my brother lives in germany and he was telling me about the whole EASA category system they have now, like A1 A2 A3 open category stuff. sounds like it works pretty differently from the FAA framework we have here in the US. he was saying he had to do an online theory test just to fly his mavic recreationally which honestly seems like a lot but also i kind of get why they'd want that.

i'm going to visit him next spring and was thinking about bringing my Air 3 along. not even sure if my US registration means anything over there or if i'd have to basically start from scratch with their system. has anyone traveled internationally with their drone and dealt with this kind of thing? im not trying to become an example in a regulation enforcement story if you know what i mean

yeah dont bring your drone to europe expecting your FAA registration to transfer, it absolutely does not. you'd need to register with the national aviation authority of whichever country you're in, germany uses LBA i think. the EASA open category stuff is actually not that bad once you understand it, the A1/A3 split basically just depends on your drone's weight and where you're flying relative to people. your Air 3 would fall under a specific class marking category and since it doesn't have the official EU class ID marking on it things get a bit complicated for anything beyond the most basic flying. worth looking into before you pack it

this is actually something ive been curious about too, ive heard some people say they just dont bother bringing drones when they travel internationally because its more hassle than its worth. not saying thats the right call but i get the logic. also slightly off topic but the EU stuff is making me wonder if the US will eventually move toward something more tiered like that, feels like its heading that direction slowly