But…
What if it’s classed as a toy?
I checked the good to go page and that didn’t cater for the answer neither does anything else I can find.
A toy drone without a camera SOLD AS A TOY is what I’m talking about, the one that does not need you to register as an Operator.
Can it be flown with in the Flight restricted zone?
The reason I ask is, since getting my 1st drone (DJI Mini 2) I’m itching to fly and some spare time I have is not enough to go drive and find a location away from the airport and indulge myself in the photographic and cinematic adventure.
So I’d love to just pick up a small toy and whiz around the garden for 10 minutes. I’m about 2 mies from an airport and would only buzz around within my boundary and lower than roof tops.
Just can’t find the info to see if that would be allowed.
Just to expand on that. A toy outdoors is much more likely to fly-away for any number of reasons and sods law says when it does it’ll be in the direction of the airport.
One of the little lads we child mind brings a toy drone sometimes since I got my Mini 2.
It’s obviously a toy, has no camera and I would never use it outside as I would think it would just blow away.
So I would confidently use that indoors even if I lived at the bottom of Heathrow runway!
Flying outdoors? No. All you need is for one neighbour to call 999 and tell them “someone’s flying his drone next to the airport” and you’ll be knee deep in plod.
Not pleasant even if it is legal, which it might not be.
I say it’s still an object that could cause damage to a plane. So, I really wouldn’t even consider it! Isn’t that the whole reason FRZs were brought in?
Sometimes things do indeed go from the sublime to the ridiculous.
Take this example. Local to me there is a clay pigeon shooting club. It is situated on the South side of the Chevin over looking the approach to Leeds and Bradford Airport at a distance of 2.25km. When you compare this to the notion of flying a light weight plastic toy in this same area is more hazardous to approaching aircraft all credibility is shattered.
Nor does a plastic toy drone with a 1S 500mAh battery., which would be just as ineffective as a 12Gauge, firing birdshot, at being a threat to any General Aviation.
Well I guess it is just about conceivable that a toy class drone could fly high enough to end up in the engine of a jet on approach and this isn’t something that’s been tested. Whereas I don’t think birdshot would even reach and even if it did the dispersal and velocity would render it harmless.
Mostly though rather than any actual risk I imagine that a bigger part of the rationale is that it simplifies enforcement just to not have people flying any kinds of drone around the ends of runways.
It’s irrelevant. All unmanned aircraft are prohibited from flying in a FRZ without permission, under Article 94A of the Air Navigation Order 2016. It makes no distinction between types, sizes etc, except for Certified UAS, which are a very different beast.
I guess the obvious difference is that a shotgun isn’t ever going to decide it’s had enough of listening to instructions and start shooting randomly into the path of an aircraft…
