Where can I legally launch a drone in the UK? (this all refers to a 249g drone btw)
I understand the constraints of controlled airspace for manned flight, the 400ft limit, military, police, prisons etc but I’m not sure where I can launch without permission.
e.g. it is legal to launch from any of the following without permission from the land owner, assuming airspace is checked:
Public footpath?
Public right of way (e.g. halfway across a field, owned by the landowner but public access and taking livestock bothering into account)?
Public park?
And if you wanted to ask permission, how do you know who owns what in the UK? Some stuff is obvious like the military, police, prisons, schools, emer services, council buildings, nat trust, nat heritage… but who owns field X? And if you can’t launch from the highway due to highways legislation, I feel a bit like I’ve wasted my money as it seems impossible to launch a drone without someone objecting about something.
I’ve wanted a drone for ages, I treaded myself for a significant Birthday, I’ve had it 3 weeks and so far I’ve only done laps of my garden at 5ft to 10ft - useful training but not what it’s meant for. I am just a bit nervous about altercations with members of the public or worse breaking a law and being banged up.
I’ve done the drone code and got the IDs but I don’t feel this short online course goes into enough detail about existing laws outside of drone rules which have an impact on drone use.
As you might imagine, this is a subject which is constantly chewed over on here. If you want to get into the minutiae of legislation, laws, bye-laws and other restrictions, there is no simple answer.
For a broad-brush statement in terms of the CAA regulations, you can use our Good To Go tool.
Searching the site for pertinent terms should turn up a lot of relevant threads for you to trawl through (e.g. “public footpath”)
At the end of the day, many of our members are of the opinion* that the best approach is
comply with CAA regulations for your flight
use common sense
don’t be a nuisance
If you do this, I think you will find interactions with the general public are a rare occurrence (and, anecdotally from here, generally positive), and the chances of you getting “banged up” are extremely slim.
* This my personal conclusion, drawn from reading a lot of the discussions on here.
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We’re a well established club with many knowledgeable members so it’s very likely that any issues you come across will have been discussed here before. Our discussion forum has very powerful search features which should help you find what you need but if you get stuck you can post a new question in the #questions-and-answers category.
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Don’t feel that way, people can object all they want. As long as you fly within the CAA rules you’re good to go, simple as that. If you TOAL from private ground and someone in authority asks you to leave? Be nice, smile, apologise and pack up. The vast majority of people are curious and what to see the screen, and of course ask all the usual questions ie how far, how high, how fast, can you spy on someones bedroom.
Earwig and clinkadink between them have got it spot on
As others have already said - as long as you are iaw CAA drone code requirements you are basically good to go with a sub 250 gram drone. The worst that can happen is that you’re asked to land the drone and leave. Trespass is a civil function and the owner of the land would need to prove you have caused damage
For me if its open land not in an FRZ with no signage indicating “no drones” - I’m good to go.
Its also far easier to seek forgiveness after flying than trying to gain permission before flying.
Hi Jim, I’ve only been flying a few months and had similar reservations in the first few weeks. Dint want to upset people and worried that people would complain.
However, I found that good places to “train” were local parks with wide open spaces. Best times of the day are when children are at school. You only have dog walkers around then. I’ve never had anyone querying what I was doing so just get out there and fly around. Keep it high and away from buildings. As others have mentioned there is a good source of info available regarding places where others have flown and where it’s safe to do so.
Enjoy flying. The next step will be downloading photos and videos and trying to edit them. I think you may find this will take longer to learn than flying.
‘Keep it high’ is a good piece of advice if you’re not sure of the area. If you’ve got something like a DJI Mini, once you get above about 60m altitude it’s barely audible and visible, and far enough away that most people wouldn’t consider it’s causing them a nuisance.
In theory you should have the landowner’s permission for going onto their land to TOAL. A public footpath allows you to transit over the land - not to loiter, have a picnic or fly a drone. Normally no-one minds but if the landowner asks you not to fly, then don’t argue. I asked my local farmer and he was quite happy, as long as I kept to the paths. All ‘parks’ are owned by someone and even if ‘public’ you should have their permission to TOAL. Many councils do not allow drones to be flown from their land, but it is debatable who has the authority to enforce that. Then you get into who owns the pavement, lay-bys etc. Just be aware that a landowner has the right to ask you not to fly - but in practice just be sensible and courteous. A further comment is that, by law, you must not disturb nesting birds so avoid nature reserves, SSSI sites etc in nesting season.
I have found aiming for when other people are not around is a good plan. I rarely see anyone when I fly on a local park first thing in the morning, and those that I do are typically dog walkers who just say “good morning “ and carry on.
Last summer when I first got the drone, I was out at around 6.30am on the local football field, the local bowling green and the local park. As others have said above, there are generally only a couple of dog walkers around. There is a place called Shibden Hall in Halifax. I got there just after 8am when the park opened and spent an hour flying around the park and the building. At one point there were two people sitting on a bench, so I explained that I was about to launch the drone for filming and assured them that they would not be in any of the shots and they were not in the least bit concerned. I left well before anyone who would be paying to go into the hall arrived.
The few people who have approached me when flying the drone later in that day have usually just wanted to ask about the drone, where to get one, are they hard to fly etc. I think if you’re considerate of public places and try to find quiet times where possible then there are unlikely to be issues.
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