So yes, Ullapool and a lot of the surrounding area does fall within the HRA (and LFA) discussed earlier in this thread, so youâd need to check if either is active when you want to fly.
Best bet is to check Drone Scene and/or Drone Assist for the specific area you want to fly in close to the time. The HRA is only active when thereâs a NOTAM issued, both Drone Scene and Drone Assist should show any NOTAMs so youâll know if itâs âonâ.
The LFA is separate and needs a phone call.
Not if theyâre managed by Forestry and Land Scotland. Theyâre pretty easy going if youâre flying for pleasure - stick to the drone code, donât disturb the wildlife and follow the Outdoor Access Code.
Historic Environment Scotland wonât let you fly from their properties without a PfCO, but acknowledge in their policy that if you take off from adjacent land and fly over their land you just need to stick to the Drone Code.
As youâll know, pretty much all of the Highlands is privately owned and those âbarrenâ bits will be part of a big estate. Technically, the Right of Access in the Land Reform Act excludes the use of âmotorised vehiclesâ which would include drone flights⌠but personally Iâd be asking myself:
Is it restricted airspace?
Is it within the Drone Code?
Am I respecting the environment and wildlife?
Are there signs up prohibiting drone flights?
Am I being a dick if I do this?
(the last one is, to be fair, the thing that stops me more often than the others )
Other than how busy it might be ⌠I donât think so. Itâs owned and managed by the John Muir Trust these days so you could drop them an email if you were worried.
Joe, thanks VERY much for taking the time to give that info, advice and comments. Thatâs really useful and gives me a starting point to plan what I do. Iâm lucky enough that the house Iâm staying is outside the restricted zones completely by about 5 to 10 miles. But some of what I hoped requires a bit more prep and phone calls
Question. I see a lot of drone footage around Eilean Donan Castle ,Yet when i go into drone scene to that area it comes up in red i take that too mean
a restricted area .Can any body help me with this one or am i doing something wrong .
As far as I am aware, much of the Highlands/weat coast will be red as it is used for low flight practice by the MOD/RAF. I think you need to check for NOTAMs before flying your drone. If there are any issued for the area at the time you want to fly, donât!!!
When I first asked this question I was amazed by the variation in response. It does seem like the MOD and the government have just carved out at huge swath of the Scottish Highlands as âPlayground for the RAF and any Royal needsâ - itâs not like many people live here, right?
Summarized the responses seem to fall into the following categories;
Do what you want and dare someone to challenge you.
Adhere to the rules and never expect to go flying in the Scottish Highlands.
Use one of the recommended sites to try and find a number to call and then convince them that you just want to fly for 30 minutes and wonât get in anyoneâs way.
Try it and hope no one spots you.
There are members here that feature on popular video channels that seem to fly where they want and when they want, they are extremely well practiced in excusing away why it was OK for them to do it.
In the end I think it will come down to your own risk tolerance and what you think you can get away with.
You got that right. Very little enjoyment in this right now, everyoneâs out to demonize the hobby (or legislate it to the point where they can make easy money out of you ).
I think itâs a bit more straightforward than that, tbh. The Highlands restricted area is switched on and off via NOTAM. If thereâs no live NOTAM, you can fly there. If youâre not sure, just call them to find out when it will next be turned on.
Iâd (strongly) recommend anyone wanting to fly here review the UAVHub A2 CofC training, as it has some useful detail on this and the other RAF low flying areas. And the training course is completely free if you decide not to take the exam (e.g. because you donât need the CofC or you already have it):
A key thing to be aware of is that military aircraft can fly down to 250ft pretty much anywhere (and down to 100ft when the Highlands area is âswitched onâ, or in the other designated low-flying areas), so getting to know the relevant contacts in these areas is just a sensible idea.
I guess thatâs fair comment, but I subscribe to the NOTAMs email alerts and I can tell you that they are close to daily. Itâs impossible to plan anything from one day to the next because you never know whatâs going to pop into your InBox.
As for the A2 CofC - I seriously considered doing it, but my Mavic Zoom is now considered âold technologyâ and I would get limited use out of the qualification before my drone was relegated to âtoo old to fly near anythingâ so in my mind it is a waste of a good chunk of money
I recall being told that the Highlands TTA is only normally active during the week, not at weekends, which seems to be borne out by the timetable for this week:
When I was up at Kylesku Bridge 2wks ago I wanted to get some pictures, I get a daily notams email, which informed me of no activity, but I still got a warning on my screen informing of the restriction zone, but I could fly if I took responsibility
Yesterday I went for a drive up to Tyndrum (Crianlarich) and to a couple of favorites of mine, the Real Food Cafe and the Green Welly (not on the bike this time). We had a great lunch at the Real Food Cafe and then a great wander around the Green Welly. I took the drone with me just in case there was an opportunity to fly in some of the area leading in the Crianlarich. I missed a real opportunity because the countryside and the hills leading in were magnificent and the sun was up, but we were on a mission to get the other two things done first, before the hoards arrived and choked the place.
We came out of the Green Welly just as an RAF Puma helicopter came roaring over the Green Welly at no more than 300 feet. I would swear that it was lower. It arrived out of nowhere with very little warning and then thundered off down the valley between Beinn Bheag and Meall Buidhe. It was so low that we could see the pilot and the co-pilot and the fact that the side doors were open with no on in the rear of the helicopter.
According to Dronescene this is all a red zone so I should not be flying over the town anyway (which I absolutely would not). But the area I really liked was Loch Dochart a few miles down the road. It would have made for stunning footage. But itâs also covered as part of this massive red zone and with military helicopters flying this low and without any warning it could have been a disaster waiting to happen.
It is a screen cap from a dash cam so it does the scene no justice whatsoever, but perhaps it will give you an idea of why I would love to have flown over to the right in the hills.
).
