A first FPV kit: the rules where you fly come before the shopping list.

What this guide can and cannot say

Nothing here says a kit is legal, compliant or safe to fly. The aviation authority of the country where it flies decides what is allowed, a race's class rules decide what may race, and the club or association decides what may fly on its field. Each layer is set out below with its own document and date, and no rule from one country is presented as applying in another. This guide gives no flying technique and no building, wiring or setup content.

First: the law where it will fly

Each country covered here sets its own rule on keeping the aircraft in sight, which is what decides flying from goggles, and each draws weight lines of its own. The full detail is on the law pages; this table is only the part a buyer meets first.

More on each: United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Canada, Australia, and flying with goggles and observers.

Kit or parts: the law can treat them differently

Whether a drone arrives ready to fly or is assembled from parts can change how a regulator classes it.

• European Union: EASA's Open category page says "privately built" means built for one's own use and excludes ready-to-assemble kits. Germany's transport ministry says drones without a class mark could be placed on the market for the Open category only until 31 December 2023, and that unmarked drones placed on the market after that may be operated only in the Specific category. See class marks.
• United Kingdom: CAP2320 (March 2026, p.5) says new drones and model aircraft placed on the UK market from 1 January 2026 must carry a UK class mark, while legacy models can still be sold and flown under weight-based rules.
• United States: the Remote ID final rule's preamble (15 January 2021) says producers of complete kits are subject to the production requirements, while a hobbyist assembling a kit is not. Remote ID is covered in the Remote ID modules guide.

Second: the class rules, if it will race

Racing bodies set their own limits, and they differ. They are never combined here.

• FAI F9U (Volume F9, 2025 edition, effective 1 May 2025): take-off weight at most 1 kg with all motor axes inside a 330 mm circle (C.1.1); packs up to 6S with no cell above 4.25 V when fully charged (C.1.2); propellers at most 6 inches and none all-metal (C.1.3); video only on 5.8 GHz at most 25 mW (C.1.5); a fail-safe that stops the motors and a pit mode (C.1). A 2026 edition exists and was not read; its effective date is reported as 1 January 2026 and as 1 June 2026. The F9U model checker compares a model's figures with the 2025 limits.
• MultiGP (class page, read 30 October 2026; its Rule Book was not read): classes run from Whoop (ducted frame up to 65 mm, one cell) and Micro to Open (frame up to 305 mm, 800 g, at most 4.35 V per cell), Freedom Spec and the 7-inch Pro Spec. See MultiGP classes.

The FAI's own volume says each country's air law takes precedence over sport rules where it applies.

Third: the club or association

Association rules bind members; they are not law. The AMA's Document 550 (updated 3 March 2021) requires an AMA FPV spotter next to the pilot on every FPV flight, says AMA FPV novices must first be able to fly their aircraft without FPV, and recommends that novices consider a cockpit-view flight simulator. In the UK, the BMFA's voluntary Achievement Scheme offers an FPV extension to holders of its Basic Proficiency or 'A' certificate. In Australia, the MAAA's FPV policy, MOP066, applies to members at MAAA sites. This site does not recommend any club, school or shop.

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