The development of Drone Scene continues!

I am. I am also aware that to a newcomer to the hobby, which I pretty much still am, DroneScene can create more confusion than clarity.

I mean no slight to anyone involved with its creation. It’s an absolutely marvelous piece of work, and if you know what you’re doing it is doubtless invaluable.

But if you’ve just unboxed your Mini 2 and found your way to DroneScene via Google, it’s information overload and in many cases cannot tell you definitively whether you can fly in a given location or not.

FRZ is a good example. Default position is you cannot fly there, but, as you have said, you might be able to get permission from ATC.

Another good one is Class D Airspace. The information that pops up strongly suggests that flying in the area is potentially hazardous and possibly prohibited, and recommends you do not fly there. Yet if you enquire on here, the usual advice is that it’s OK to fly in Class D.

So yes, it’s a tool and you have to know how to use it properly. And I think that’s kind of where @Crackerjack 's point started. :slight_smile:

I notice that DroneScene addresses Class D quite unambiguously.

If you’re just clicking on the map you get this.

I would say that also comes across as unambiguous, but in the other direction. There is no readily visible link to the details you have provided above. And anyway, what does the sentence, “There are no separate regulations in place regarding the flight of small unmanned aircraft in controlled airspace below 400 ft (Class A,B,C,D,E),” actually mean? Does it mean that there are no separate regulations for small UAVs so the ones that apply to all aircraft apply, or that there are no [separate] regulations for small UAVs so they are exempt? It’s not until you follow the link to the CAA page that you find it clearly stated that, “…controlled airspace requirements (Class A,B,C,D,E) do not apply to UAS operating within the Open category (i.e. below 400ft/120m)”

I am not disagreeing with you that the information is available if you know where to look and/or are prepared to do some research. And I absolutely agree that the ultimate responsibility for the legality of the flight lies with the pilot, and also that no matter what information is provided on any tool, you cannot guarantee that it will remain pertinent for all cases, or that users will even bother to look at and comply with it.

So maybe it’s a little unfair to expect an easy “point-and-click” answer for what is a fairly complex issue. But I do think it can be daunting for a new pilot to unravel whether they can fly or not, even when given the best tool for the job.

:slightly_smiling_face:

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By the way, the main difference with this analogy is that most drivers have received training and passed a test to show that they (in theory) understand the rules and regulations. The same cannot be said for all new drone pilots.

In defence of Rich et. al, that wording isn’t theirs. It’s built in to the dataset provided by the CAA (via Altitude Angel), which is why you’ll find it word-for-word on any of the airspace/planning apps and websites out there. What they’ve done with DroneScene is take that dataset, combined it with others, and built around them all a really useful set of tools to help us plan our flights.

Ultimately, you could go one of three ways:

  1. Win big on a quadruple Euromillions rollover, then blow it all trying to build a no-thought-needed flight planning app.

  2. Build in a huge list of caveats on top of the CAA dataset to guide new flyers towards the exceptions to the rules.

  3. Present the facts as provided by the authorities and trust experienced flyers to know when they can apply caveats and exceptions.

There are good reasons why nobody has gone for option 1 and built a website where beginners can simply stick a pin in a map and be given a ruling on whether they can fly there.

For one thing, the datasets just don’t exist. Sure, there’s one for the airspace from the CAA and you have some for land owned by bodies like the National Trust (though even there, only in England, not in Scotland), but how do you map every bylaw enacted by community councils and local authorities? And how do you keep it up to date? You’re looking at a full-time job for dozens of people, with office space and IT costs to boot. You aren’t going to fund all that by selling GADC hoodies and mugs.

Even if you could get all the datasets together and guarantee that they are always 100% up to date, you still couldn’t say with certainty whether somebody could fly where they’ve dropped a pin on the map because you wouldn’t know all the variables of their flight. For that you need eyes on the ground at the time.

Option 2 is a minefield of legislation and advice that would need a community forum to become more like an RAE with all the paperwork and auditing that comes along with it. Another office full of people crossing Ts, dotting Is and ticking boxes.

So we have option 3 - a bloody useful set of tools on top of trustworthy, accurate data that makes DroneScene (IMHO) the best planning aid out there.

For newbies, red means ‘stop’ - to use an example given earlier by somebody, it’s an FRZ and you can’t fly here.

With experience, red starts to mean ‘planning’ - it’s an FRZ and you need to get permission.

I don’t see a problem with that. To my mind, if you don’t know that you can apply for permission to fly in an FRZ then there’s a very good chance that you shouldn’t be given permission to fly inside the FRZ anyway. Great power… great responsibility… etc.

I think you hit the nail on the head when you said:

Anyway, that’s my t’pence worth. I shall now shut up and let this thread get back on topic. :slight_smile:

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A new version of Drone Scene has been released :tada:

What’s new since June? :thinking:

Not as much new stuff as I would usually add :grimacing:

But still some good stuff :blush:


New Feature

  • Drone Insurance Comparison Chart

A long overdue feature :clap:t2:

The Drone Insurance Comparison Chart offers you the chance to see what insurance types are available and from which providers.

It includes Public Liability Insurance, along with Accidental Damage, Theft, Loss and Flyaway Drone Insurance Cover and Manufacturer-offered Insurance too.

It will be be continuously updated.

Check it out:

Please do your drone insurance requirements in the new and dedicated drone insurance thread: Hobbyist Drone Insurance - Comparison Chart


Other stuff!

  • Added some missing DJI data back in
    – The DJI Authorisation Zones (and other “circle-type” elements) are now displayed
    – Requested by @kvetner

Before eg. one:

After eg. one:

Before eg. two:

After eg. two:


UI / UX Changes:

  • Made the text darker in the top-left Map Info Box

  • Made the text darker on the Map Search results
    – Requested by @PingSpike

  • Update some document links on Good2Go
    – Requested by @kvetner


Bug Fixes:

  • Favicon didn’t work on iOS devices running Safari
    – Reported by @PingSpike

  • DJI Temporary Flight Restriction Zones (TFR) circles are not attached to the DJI layer group
    – This meant when you turned off the DJI GEO layer the TFRs stayed visible on the map :man_facepalming:t2:
    – Reported by @PingSpike

  • Check new users public post count is above zero before allowing them add a new Location
    – New users must now post on the forum before being able to add a new Location to the Drone Scene map
    – We suggest they make a new post in #introductions


As ever, please continue to enjoy Drone Scene and please keep those feature requests coming!

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This might be a controversial request.

I use my own KML (Keyhole Markup Language - Wikipedia) of places of interest. Basically something I reference when I’m somewhere taking photos and can look on map app and go ‘oh yeah, so and so isn’t far from there too, l’ve always wanted to see it, let’s go’ a kind of on the spur of the moment type thing, whenever I see something interesting that someone has posted and know if I don’t make a reference it will be forgot about forever 24 hours later!

Anyway, I was wondering would it be possible to export just the drone flying locations as a KML file, so they can be imported into other mapping apps? I know you want people to visit DroneScene but sometimes it’s just nice to have one map overlay of all my ‘interesting places worth photographing’ whether it’s drone flying, or some other sort of significance.

Even if it’s just area by area, rather than one massive export. I appreciate you want to continue to have people visit drone scene and not just come along, export, and never come back. Maybe limit it to active members only, restrict how many times you can export, or even put a cost on it (1.00 per region maybe for a month, not recurring, but one offs) Also no sync, so if something new gets added you either manually add it yourself or pay to get the KML again if you’re mega lazy.

I dunno, lots of options to consider, should you even wish to offer it! Dunno if there’s other demand for such a thing.

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Thanks for the suggestion Ade @firstadekit but we’re not planning on building any data export options at the moment.

I’m also not sure how other contributors would feel about their data being exported for other purposes (but I can guess). So no, we’ll not be considering this request at the moment.

As you rightly suggest, we’re trying to bring people in to Drone Scene and offer them as much as we can in a single platform :blush:

Please don’t be too disappointed and please do keep the suggestions coming, we can only thrive on feedback! :smiley:

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No worries, that’s totally fair enough and the expected response, but if you don’t ask…

The co-ordinates are there, so I can add them manually. If I could introduce a less manual process for myself, it was worth asking, but not the end of the world.

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Posted this in the birthday challenge thread too, but will post here as an FYI.

The current certificate is only valid for dronescene.co.uk and not www.dronescene.

Anyone linking to www.dronescene gets the following error:

In the +3yrs it’s been running, I don’t think anyone has ever tried using the www version of the domain name :blush:

Thanks @firstadekit I’ll check it out in the coming weeks :+1:t2:

Not sure if it has been mooted or not but could we get the ability to search using what3words? I know it takes Lat/Lon just would be good to miss a step?

No, sorry Chris, the costs of the what3words reverse geocoding API are astronomical :confused:

(£35+VAT per month for only 10,000 lookups, with even sillier prices thereafter )

Their propriety code is the sole reason I’m not a fan of their service at all - but that’s a whole other conversation :blush:

You can currently search by lat/lng, postcode or town. We did have it down to street level but it became a bit unwieldy. Or you can use the filter drop down lists to browse by region, category, etc.

Did you want to type in a what3words address and be taken to that point on the map?

Maybe we could come up with something different that would help you?

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Ah that is nuts!

No worries then was just me being lazy haha.

I think it’s because I am so used to it with nhs/emergency services stuff.

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Is there any way to edit or delete an entry.

I couldn’t see any way to correct an entry.

Message one of the committee we can sort that for you or @GADC_Committee

Is there a chance of having the ability of putting in a longer title for entries?

What are you thinking (or wanting to do add) ?

You could always cross reference the “what3words” on Grid Reference Finder app, gives you 2what3words", 10 figure grid reference, 6 figure reference, log/lat (deg/mins/secs), long/lat (decimal), easting/northings, nearest postcode, nearest address, you should be able to find where you are with that lot!

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