MFNZ - Model Flying New Zealand

As you are likely aware Model Flying New Zealand documentation for many aspects of our hobby are changing or have changed. We have recently received approval from the Civil Aviation Authority on our new 102 Operations Manual, this document (among other updated and rewritten ones) has changed many of the procedures and processes we use to do what we do! Some things haven’t changed but are better documented – such as operating within 4km of an aerodrome, and accident reporting.

So… what is a 102? Why does it matter to me? I don’t fly BVLOS 28kg jets at night!
The standard Civil Aviation Rules that model aircraft operate to is the CAR101 rule set, which are a prescriptive set of rules – Do’s and Do Not’s. CAR102 is a much more progressive rule set that allows those prescriptive rules to be varied, provided the 102 certificate holder can demonstrate to the CAA that the risks have been suitably mitigated. The 102 holders exposition (or suite of manuals) document these variations and mitigations to manage the risk. Our Exposition consists primarily of our CAR102 Operations Manual and our Wings Program and Large Model Code of Practice, but arguably consists of all MFNZ documentation.

The CAA assess our exposition, interview the Prime Person (MFNZ President) and if they are suitably convinced the operation is safe then issue a CAR102 Certificate and Operations Specifications (Ops Specs). The 102 certificate is a nice thing to put on the fridge, the Ops Specs is much more useful as it says what the organization can do under the 102, as well as who is responsible for what.
So.. How does all this affect you? The answer is simple –

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