Flying your drone Isle of Skye

Ah, so you did - I see the screenshot now. :slight_smile: (BTW - you’ve posted your personal email address in an unlocked part of the forum)

With the “as I understand it” caveat…

The military can use the whole of the UK airspace for low flying. In general, that’s down to 250ft for fixed-wing and helicopters down to 100ft (though they can be authorised down to surface level).

There are then three TTAs (Tactical Training Areas) where fixed-wing aircraft can be down as low as 100ft. One of those is a part of the Highlands Restricted Area, but not the bit that covers Skye. There’s some info here in the other discussion on the Highlands and you can find a timetable of when the TTAs are active here.

So, my take on this is

  • Part of Skye is covered by the Highlands Restricted Area (R610B) which is activated by NOTAM.

  • Skye is not covered by the Scotland TTA for low flying operations

  • Like the rest of the UK, it’s always possible you’ll get low-flying military aircraft over Skye (arguably more so as it’s fairly close to the TTA). Likewise, the coastguard/air ambulance/police chopper could buzz you wherever you are.

If I were doing a commercial flight on Skye I’d be filling in the spreadsheet in advance and calling them on the day.

But for ‘hobbyist’ flights (to my mind) the important thing is to check on dronescene (or whatever app you’re using) before every flight to be sure you aren’t in R610B whilst it’s activated, or if you are that you’re not up a hill and flying above the level where it starts. And keep your eyes extra-peeled for incursions. Belt & braces, does no harm to give the number they gave a quick call in the mornings to check if they expect any low flying over Skye that day?

As I say, that’s my take on this. Since you have the day off you could give them a call and check they don’t have a different view?