Lake Windermere with a suprise at 1:30!

Videos by Drone
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Trip up to the Lake District, Cumbria. Stopped by at Lake Windermere and checked Drone Assist for restrictions. All clear, so took the drone up 300feet to take in the scenery. Weather was overcast but otherwise clear and calm. Just about to start the decent to land and I heard a jet aircraft approaching from the south. Two fast jets flashed by to my left heading north over the lake at low level, I descended immediately to land. I didn’t expect that! Military fast jets regularly use these lakes, however these aircraft weren’t listed to fly low level according to the Military notifications. So if you ever fly your drone in the vicinity of lake valleys, be aware that low level military aircraft could suddenly appear!

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I’d suggest the biggest surprise is from the 1st frame.
Why the black asymmetric border?

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Last year I was flying my drone at Tyndrum in Scotland. I checked Dronescene before flying. A minute after landing an RAF fighter jet came through the valley flying pretty low. No warnings were present on Dronescene ( and yes, I had the relevant notifications ticked on it )

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Yes sorry about that. It’s my 1st video post, still learning!

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Nice Vid

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it’s still a big ass sky… could have been a bird up there flapping along minding its own business until it was sucked into an intake.

at the end of the day… after you’ve checked the technology, used your eyes and ears… it is what it is and you have been a reasonable person and complied with the law as best as you can.

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Yep, but the speed that these buggers do , you only hear them when they’re right on top of you. In my instance at Tyndrum, ( above) I heard the jet, literally a few seconds before it was overhead. Crazy that they’re allowed low level flying in areas that are not marked/ highlighted as risk zones on any of the apps we use :wink::wink:

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I agree with you, I believe all aircraft should use adsb… even military unless they are going something covert (police chopper, troop movement etc) otherwise give a responsible drone pilot a chance to get out of the way (adsb alert)

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Although you’ll find times when there’s no Low Flying notifications, just phone the dedicated number and they’ll give you an update.
Just like us, if the weather’s fine they’ll go out to play!

Oh, and it’s just Windermere, the “mere” part of the name, means “lake”

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Hmm not sure I want to fork out for an ADSB radio warning thingymabob :wink::wink:

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AIUI there are specific areas used for low-flying training by the military, as well as low flying connected to bombing practice on ranges (though these are usually FRZ). They include large areas of Wales and Scotland, plus a good bit of Northern England. Timetables showing when low flying in these areas can be expected are available, but there seems to be an element of ad hoc use of them because it’s a nice day (after all, that’s how we fly, and a good opportunity is a good opportunity).

You may encounter fast jets or large transport planes at low levels making violent manoevres, and they can come around the mountain and catch you out at any time. Check out online video of Mach Loop flying; it’s impressive but from a drone pilot’s pov bloody scary. I would not want to fly there even if there weren’t any scheduled training flights or anything visible on FlightRadar; I’m not sure they always turn their transponders on. Those things are fast, and not only do I want to risk losing my drone to turbulence, I also do not want to be cause of a fighter jet-shaped burn mark on the side of Cadair Idris (other lumpy bits of geography are available).

Fast and loud, especially if you are not familiar with military jets at close quarters. Your initial impression will probably overestimate the closeness and speed of the aircraft, but this is academic if you’re crapping yourself because the world has unexpectedly turned into an increasing hell of noise that you cannot initiall identify or respond to; shock and awe!

That said, the sight from a mountain road of an A400M Atlas banking in a steep turn in a narrow mountain pass, with all but the higher wingtip appreciably below you, gives one pause for thought!

Obviously, these are amongst the most scenically attractive areas in the country and it is not unreasonable to expect drone pilots to want to fly in them. If you think the military are going to be playing with their aeroplanes, I’d suggest staying close and low, otherwise any meaningful avoiding action you can manage with a 30mph drone from a 600mph jet is going to be unlikely. If you want a better viewpoint, climb the mountain and fly from there, again staying close and low to your position.

If the jet is below your drone, probably best to fly straight upwards in sports mode, otherwise fly horizontally 90degrees away from it’s path in sports mode before looking for a safe descent. By that time the jet will be a dot dissappearing around the shoulder of the mountain, but it’s friend might well be chasing it. Landing immediately as quickly as possible sounds like a good default action, but not if the jet is below your level and you won’t have time to react to trees, overhead lines, &c.

The airspace in the wake of the jet will probably be violently disturbed for several minutes, which will probably affect the stability of your drone, so don’t be in any rush to get back up in that area. There was some trouble IIRC earlier this year with military pilots complaining about near-misses with drones on the Mach Loop, but there is no restriction on flying drones anywhere in that area, just notices in the car parks asking that you refrain from it. Comes under ‘don’t be a dick’, I think…

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They are called LFAs, Low Flying Areas and very popular with planespotters. There are three main ones, in Wales (famous Mach Loop), Lake District and Scotland.

the MoD has this info:

generally they might use them on weekdays, 13.00-15.00

But let’s not forget that any military heli can fly anywhere in the UK airspace to 100ft AGL

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Yes just shows you need to be extra careful in these areas and don’t rely on the mod notams!:+1:

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Never seen any sort of Notams for the RAF. I always email them with my flight plan and contact details, preferably the day before so they have chance to incorporate it into their briefings. They rang me once to warn me about two fast jets coming through. If it’s a last minute flight ring them on their 0800 number but they’ll want an OS map reference.
I’d never fly in the Lake District without letting them know. They don’t seem to fly at weekends though. They must work 5-day weeks!

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Mostly they get Fridays off too ;o)

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Next time I fly up in the lakes, (which is a rarity) I’ll give them a ring first. Cheers :+1:

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Yes, I live in Wales and used to fly in the area as a PPL and observer in work. Had a few encounters in the valleys of North Wales and Hawarden. I no longer fly myself, hence renewed interest in drone photography. :+1:

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0800 515544
or email
Swk-mamclfcoord@mod.gov.uk

I tell them I’m planning a drone flight on (date) between (these times - I usually give a two-hour window), 1nm radius of (OS map ref, lat/long from either Google Earth or gridreferencefinder.com and a rough area for ease of reference e.g. north end of Buttermere), surface to 400ft, and give them my mobile number.
The Lake District is Low Flying Area LFA17. Southern Scotland/Northern England is LFA20 and the East coast is LFA11.
I’m sure there are people who’ll see this as being too much trouble, but I’d prefer not to have my drone ingested into the engine of a Typhoon or F15 doing 400 knots and the repercussions to follow, so I take the trouble!
You can’t predict where or when they’ll appear. Last time we stayed just outside Grasmere six F15s came over at about 7pm. I’m sure the pilots must resent having to make way for a drone. I flew at Coniston saying it would be between 10:00 and 12:00. Two planes came over at 09:55 so low I thought someone had fired a missile at the car, and another two at 12:35, as if to say ‘Stitch that with your drone!’

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