Drone trial closes 2 airfields in Northumberland

This is just taking the p155

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Yes, welcome to the future. Can you just imagine the loss of airspace if the govt goes ahead with the trial of the drone superhighway between Reading and Rugby, Oxford and Cambridge ?
As things are at the moment, drones cannot compete with other means of logistics and I cannot see the need for such a wide “corridor” as they have in the article linked to.

I think NHS resources would be better invested in other parts of the chain than throwing money at private companies messing around with drones.

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They need to go all electric like the Government have been saying about other road users, blue lights are on medical delivery vehicles for a reason. If you are an emergency in an ambulance they use the blues and two’s, why would they need to stop the little airfields from earning a living and as for Amazon deliveries what on earth is wrong with their 24 hour delivery system that exists if you are a paying Prime member, surely the customer can wait for the latest purchase. I agree with @HantsFlyer NHS money needs to be spent on the areas that need it.

There is still life north of Watford, as well as better football teams :wink:

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I work for. the NHS, they pay my wages and. thus are very important to me lol.

However I don’t think any company/government department etc should be able to do an. air space grab and they will have gotten it for free as well.

I read one airfield is on a struggling farm and they need the income to survive.

If this was France the yellow vests would be out in force.

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Not so sure about that but that’s anither conversation.

I also work for the NHS and it is important to me too. In the past we have had helicopters pick up and deliver important items such as organ donations, bloods, trauma patients etc. We don’t have a helipad and sometimes an ambulance or special car/motorbike will pick up such things and speed off to deliver where it is needed. Medical drugs should be available across the country near to where they will be needed not stored in some out of the way location and then rely on a high cost company for delivery. Oops sorry rant over.

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Absolutely, I’m obviously not against the idea of drones IF that is the best option. And even if so flight plans should be submitted and a temporary hold could be placed on that route. not a blanket ruling putting family business out of business.

I totally agree, flight plans should be submitted as and when required just like any other aircraft. I am not against drone deliveries either. :slightly_smiling_face:

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Surely if these drones used Litchi ( or similar) ?, there would be no need for such a wide area, to be closed to all other airspace users.

Couldn’t agree with this more. The issue i have is that it appears far larger than it needs to be, even if a significant safety margin is added. Regular airspace has far smaller safety margins and they do ok.

It is how they are doing it rather than what they are doing. It is just galling.

There’s still a window of opportunity until 22 Sept 2023 to provide feedback on this application.
The relevant docs are available here…

Sadly, feedback has to be provided to Apian rather than to the CAA directly, but don’t let that deter us from commenting formally.

As a business case, I don’t think that Apian’s application even begins to support the need for its proposed airspace grab.

I’ve submitted my few pennies worth (happy to share my notes if anyone is interested…), but please join the party and add your own voice…

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If they need such a large block of airspace with a corridor several miles wide, it doesn’t say much for the navigational precision with which the drones will be flown - if their control is so imprecise as to require such a wide corridor it begs the question whether they should be flying at all ! Our own experiences tell us that drones can be controlled in flight to within a few metres both laterally and vertically :confused:

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If anyone would like to protest . . .

Three days left to comment on Northumbria danger area.
Friday, 22 September 2023, is the deadline for feedback on proposed NHS drone trials which would create a huge no-go danger area around Newcastle. If the trial goes ahead as proposed – funded by a Govt grant of £699,000 – it will devastate general aviation in the area.
I realise that this is a topic for general aviation but I’m sure that it will have consequences for recreational drone flight.
I apologise if this topic has already been posted, but I did look and couldn’t see anything. This is a link to the article in the flyer magazine if anyone is interested.

There is a thread on that subject on GADC somewhere. Yes a travesty for not only drone fliers, but also two small airfields if this trial is allowed to go ahead. I honestly can’t see why they need such a wide area corridor between the hospitals. Surely if they plan flights using something like Litchi, then a corridor only need to be about 100ft wide at the most ?

thin end of the wedge this…

UAVs flying great distances in remote parts of the world carrying drugs and samples makes sense, but in the UK, sorry no… there are many other ways. we have a very developed road network… there are couriers and taxis if something is urgent (yes taxis do get used!)

CAA say that our airspace is too congested… so why make it more congested or rather limiting when there are other means for samples and drugs to be sent either in small consignments or small bundles…

Thanks for the heads up, I’ve merged the two topics in to one.

Its unclear exactly what they are applying for … is it a prohibited, restricted or danger area?

I can’t tell from the documents