Join the club!
Use a map, find a public footpath away from homes, go fly. That’s my policy anyway. Prudent use of safety apps and regs of course.
2 Likes
Thats because you have Class D airspace showing on the app.
3 Likes
How close were you? You can’t fly within 150m of an event with more than 1,000 people.
Just bear in mind that yes, you can launch and land from a ou lic footpath and fly over private land (in theory) but you must allow 30m from public when taking off and landing. If the footpath gets busy when you need to land, you’re going to get yourself in difficulties. By far the best option is to simply build a relationship with a local landowner. I’ve done that lately and as well as having a great field to fly in, I’ve made new friends and new connections with the farming community. And I can fly without worry
2 Likes
“Oh according to the Official NATS app everything east of Doncaster town centre is in the Doncaster Sheffield Airport CTR Zone.”
Bear in mind that a CTR is not the same as an FRZ. It’s controlled by an ATS but isn’t illegal to fly in per se
1 Like
I live in High Wycombe, used to live in Maidenhead and worked in Windsor for years. There’s some incredible countryside near you to fly in. Stay away from recreational areas though as these are off limits without special permission (150m separation) but chat up a local farmer or landowner. You’ll be amazed at how receptive they will be to you if you ask nicely and just say you’re trying to get some practice in. You could offer to photograph their property as a sweetener and yes, this is within the rules without a PfCO. Chat a few up so you don’t take advantage and outstay your wekcome, but also to get more variety.
If you want to head my way some time, then PM and let me know.
Thanks freetail, that’s really useful advice and much appreciate the offer.
How would you go about “chatting up” a local farmer? do you literally just knock on their door and say hi? I grew up in cities so even the concept of linking a large piece of land with a particular house is daunting - how do you know that a multi acre piece of land belongs to said farm?
There’s some decent ish land out in West Windsor (dedworth, oakley) that has public rights of way through it which I identified as being a possible good flying area. just need to crack where to park and how to get around taking off/landing on a public right of way which is technically now allowed
Do you have any “what3words” waypoints of where you would recommend flying?
Thanks
Freetail, for example, who owns the land at waypoint ///fuel.voice.stays? The nearest visible farm (by satellite) is ///abode.total.basic, but i’d only be guessing
Looking at the track from that field I would have gone for ///pipes.dots.lanes if thats of any help.
I was about to ask the same question. I’m lucky enough to have a good number of fields near me, but I’m loath to start randomly knocking on doors to see who owns what…
1 Like
Have a Google for ‘Barn Dances’. 
4 Likes
I know a lot of the farmers round me, mainly from being out flying or with the dog, stop them if their working In tractors Etc and have a chat.
Most are very interested especially in how their crops are doing (free piccies)
4 Likes
The distance between security guards attitude and their knowledge of the rules or the law can be measured in light years. I remember seeing footage on YouTube from a guy that was photographing London buildings from the public streets and a security guard from the Gherkin or the NatWest Tower came out and asked him to stop.
The police were called as the photographer decided to stand his ground and when they arrived, they had a word with the security guard and told him to stop being such a plank. The photographer was told that as far as the police were concerned, he was not breaking the law.
As far as Epsom Down is concerned, there is rule that states you must be a member of the flying club that meets there, to fly there. I don’t think the flying club entertains membership applications from drone flyers. They have that tied up into a neat little bow!
Officially, Epsom Downs itself is common land, or at least it used to be. I would imagine there’s some sort of rule about the area bounded by the racecourse being owned by a private company and therefore not available for drone use. It’s possible that this only apply on race days, so it’s worth checking.
There are areas on Epsom Downs, away from the racecourse where I would suggest you could fly, but in all these cases, a phone call to the local authority would save a lot of hassle.
Welcome to the forum,
New flyer myself, i live in Uxbridge so not far away from yourself. Richmond Flying field in Richmond park is a good place to go, early in the morning and it is a great space to learn about your new drone and on a clear day you can get some great shots from there. You will almost definitely meet like minded people there as well which is always helpful for a new flyer !
Don’t give up, it is up to all of us to try and address this perception, [plenty of good advice already given here 
3 Likes
Why not?!! Best way to meet the locals! You’ll find out a lot more and get better results going out and talking to people than sitting in a dark room googling!
I’d say there’s a considerable difference between chatting to people you happen to see out and about, and doorstepping people out of the blue.
As for “sitting in a dark room Googling”, I’m asking for advice in a forum for likeminded enthusiasts. I kind of thought that was the point…?
2 Likes
I wholeheartedly disagree- knocking on a door and doing some old fashioned talking is great. You find out things you didn’t expect when knocking, you find out that people are friendly and approachable, they show an interest and may offer a “Don’t know about the field over there but my brother’s got an estate a couple of miles down the road and he loves drones…”
I took off a few times from an entrance to a field, parked out of the way on the verge, and the farmer came out to see what I was up to. Guess he was thinking I was up to no good. Turns out he doesn’t agree with drones and doesn’t see the point but said I was welcome to open the gate and park in the corner of his field and use it for take off. He left with a “don’t cause damage and I won’t come looking for you!”
1 Like
Literally, exactly that!
I’m not a majorly outgoing person but worked for me in the past! Worst case, you knock on the wrong door but no one died, most country folk are friendly and willl point you in the direction of the guy who owns it.
