Hi everyone. I’ve recently bought a Mavic Mini as an upgrade from my toy Tello drone. It’s a massive improvement, but I’m struggling to find somewhere to fly. I live in Shefford in Bedfordshire which is sandwiched between RAF Henlow, a private airfield at Old Warden (Shuttleworth), and JITG Chicksands so despite living next to open fields I can’t fly in any of them
My first fly was last night in the large green field at Wrest Park, Silsoe. I think I was doing this within the rules (hardly anyone around, setting my altitude to the limit of the area etc). The house and gardens themselves are English Heritage, but my take off point was the edge of an industrial estate so I think I was ok to do so.
Can anyone give any suggestions for good open fly spots in Bedfordshire or north Hertfordshire. I want to avoid water until I’m a little more confident
I don’t know your area but I use an app called UAV Forecast which shows me all the areas I can’t fly and the flying conditions in real time and wind speeds at whatever hight I set.
Pit stone windmill is a nice place to fly. It’s NT land though.Two huge fields .
I used to go in the evenings when it was closed. It’s near Leighton Buzzard
Hi and welcome Steve. I live in Stevenage and mainly fly over in Hertford near the river and the meads.
There is also A black barn on the road out of Royston it’s a big area to practice there is some more info on here regarding its location. There is also an a disused RAF airfield and memorial near Steeple Morden.
You also have Graham waters near you that’s perfect for your drone but as the other guys have said look on Drone scene if it’s not a no go area then as long as you stay to the code you will be fine. You can also get GADC cards to show or give out to interested people. Ask if you want to know more also contact me directly and I’ll share my contact info so we can have a chat
Thanks for all the replies. I stumbled on the website. Good job I did, most drone sites I find are US based.
Also thanks for the suggestions. I hadn’t thought of Hertford @Scubadave63. I used to work near there and the parks and canal would be great to fly around. I’ll look up the other places suggested
https://youtu.be/yOfbkwS4cJM
This was my first attempt at a video last year as a memory for my late brother it’s a great place to fly never had any ago more people stop to talk about the drone etc
Hi Steve, The drone doesn’t know it’s over water, so as @milkmanchris said, don’t worry about flying over water. Oh, and a warm welcome to GADC from Lincolnshire.
That’s not quite correct the bottom sensors get confused over water and when I was filming some of the shots in that video I had some scary moments almost ditched it twice, if you want to go low you need to switch them off then no problem
Hey, just found this old post.
An interesting place also is the “The Thee Locks” in Stoke Hammond.
Not too far from it, towards Leighton Buzzard, there is also a lovely bridge and a bend on the canal. Great location.
Near the Pitstone Windmill, About a mile or two max, you have Ivanhoe Beacon. It’s a little hill, with good view around the area.
