About DroneCheck

Why this site exists

Since Regulation (EU) 2019/947 came into force, a recreational remote pilot has to cross-reference at least four sources to know what applies to them: the European regulation itself, Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/945 on drone classes, the national rules that build on the European baseline, and the manufacturer's documentation to establish the machine's actual class. Every one of those sources is public — none of them is written for someone who simply wants to know whether they can take off.

The gap is widest on the questions that come up most often: is a 249 g drone really exempt from everything? do you need to register even without a camera? what actually changes between a C1-labelled aircraft and the same model without a class marking? DroneCheck answers by starting from your situation rather than from the text.

How the calculator works

The result is not written in advance, it is computed. Your answers — drone mass and class, whether it has a camera, country, type of use, flight environment — feed a rules engine that mirrors the logic of the legislation, then returns the applicable subcategory (A1, A2 or A3), the obligations that follow from it (registration, training, remote identification, electronic conspicuity) and the concrete limits on height and distance from people.

Where the data comes from

Every rule shown is backed by an official source, listed on the “Regulatory sources” page. In practice:

• The European baseline comes from Regulations (EU) 2019/947 and (EU) 2019/945 and from documents published by EASA.
• National specifics come from the competent authority of each country covered: DGAC and AlphaTango for France, the LBA for Germany, AESA for Spain.
• Drone classes (C0 to C4) are taken from manufacturer documentation and cross-checked against public lists of class-marked aircraft. An aircraft whose class could not be confirmed is treated as unmarked — never guessed.
• Where a national figure could not be verified against an official source, it is not displayed at all rather than estimated.

Regulatory sources

Updates and corrections

Drone regulation moves: transition periods end, new class certifications appear, national rules are amended. The data is reviewed whenever a change is spotted on the official sources. If you find something out of date or wrong, write to us — reports from remote pilots are the site's main source of corrections.

Who publishes DroneCheck

The site is published in a personal capacity by Julien CLERO, based in Rennes, France. It is developed and maintained in-house, with no outsourced writing: the regulatory content is written from the legislation itself, not rewritten from other websites.

What DroneCheck is not

DroneCheck is a decision aid, not legal advice and not an official service. It replaces neither the publications of civil aviation authorities nor checking the geographical zones that apply on the day of your flight (NOTAM, SUP AIP, temporary restrictions). Responsibility for the compliance of a flight remains with the remote pilot.

How the site is funded

DroneCheck is free and works without an account. It is funded by advertising and by affiliate links, which are always identified as such. That revenue has no influence on the regulatory result: the rules engine knows nothing about advertisers, and no commercial recommendation can change an obligation that is displayed.

A question, or something to report? Get in touch.