CDP-C™ Course

The CDP-C™ course and certification in Hong Kong, issued by The UAV Academy LTD from the UK, is designed to demonstrate your competency as a UAV pilot, to enable you or your organisation to support any application for permission for commercial aerial work to the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department (HKCAD), or any national aviation authority, according to the rules of that country, if you so wish. Certification will neither grant you a ‘pilot’s licence’ nor automatically grant you a permission to fly a UAV commercially in Hong Kong or worldwide.

IAM UAS Solutions (IAMUAS) is the course provider of CDP-C™ course in Hong Kong.
The course is based on the UK course, but has been tailored to reflect the small differences in Hong Kong laws as compared with the UK laws. As such certification will enable successful operators to demonstrate the necessary competencies to the HKCAD, however you may still be required to undergo a short flight assessment with HKCAD staff. This should not prove difficult, having been through this course.

The CDP-C™ qualification you gain on successful completion of the course is International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and Joint Authorities for Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems (JARUS) fully compliant and does not expire, so it is life-long. The UK Civil Aviation Authority (UK CAA) does have a pilot currency minimum and requires you to provide logbook evidence of 2 hours drone flying time in the last three months for each pilot when you submit your application to renew your Permission for Commercial Operations. The HKCAD only requires that a pilot keep a log book of their flying hours, which they should make available upon request. It may be kept in paper or electronic form. IAMUAS recommends pilots follow the UK CAA guidelines and keep logbook evidence of 2 hours flying time per quarter in order to maintain currency. Similarly, your operations manual should state your organisation’s required flying time per year to be logged by pilots.

Applications from overseas pilots wanting to carry out commercial aerial work in the UK can be made directly to the UK CAA and are dependent on evidence of ‘pilot competency’ and location(s) where filming is to take place, and are considered individually on their own merit.

New legislation for UAS (Drones) in Hong Kong is being addressed now by an overseas consultant and IAMUAS has been giving detailed advice to the CAD through the advisory/consultancy process. It is widely anticipated and hoped that the CDP-C™ certification may be accepted as a proof of competency in it’s own right in the future and resulting in a period permit to fly rather than individual permit-per-job as it currently stands. IAMUAS is constantly revising course materials to reflect new technologies, including proprietary and battery technology and sense-and-avoid systems.

The CDP-C™ certification can be attained by passing both a 2-day Ground School (theory) course, an Operations Manual (OM) review, and finally a Flight Operations Assessment (FOA). To encourage safe operation in this new industry the Ground School course is open to all those who are interested in the regulatory and operational environment for UAV/drones. Flight lessons are optional but highly encouraged and depend on the competency of the candidates. Training has been demonstrated to be the single greatest influence on flight safety.

IAMUAS also offer a service to assist pilots in preparing their operations manuals for submission to the HKCAD or any other national aviation authority.

Our trainers are expert and enthusiastic about what they do. We are confident you will feed off them as you learn.