Hello all, thanks for making such a helpful website! Have been lurking and reading a lot of old threads. Initially was hit with a lot of legal anxiety but now reassured from much of what I’ve read. I’m based in the North East and we have a lot of nice coast line but it’s almost all covered in a huge red area that extends out to sea on NATS (selected in white on the screenshot).
“name
EGD514 COMBAT AIRSPACE
description
[coordinates]
Upper limit: FL660
Lower limit: FL85
Class: AMC - Manageable.
Activity: High Energy Manoeuvres / Ordnance, Munitions and Explosives (OME) / Electrical/Optical Hazards.
Service: SUAAIS: Scottish Information on 119.875 MHz and London Information on 125.475 MHz.
Contact: Booking: Military Airspace Management Cell – Managed Airspace, Tel: 01489-612495.
SUA Authority: DAATM (HQ Air).”
To my reading this looks like an area that starts with a lower limit of 8500 feet (85 FL), so in any case would not apply to drones, and would be OK to fly (ignoring other considerations etc) without contacting the phone number? Have seen lots of drone footage from here so I’m presuming that’s the case, although it seems to be a fairly new restriction.
What about this smaller area, highlighted below in white?
“name
EGD512B OTTERBURN
description
[coordinates]
Upper limit: 25000 FT MSL
Lower limit: SFC
Class: AMC - Manageable.
Vertical Limits: 18,000 FT ALT.
Vertical Limits: OCNL notified to altitudes up to 25,000 FT ALT by NOTAM.
Activity: Ordnance, Munitions and Explosives / Para Dropping / Unmanned Aircraft System (VLOS).
Service: SUAAIS: Scottish Information on 119.875 MHz.
Contact: Pre-flight information / Booking: Range Control, Tel: 01912-394261.
Remarks: SI 1971/919 and SI 1980/38.
SUA Authority: DAATM (DIO).”
This extends from the surface so would seem to apply to drones but I’m not exactly clear what it is or what it practically means. Otterburn is a military base so I would expect not to be able to fly around there but the zone extends quite far from that and covers a lot of areas of natural beauty. Other than presumably an area where the military may be doing various dangerous things, does this mean that if you are planning to fly anywhere in the area you need to contact the number first?
Thanks in advance and sorry if it’s a stupid question!