Although the CAA advocate that you should be able to see the drones immediate surroundings so that, for example, you can avoid others doing exactly the same thing from the opposite direction. See comment from @SeaHunter at link, which gives accurate quote of regs.
D0c.Col, if I did what I said in my previous post you are answering, I would in effect always know which way my drone was orientated. It could only be either going directly away from me, or coming directly at me ( except when it was automatically manoeuvring itself to start its return to home. ) Once it had completed its turnaround, it could only be coming straight towards me. Therefore Iām complying with vlos rules. Iāll admit, I couldnāt see ground hazards, but if my drone is at least 50m up in the air, I donāt think anything on the ground could possibly be construed as a hazard ? ( waits patiently to be shot down in flames)
Only if you can see it
I understand your method of orientation but my point was the potential hazards at the same height your drones at whilst its happily careering back to you ie other drones doing their thing. 
Only stating guidelinesā¦ Im no angel when it comes to VLOS. 
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As long as I have a full uninterrupted view of my drone, I think I would be conforming to the rules D0c . But as I said earlier, it would be no fun at all 
I am so glad that I have not read this topic or any posts within it.
Therefore until the CAA inform me, I will be unaware of any updates in guidance 
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Their lack of communication to registered operators is absolutely staggering.
No emails, no advertisements, no writing to clubs, no nothing 
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No VLOS? 
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They talk to one YouTube channel Rich - what more do you want? 
In all seriousness, itās almost criminal that they happily take money every year for operator IDs. And the only proactive communication you seem to get is when they want their next instalmentā¦
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Im assuming thats a tongue-in-cheek comment Ian as unfortunately thereās an important legal principle that says āignorance of the law is no excuse.ā therefore you canāt defend your actions, or lack thereof, by arguing you didnāt know they were illegal, even if you honestly did not realise you were breaking the law. 
We all took the time to register with them and they quickly inform us when they want out money again! The least they could do is communicate with us directly !! 
I guess then that a combination of visual sight and information from my remote control (phone in my case) is insufficient.
For example, If I fly my mini 50m away so it is a dot, I canāt see which way its pointing but the map section on the DJI Fly app (and I guess same for Litchi which Iām about to go with) actually shows which way the drone is pointingā¦ and its visual because Iām looking at the pointer on the mapā¦
I can feel my argument failing even as I type itā¦
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But thats not looking at the drone ;o(
Bingo, its a 292 (and counting) reply thread of basically the same argument
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Consider the regulations with regards to small, sub 250g drones, compared to, for example a paramotor pilot. Close to where I regularly fly my drone, for which I must now not only be in VLOS but also be able to visually observe the drone orientation without the use of the fly app, there is a paramotor club. The club location is not on any dronesafe/altitude angel map so without local knowledge you are not aware it is even there. So: a 14 stone guy with a petrol engine strapped to his back with probably only an altimeter and an air speed indicator can fly wherever he likes without a license or CAA approval up to 26,500ft and as low as he likes as long as he can see and reach a safe landing site. A drone pilot for a piece of plastic weighing the same as a pack of butter but with extensive telemetry from the fly app showing map, altitude, attitude, orientation, direction, height speed, etc canāt now fly beyond 50m without breaking the law. In fact to keep visual VLOS on orientation you canāt even look at your screen. Go figure.
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But heās not staring at his screen and has a bit of spatial awareness about him ;o)
Perhaps go up in my motor driven parachute and hand take off my drone?
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Plus his life is at a lot more risk. But of course the CAA will regulate them next, and then theyāll have to jump through more hoops tooā¦
Yep, apparently we canāt trust the technology at our fingers because it could fail instantly.
Sometimes you might have to look at the screen, for instance, when selecting a mastershot, highlighting a POI, or altering camera settings. Surely whilst doing this, we can glean info on the drones orientation. And please, no one reply telling me you never look at your screen ( thus taking your eyes off your drone whilst it is in flight )
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Exactly. Just do what youāve been doing and thereās a 0.00000001% chance youāll get banged up in jail for it.
I virtually never look at the drone! 
Eyes on the screen 98% of the time except to watch it until itās at itās target height and visa-versa to landā¦ my spotter does a great job in between!
ā¦ and when Imā on my lonesome, wellā¦ Iāll take the 5th on that one! 
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