A different take on Eyeup’s ever-popular

“How to update your Operations Manual” blog

 

The good news is that I have removed the “Buy me a Coffee link.

To be fair, there was very little caffeine imbibed during 2025.  This might mean that folk are happily updating their own manuals, which is great and in many ways the best reason.  Or it might mean that they are very sensibly pointing themselves at Eyeup’s PDRA01 manual gateway – see “An easier approach below.

It’s even possible that they are going to third-party manual services.  This is less pleasing, particularly as I know that several of these happily come here to find out what updates they should be including.  Flattering, but cheeky!

The worst case scenario is that they are using the CAA’s CAP 2606 template.  Eyeup cannot recommend this at time of writing as the CAA template doesn’t contain the required updates to cover recent legislative changes.  I know.  The body that knows about the changes first just couldn’t manage to update their own manual.  The CAA version is also over-zealous in its approach.  At over 130 pages it is both over-complex and designed merely around compliance, not ease of use or practicality.  Operators are welcome to use the CAA template.  But be warned that it contains a number of “gotchas” that could leave you liable if not followed to the letter.  So make sure you understand what you are signing up to.

What are your choices for 2026?

The bad news is that Eyeup can no longer provide the old step-by-step approach blog that it has done in previous years.  There are several reasons for this.  The main one is that updating piecemeal can eventually lead to a manual that doesn’t read and hold together well.  This is why Eyeup’s preferred methodology is now template based.  There is another reason too. The step-by-step blog can easily fall out of date throughout the year. It is far harder to explain how to complete a manual section than it is just to update my own templates.

Here are the routes to operations manual nirvana for 2026 by price

Do It Yourself (£0… assuming you don’t value your own time)

The DIY approach is great in many ways.  If you are happy to go down this route then there are plenty of resources on the CAA site you can rely on.  Given their lack of ability to get the drone code correct or even update their own manual template in a timely manner, Eyeup wishes you the very best of luck.

Unmanned Support Template (£0 to £50)

I have also set up a new industry trade body during the year.  This provides access to an up-to-date template as part of the higher level membership package.  An annual “Supported” package only costs £50 and you can download and use the template as many times as you want during your membership.

This makes it the lowest cost method of obtaining what is becoming an industry standard operations manual.  Obviously you have some work to do to complete the template yourself, but all the information is there to help you through the process.

The reason the price in the heading is £0 to £50 is that you may find you obtain much more value from your membership that just the template.  You could even get to the stage where your manual is effectively obtained at negative cost!

Click on the Unmanned Support logo visit the membership page.  You will require “Supported” level membership.  Once joined, a link to the Operations Manual template and many more will be available via your “My Account” page.

Eyeup PDRA01 Gateway with Unmanned Support Discount (£100 to £150)

This is the Eyeup fully CAP 722A and 722H compliant manual as detailed in the “Enter the PDRA01 Gateway” section below.

Join Unmanned Support as a “Supported” member via the logo above.  When you complete the “Eyeup PDRA01 Gateway Form” you simply provide your Unmanned Support username at the end.  If you are a supported member then your invoice value will be reduced from £150 to £100.

Obviously, you’ll have paid £50 as well for Unmanned Support membership.  But once again, there are many other member-only benefits to help cover that cost over a year, hence the range in price from £100 to £150.

Eyeup PDRA01 Gateway (£150)

This is the simplest, but most expensive approach.  You will obtain your manual, but if you haven’t joined Unmanned Support and decide later to do so, then there is no retrospective discount available.

Here are your choices in graphical form.

Enter the PDRA01 Gateway

Simply click here and complete the form then email your current manual to info@eyeup.camera.  You will be invoiced the appropriate fee based on your choices above and once payment is received, you will be sent your updated manual.  It is important that you familiarise yourself fully with this new manual since I pretty much guarantee it contains some differences to your current OM, driven by the recent legislative changes of 1st January 2026.

 

Guarantee

No third party company or individual can GUARANTEE that any operations manual will be accepted by the CAA during the audit process or how the procedures have been applied.  It’s your manual and you need to understand not only your procedures but the law surrounding them.  Do that and you’re halfway there!

On the other hand, if you sign up to the Eyeup PDRA01 gateway, then I will get your manual through.  If the operations manual is pulled up during audit due to an issue with the manual itself (i.e. not your application of it, for example failure to maintain records) then those issues will be resolved.

Thank you for reading this far.

Graham Degg