Class 1 Drone (一等) common mistakes
Class 1 Drone (一等) · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Treating the 航空法 10-hour flight-log rule for 一等 as satisfied by hours flown on a 二等 or hobby airframe, or by hours flown outside Japan on an unregistered aircraft, and submitting those hours in the 飛行経歴 without separating them.
Candidates skim the 国土交通省令 wording and assume 'flight time is flight time'. They also transfer hours from a prior 二等 logbook without checking which 飛行経歴 categories the 一等 application actually credits.
What to do instead
Before applying, build a table of every logged hour with columns for date, airframe registration (登録記号), 飛行の種類, and whether the aircraft was 無人航空機登録済み. Re-read the current 航空法施行規則 飛行経歴 requirements and the 無人航空機の飛行の許可を受けた者が受ける講習の基準, then exclude any hour that does not match the stated category. Keep the excluded hours visible so you can explain them if the 指定試験機関 asks.
Answering questions about 立入管理措置 and 飛行禁止空域 by memorising '150 m above ground' and 'DID' as slogans, then failing items that ask about 人口集中地区 boundaries, 空港周辺空域 with its 進入表面/水平表面 geometry, or the 緊急用務空域.
The exam phrases these as applied scenarios (a farm plot partly inside a DID, a flight near a small airfield) rather than definitions, and candidates have only memorised the headline numbers.
What to do instead
Learn the spatial logic, not the labels: what defines a 人口集中地区 (国勢調査の基本単位区 based), how 空港周辺空域 is drawn from the 進入表面 and 水平表面 with the 制限表面 distances, and that 緊急用務空域 is designated by the 国土交通大臣 when needed. Practise drawing each boundary from memory and classifying a point as inside/outside.
In the 飛行操作 domain, describing a manoeuvre in words only ('pull back to climb, add power') without stating the control inputs, the resulting attitude, and the recovery action, so answers on 緊急時の操作 or 風の影響下での着陸 do not match the expected sequence.
Candidates with simulator or hobby experience rely on feel and have never had to verbalise a procedure in the exact order the grading rubric expects. Multirotor and fixed-wing answers also get mixed up.
What to do instead
Write each manoeuvre as a numbered checklist in the correct causal order (感知 → 判断 → 操作 → 確認) and state the aircraft type it applies to. Rehearse aloud with a timer so the sequence becomes automatic, then answer past-style scenario items and compare your ordering, not just your conclusion, against the reference.
Giving the same answer for a multirotor and a fixed-wing (or 回転翼 vs 固定翼) when the question is about 失速, バンク角 limits, or 着陸時の進入速度.
The 一等 syllabus covers both 回転翼航空機 and 固定翼機, and candidates prepare only for the type they fly, then pattern-match the familiar term in the stem.
What to do instead
For each aerodynamics topic (揚力, 失速, 旋回, 風胴 effects), make a two-column sheet: 回転翼 / 固定翼. Note where the physics differs (e.g. fixed-wing 失速角 vs rotor blade 失速) and where it is shared. Check the stem for the aircraft category before answering.
On 気象 items, choosing the answer that matches the visible weather rather than the forecast product named in the stem - e.g. confusing 着氷の可能性, ウインドシア, or 雷電 with the specific 気象情報/警報 that is being asked about.
Candidates learn weather as general knowledge and do not drill the Japanese product names (気象注意報・警報, 竜巻注意情報, 航空気象用語) and their issuance criteria, so they answer the phenomenon instead of the product.
What to do instead
Build a one-page matrix of Japanese weather products: name, issuing body, trigger criteria, and the operational action a UAS operator should take. Then practise 'which product and what action' questions, forcing yourself to name the product before choosing.
Planning a flight without writing down the 飛行計画 content the exam expects: 飛行の目的, 経路, 高度, 時間帯, 操縦者, 立入管理措置, and the 緊急時の対応 - and then failing scenario questions about whether a 飛行計画の通報 is required.
In real operations the plan lives in the operator's head or an app; candidates never practise producing the full documented set, so they cannot judge completeness in a written question.
What to do instead
Produce three complete sample 飛行計画 documents (one 許可・承認必要, one 特定飛行 but 承認不要, one 特定飛行に該当しない) and annotate each field with the rule that requires it. Then answer plan-critique questions by ticking off each required element.
Treating 機体の点検 as a single pre-flight check and giving the same answer for 日常点検, 定期点検, and 特別点検 (or for 飛行前点検 vs 飛行後点検).
The 一等 syllabus distinguishes inspection types by timing and trigger (e.g. after a hard landing or a 落下事故), and candidates collapse them into 'check the drone before flying'.
What to do instead
Make a table with rows for each inspection type and columns for when it is performed, who may perform it, what is checked (バッテリー, プロペラ, モーター, 通信系統, 磁気コンパス), and what record is kept. Learn the trigger conditions for 特別点検 explicitly.
Answering 安全管理 items with generic safety language ('be careful', 'follow the manual') instead of naming the specific mechanism: リスクアセスメント, ヒヤリハット報告, 安全目標, 教育訓練記録, or the 安全管理者 role.
Candidates have operational experience but no exposure to SMS vocabulary, so they describe good practice rather than the required organisational element.
What to do instead
Memorise the SMS components and their Japanese terms, and for each one write a concrete artefact an operator would hold (e.g. リスクアセスメント票, ヒヤリハット集計, 訓練記録). Answer scenario questions by naming the artefact and the responsible role.
In 緊急時対応 questions, describing the emergency action but omitting the reporting chain and timing - who is notified (運航管理者, 警察, 消防, 国土交通省), in what order, and what is recorded - so the answer is incomplete.
Candidates focus on the flying part of the emergency and treat reporting as administrative detail, though the exam grades the whole response.
What to do instead
Write a one-page 緊急時対応フローチャート covering 墜落, 第三者への危害, 行方不明, and 火災, with the notification order, the phone numbers/contacts, and the items to record (時刻, 場所, 機体, 状況, 対応). Rehearse it as a spoken drill.
Confusing 電波法 requirements for the control link and the image link: answering that a 技適 mark is needed for all frequencies, or that a 無線従事者 is always required, or ignoring the 上空利用の届出 and 混信 avoidance duties.
Candidates mix the 技適制度, the 包括免許/特定小電力 rules, and the 航空法 side of radio use, and the Japanese terminology (技術基準適合証明, 特定小電力無線局, 免許) overlaps confusingly.
What to do instead
Build a table by frequency band and use (制御回線 / 映像回線) with columns for 技適の要否, 免許の要否, 無線従事者の要否, 送信出力の上限, and 届出義務. Verify each cell against the current 電波法 and 電波法令の解説 before memorising, and flag any cell you cannot confirm.