Flying in Morden (SW London)

I managed to get out and fly before the rains today. I went to Morden Park in SW London which is only about a 15 min drive for me. It has a designated flying field but when I got there it was just me. There was quite a stiff breeze but also some tall trees to provide shelter and all in all it was a great place to fly. Not really pictorially interesting but quite a big area that let me turn on sports mode and let rip :sunglasses:

There were some dog walkers but they were fine and one or two of them came over to chat and were friendly and interested rather than anything nasty. One old woman brought along a herd of about 6 dogs, one of which was old and a bit arthritic. She was bringing up the rear and when she saw me she walked over and lay down at my feet haha. Of course I had to stop flying for about 15 mine until the lady came over to retrieve her. Her comment to me was that it was a shame drones can’t carry dogs :joy:. I laughed and agreed with her.

3 batteries goes by very fast and I can see the need for more :scream:

If anyone lives in this area and flies at Morden Park (or elsewhere in the vicinity) then let me know.

Here are some pictures (I did shoot video as well but is was cr*p… I still have much to learn!!)

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Mmm not all the pictures loaded :slightly_frowning_face:! Here are some more

J




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Ahhhh, Morden Park…

I grew up in this neck of the woods :blush: Spent many a time in that park with a fishing net and a jam jar catching sticklebacks :slight_smile:

Is the BOC gas plant still there? And I heard they’d turned The Grove pub opposite SW tube in to a Tesco Express?!

Amazing to see a council getting on board eh? Especially in London!

Pinging @liamski in to this thread as he’s in Mitcham :+1:

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Haha don’t know about the grove pub or Tesco express but I can only agree that it is good that the council has a designated area for us.

If liamski is in mitcham then he probably flies at Croydon airfield… another designated and good spot in London

J

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Actually I live in Morden and didn’t know Morden Park had a flying area. I’ll be down there asap!

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Here you go… hope this helps

Let us know what you think of it

J

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Curious because Merton, like Sutton, define a Model Aircraft in their bylaws as follows:-
"
Model aircraft

  1. (a) For the purpose of this byelaw “model aircraft” means an aircraft which either weighs not more than 5kg without its fuel or is for the time being exempted (as a model aircraft) from the provisions of the Air Navigation Order, and “power-driven” means driven by the combustion of petrol vapour or other combustible substances.

    (b) No person shall -

    (i) In the part of the pleasure ground so set apart release any power driven model aircraft for flight or control the flight of such an aircraft; or

    (ii) Cause any such aircraft to take off or land in the path of the pleasure ground so set apart unless it is attached to a control line and is kept under effective control in the grounds and on the days and during the hours specified in the following table:
    "
    This means that the quadcopters we use are excluded from said restrictions because they are powered by batteries and not combustible fuels! To counter this omission, many other councils have added batteries to the source of power.
    See: https://www2.merton.gov.uk/environment/openspaces/parks/parkbylaws.htm#interpret

I saw that and thought about it too but since there is a designated flying field within easy distance for me I tend to use that. However I would be very interested to hear other peoples opinions on how this by law can be interpreted.

J

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Hi Guys,
Used the members map and was great to see this info… really cheered me up knowing somewhere close I could go.
I’m in Tooting Bec so just up the road, definitely will be heading down there to get some flight time in.
Cheers
Jase

I live in Worcester Park and only just read this about Morden Park. I also found out last week that there is a similar designated flying field in Richmond Park.

Interested to know if any other little flying areas are out there in London.

Ta
Rob

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Merton Designated Flying areas.

Name of ground Days Hours
Cannon Hill Common Monday to Saturdays Sundays 10:00 - 21:0010:00 - 21:30
Figges Marsh Mondays, Wednesday and Friday 18:00 - 21:30
Morden Park Monday to Saturday Sunday 10:00- 21:0010:00 - 13:00
Three Kings Piece Tuesdays and Thursdays Sundays Except on the days when the ground is occupied for the purpose of the “Mitcham Fair”. 18:00 - 21:3013:00 - 16:00
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Hi looks quite a decent site I normally fly in Richmond park flying field good size mid week empty Saturdays ok Sunday’s can be manic I build my own quads NO GPS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING pure stick input but I do have a spark purely for monochrome high landscape photography.but the most enjoyment I get is the flame wheel i can really rag it about oooh the pleasures of being retired

So it looks like drones can not be flown there after all as it states that Said aircraft must have a control line or am I miss reading