Authorization or Waiver (COA). The COA limits you to flying at a certain place and time (up to a two year time span) so each job you want to fly it on requires a new COA.