C0 drones must cap height at 120 metres from takeoff

Class C0 drones must limit maximum attainable height to 120 metres above the takeoff point, retained EU product rules say.

Annex Part 1 of UK retained Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/945 requires a class C0 unmanned aircraft to “have a maximum attainable height above the take-off point limited to 120 m.” UK Open-category class marking is based on that retained law, the CAA said.

The Drone Code is a different sentence. Open-category height is 120 metres above the surface. If the ground rises, that legal ceiling rises with it. DJI’s “max takeoff altitude” figure, often 4,000 metres or more, is a mountain limit. It is not the Open-category rule.

On a slope, the C0 product cap can stop the aircraft before the Drone Code would. DJI’s ViewPoints table maps Mini 5 Pro, Mini 4 Pro and Mini 3 to C0/UK0.

What is not sourced here

DJI has not published a UK-only note on its media-centre domain that says the Fly app now enforces that C0 cap on British Minis. Operator and dealer posts describing a 120-metre takeoff-relative limit after a GPS fix are not a DJI press release. DroneIQ is not documenting third-party tools that claim to lift the cap.

C1 and C2

Air 3S is C1. Mavic 4 Pro is C2. Both still have to stay 120 metres from the surface in the Open category. They are not C0 products. A Plus battery that takes a Mini 5 Pro into C1 is a class change. Weigh the pack. See Mini 5 Pro.