Yes dad ;o)
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I have a mental age of 18 - lol
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has just caused my screen to go a funny coffee colour !!! 
FAF that one
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Why is taking off your garden not allowed?
I live in a NFZ, but if you are away from airports and such (and like 30m away from other people), you should be fine, no?
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If you live in a detached house in the countryside, it’s probably fine. If you live in a semi-detached house you are likely to be “within 50 metres of any vessel, vehicle or structure which is not under the control of the person in charge of the aircraft”. If you live in a town you are “within 150 metres of any congested area”. So - it’s okay from the garden of Dominic Cummings’s second home, but it’s illegal from mine.
Unless you take the camera off your drone, in which case none of that applies.
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Ok, took the time to watch it now, well, nearly to the end, couldn’t quite make it all the way!
The pragmatic answer is clearly to use public footpaths when they are quiet, when you can take-off and land safely, and without disturbing the occupants of the land they pass over. That’s precisely what I did yesterday evening to get these photos.
I believe beyond that there is no black-and-white legal answer, it’s a grey area.
A “right of way” is not just a right to walk along a footpath, it also includes the right to stop, enjoy the view, take photos etc. Those are from common and case law, I don’t think they are set out in legislation, so until a court rules, it’s really just speculation as to whether flying a drone from a public footpath is legally acceptable.
There is case law to the effect that there are no real restrictions on what you can do on a public highway:
I conclude therefore the law to be that the public highway is a public place which the public may enjoy for any reasonable purpose, provided the activity in question does not amount to a public or private nuisance and does not obstruct the highway by unreasonably impeding the primary right of the public to pass and repass
That judgement also states:
Further, there can be no basis for distinguishing highways on publicly owned land and privately owned land.
If you take the view that a public right of way (PROW) is just a public highway except without cars, then it follows that you can fly a drone from a public footpath so long as the activity is reasonable, does not cause a nuisance, and doesn’t obstruct the path. But you’d need a test case to be certain.
I think Mr MPW is erring on the cautious side because he takes the view that the drone community will get more acceptance if we don’t go around pissing off landowners. The counter-argument is that in England and Wales landowners have too much power over the general public, and we should be active and unapologetic in exercising our rights.
I’m in the second camp.
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I agree totally Ian, Matt is a great bloke.
To those who clearly have a problem with him, the answer is simple… don’t freaking watch his broadcasts, and then, start rattling on and boring the shit out of those that do like him.
For those who don’t agree with Matt that is fine… your entitled to you opinion.
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From day one of my first drone flight the first thing I did was research if there was a Footpath or preferably Bridleway near by and try and get as close to it for take off and landing, there was very little info about where you could and couldn’t fly, much like today still… haha. so I was hesitant about where to start, this seemed like a good idea…
You do have certain rights from one of these footpaths and especially bridelways, and a bit of research will show you what, also if you were to get questioned even by the land owner, I would screen shot or print out the very map showing the footpath or Bridleway with the text pretty much as shown on the video. This is a show blocker for most people as they don’t really have any idea, also the CAA statement which says they control the air space above and provided you follow the guidelines taking off from a Public place is fine, a footpath is a public place… I’m talking across a field or through some woods or similar, not on your high street…
Fortunately I’ve never needed it but it it gives you a bit of confidence if you were to be approached by a do gooder… I’v also learnt a lot about rights of way, old footpaths that I have even helped get reinstated, almost a second hobby. There are several sites that have the info, here is a starter… https://footpathmap.co.uk/ there are many more and it’s always useful, you could be surprised you might have a footpath running through your back garden…
Or, you just go and fly, I’m told it’s always easier to say sorry and then disappear afterwards than it is to seek permission… sort of true I have found… but either way I’ve never had a problem… hope this helps some people.
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I still believe from all I have read you are allowed to fly from a defined right of way. I feel sure many other members have read through documents to this effect. You should ask permission from the owner of any other land you wish to fly from. What the presenter has not stated is who you should gain permission from if you are going to fly from a known right of way which would have been useful to avoid more confusion.
It is obvious that not everything can be stated in the guidance for right of way he has referenced. I just can’t imagine what would happen if every casual drone user were to ask permission to the body responsible. What we should consider is addressing the question to the uk drone registrations authority?
As this is a large group of responsible flyers we should be represented at any future discussion on the topic
I was very suprised the other day how many people in the US just rock up outside property and start filming for estate agent’s based on jobs from Craig’s List for $40 per property
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Perhaps the number of people on his courses are dropping. Controversy often helps marketing
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Who was it recently had an insurance claim refused after such a flight, sorry can’t search properly I’m on my phone wandering.
They cited built up area, too close to this blah blah blah
Ah, ok. That’s what I thought you were referring to. But there are plenty of semi-detached which are back-to-back and have long gardens. So you may very well be at the back of your garden and 30m away from anyone, which is the required distance for take-off/landing. Do a rocket straight up to 120m and you are certainly clear from your neighbours, where you can hover and enjoy the horizon.
What does congested area really mean in this case? I always thought it referred to something with 100s of people, not a countryside village.
That’s another thing I’d like to know. The CAA says that if you film a neighbour by accident, you have to delete the footage. So surely you don’t need to disable your camera during take off / landing if you are in a residential area.
I’d really like to know. I’m relatively new to this forum, but one thing I’ve seen is common is that a lot of people are unsure about where it is safe to fly. Or at least take off / landing. I would like to think I’m very thoughtful of nature, privacy and safety. But every time I’m flying I can’t shake the feeling I’m about to get harassed by someone who doesn’t like “the new thing”, even though I’m following every little bit of regulation and legislation I’m aware of (without being negligent; honestly doing my bit to stay informed).
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Easiest way is follow the drone code and check the various ‘safe to fly apps’ including our own dronescene map
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I think Mr MPW is trying to be helpful to everyone flying a drone. He is stating what the law currently is and does say in the video that use common sense about using footpaths. There’s no point in having a go at someone simply because thay are saying something you don’t want to hear. We all want to fly where and whenever we want to but the fact is nowadays unlike a few years ago you can’t.
Re congested areas the CAA make this plain in the Where you Can Fly section of the registration
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**
That’s why you can’t generally legally fly from your garden.
The NATS app doesnt’ help because it doesn’t show congested areas as a no fly zone. The French equivalent is much more explicit showing no fly areas over all built up areas so there is no confusion. France is better anyway as the height limit is 500ft and does allow flying at lower limits over some congested areas.
Not really plain.
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