I noticed bees on the weekend. There was a swarm around my pro as I came into land… and a few casualties. What is that about, guesses it might be the sound?
They get a buzz from the drone? 
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“Little drone … meet big drone!” ?
Sorry if I sound downbeat. I’m really pleased to see other flyers enter this wondrous world but I was concerned by your comments about kids on BMX bikes and dogs being so close to your drone on the ground, never mind in the air. Unless you have a PfCO, we need to keep 50m away from people, structures and vessels, and 150m from congested areas and events with 1,000 or more people. Congested areas are defined by the CAA as: " A congested area means, ‘in relation to a city, town or settlement, any area which is substantially used for residential, commercial, industrial or recreational purposes’.". A park is a recreational area.
As you said, you felt uncomfortable flying in this environment, due to people and animals outside of your control presumably within 150m of the flight, and likely 30m from landing and take off. Other distractions and poor light suggest the environment was not safe for flight. Had this not been the case, you would have had a more positive experience.
Regarding batteries, having more in reserve gives you more options when trying to land whilst ensuring you keep 30m separation from the public when your perimeter is not secure.
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Sorry, typo. 50m. Well done
Definition (from CAA, not a dictionary) for “substantially” is needed. because the dictionary suggests it can be anything from 50.1% to 99.9%. 
Agreed, not the drone police and I apologise for the earlier typo. Still, following the code is not only designed to make flying safer for others, but more enjoyable and safer for the pilot too (less nerve-wracking anyway).
I should say 50m. Sorry, typo…
Some do, but ‘congested areas’ include recreational areas, which describes most city parks of the sort we’re talking about.
Don’t get me wrong… The first flight I took was in a park as I hadn’t fully appreciated what ‘built up areas’ meant, and although it was quiet, it was nevertheless stressful with others around, especially as a first flight. So I get it. All I’m hoping to do is share insights and offer advice that might help to make flying more enjoyable and safer for all.
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I’m enjoying these little tete-a-tete, but I think the meaning is self explanatory. A city park is by definition, a space for recreation.
Sorry to pull you up, but you also stated this previously
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For substantially? Not seen it anywhere, and not in your posts.
The CAA’s definitions (!) constantly use non-determinable words like “substantially”, and fail as a definition because of it.
Neither congested or built-up have clear definitions that would stand up in court if challenged.
I’ve been trying to get a clear position on where I can fly and there were two thing that I have found in the past week that’s made me rethink where I can fly from the CAA. I’ve gone down the rabbit hole reading a lot of CAA documents. Hidden away is this page which is the clearest I’ve seen, but it’s bloody difficult to find.
https://register-drones.caa.co.uk/drone-code/where-you-can-fly
The block in the middle of this says;
Built-up and busy areas
Never fly closer to built-up and busy areas than 150m.
Never fly above these areas at any height.
Examples of built-up and busy areas:
- cities and towns
- villages
- beaches and recreational parks that are part of a city, town or village
- housing estates
- schools and offices
- retail, warehouse, industrial and business parks
- theme parks
So where is the clearest definition of built-up area? (you’ll also see those words “built-up” in the latest drone code poster / pdf document - but not anywhere else!)
Turns out there is an accepted government definition of “built-up” in the UK, that can be found here →
So what does all of that mean?
The standard permission seems to be the way to go to be able to fly in “congested” areas - note it doesn’t say “built up”!?
Not very clear! Using the words “built-up” and “congested” and seeming to swap between them, does leave it all open to interpretation. Having read through all of this in the last week, I’m still not 100% sure where I can fly, so flying on the side of caution at the moment until I can get some more information from the CAA as the examples in the “where you can fly” seem to be the clearest thing I’ve read so far…
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No, you’re right to, thanks. The other comment was meant to be in reference to parks and thus the 150 from people, but yes, ordinarily outside of congested areas, 50m. Thanks.
I agree… It can appear ambiguous but common sense prevails.
Common sense is indeed the key to this. We are all here because we love the hobby.
I don’t think anyone who makes the effort to join this club falls into the idiot bracket that these rules regs and laws have been put in place for.
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I agree with you, especially the use of ‘built up areas’ in the new Code revision, which doesn’t use the same language as the CAA definition. Still, I don’t think one needs to get too pinickety about this. The examples of built up areas that you shared are good. Ultimately, it’s important to keep the correct separation distances (and consider if you needed to land somewhere else in your vicity for any reason), maintain people’s right to privacy and ultimately be mindful that:
UAS operators and remote pilots are also reminded that ANO Article 241 provides that a person must not recklessly or negligently cause or permit an aircraft to endanger any person or property.
This is really what all this boils down to in the end, and good common sense and stewardshio generally prevails. You’re right to play it safe, rather than taking any risks. As you’ll see from other posts, flying later in the day is generally a good idea if you want to avoid so many people being around.
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Agreed - common sense and risk assessment is key. I’ve been taking advantage of the summer and flying late and early. Wanting to understand as much as I can as want to get some hours under my belt and then get for my Standard Permission.
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Great stuff. Night flying is also fun! Just make sure you follow the code (day time recce, good lighting on the SUA, and for your takeoff and landing area. A drone with IR makes it all the more interesting.
I’m really sorry but I think you’ve got the wrong end of the stick on this one.
Had you been there, you would’ve described the park as almost empty, despite the proximity of a dog and two people, as I was setting up. Everyone else (about 25 people in total) was more than 100M away.
Happy flying.
L
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