How do you prepare a professional drone mission, from the area to the flight file?

Everything starts from four written answers, before any map is opened. What: the client's need, turned into shots, trajectories and useful height. Where: the exact flight area, drawn, with the controlled ground area around it. When: a window of dates and hours, never a single date, since filings and weather can move the flight. Under which framework: Open category, or Specific category under a standard scenario (STS-01, STS-02) or an operational authorisation. These four answers decide everything else: which airspace to read, which filings to make, which lead time to meet and which documents to carry.

The reference is the aeronautical information published by the SIA (the French aeronautical information service) in the eAIP France. It changes with the AIRAC cycle, every 28 days: a preparation made on an expired cycle can miss a new or modified zone. The structures to find around your area:

• Control zones (CTR) around aerodromes, where prior approval is required depending on height and type of flight;
• Prohibited (P), restricted (R) and danger (D) areas of AIP ENR 5.1: in a P area flying is prohibited, except under its published entry conditions; in an R or D area it requires the approval of the body in charge of the area during its activity hours;
• The RTBA network, military very-low-level training areas, whose activity for the day is published the evening before from 17:00 on the SIA website (AZBA charts);
• Temporary restricted areas (ZRT), published by SUP AIP or NOTAM;
• National parks and nature reserves (AIP ENR 5.7.3) and sites closed to low-level overflight (AIP ENR 5.7.1).

For a first look, the official map « Restrictions UAS catégorie Ouverte et Aéromodélisme » on cartes.gouv.fr shows most of these zones. The DGAC itself states, in its Specific-category guide, that the map « peut contenir des erreurs notamment sur les limites de hauteurs de vol par exemple » (it may contain errors, notably on height limits). The map helps you spot; the AIP decides.

Permanent zones are in the AIP; anything temporary goes through two other channels, published by the SIA:

• The SUP AIP (AIP supplement) publishes long-lasting temporary changes in advance: temporary restricted areas for a military exercise, a major event, an air show;
• The NOTAM publishes short or unforeseen changes: activation of a zone, a restriction around an emergency site, a new obstacle.

Read them on the SIA website, SUP AIP tab, and on SOFIA-Briefing, the SIA's flight preparation service, for NOTAM. No third-party aggregator as a source: during an inspection, only the official information counts. The DGAC is explicit: « La consultation des NOTAM et SUP AIP reste un préalable indispensable à chaque vol » (checking NOTAM and SUP AIP remains an essential prerequisite for every flight). Read them once when preparing, again the day before, and a last time on the day before take-off.

In France, a drone flies in a populated area when it flies within a built-up area shown on the SIA aeronautical charts, or less than 50 metres from it, or less than 150 metres from an assembly of people. Both distances are a French definition: each Member State sets its own.

An assembly of people is judged on site and qualified, not counted: it is a crowd dense enough that people cannot move away — a show, a sports event, a beach or tourist site at peak times, a parade. No head count defines it.

Under a standard scenario, the operator sets up a controlled ground area and makes sure no uninvolved person enters it during the flight. Its minimum size depends on the scenario; it grows with height, speed and wind. On a public road, setting it up may require a temporary occupation permit for the public domain.

A drone's maximum height is measured above the ground or water (AGL): 120 metres under a standard scenario. Airspace limits, however, are published as altitude above mean sea level (AMSL, in feet) or as a flight level (FL). To know whether your flight reaches a zone whose floor is 1,500 ft AMSL, add the terrain elevation to the planned flight height: on a plateau at 400 metres, 120 metres of height puts you at 520 metres, about 1,700 ft AMSL.

Near aerodromes, height limits are counted from the aerodrome's reference elevation, published at the top of the VAC charts and in the AD part of the AIP. Also locate the site's obstacles — power lines, wind turbines, cranes — and allow for terrain rising or falling along the trajectory.

Each filing has its trigger, its lead time and its channel. Those of a Specific-category mission under a standard scenario:

Without an answer from the préfecture, a flight declared in time is deemed authorised; the préfecture may still prohibit or restrict it for security or public-order reasons. The Ministère des Armées does not answer at all. A declaration that misses the 10-working-day notice requires the préfecture's prior approval. The AlphaTango procedure itself is covered in our AlphaTango guide.

Two ceilings apply, and the lower one wins: the manufacturer's limits (maximum wind, temperature, rain) and those your MANEX sets for this type of mission. Take the forecast when preparing, then the observation on the day, from official sources: Météo-France and its aviation service, which publishes aerodrome METAR and TAF. Check sunset time too: in mainland France the aeronautical night begins 30 minutes after sunset, and night flying follows its own conditions.

• Remote pilot: designated for the flight, listed in the MANEX and holding the certificates valid for the scenario;
• Aircraft: registered where required, of the class the scenario demands (C5 for STS-01, C6 for STS-02) with its declaration of conformity, and airworthy;
• Insurance: valid third-party liability covering the planned activity — see the check to make before each mission;
• Roles: when the flight needs several people (observer, perimeter security), each knows their role before arriving on site.

The « flight file » is not a document the regulation names. It gathers what the DGAC requires the operator to have checked before any flight, and what must be shown on site during an inspection (DGAC Specific-category guide, §22):

• The UAS operator information statement issued less than 24 months ago;
• The aircraft's class declaration of conformity;
• The up-to-date MANEX;
• For each remote pilot: an identity document and their training records;
• The approvals obtained to fly in restricted airspace, and the protocols where applicable;
• Any other authorisation issued by the DGAC for the mission.

Add what helps the team on the ground: the map of the area and of the controlled ground area, proof that the filings were made, the weather taken, the emergency plan. The pre-take-off checklist comes from your MANEX's normal procedures (see what it must contain): aircraft and battery condition, link, clear area, NOTAM re-read, roles confirmed. What an inspector will check is detailed in our DSAC inspection guide.

The flight is recorded in the aircraft's and the remote pilot's logbooks. The operator keeps records of operations, maintenance, logbooks and occurrence reports for 3 years. An incident affecting safety is reported to the competent regional DSAC with the CRESUS occurrence report form; beyond the mandatory cases, the DGAC encourages voluntary reports.