I’m looking for a way to find private land owners who might rent out space for flying.
Just looking ahead to the new year when all my drones move to A3.
So far I’ve rented places through Airbnb on big farms and got permission to fly before committing.
I’ve got to fly in some amazing places in Cornwall, Derbyshire and Norfolk.
Not infrequently owners fly drones themselves.
But I’d like to try and do this without paying for accommodation.
I wonder how the organisers of FPV UK meets find owners and suitable sites?
Or do I need to join first before I can ask that?
And what level of membership is needed to organise meets?
Do the club rules allow for mini-meets, where a handful of members get together and rent somewhere to fly that is not as big as a site needed for a full meet?
I think the ongoing regulation changes are increasingly pushing us in this direction so it’s time to get ready.
It would help if you could give some indication of what area of the country you would be interested in. In Cheshire, there are many suitable places to fly, which are very scenic. I know loads of farmers who welcome responsible drone flyers with open arms. I’ve never thought about a meeting with members but I think it’s a great idea and would be willing to organise a meeting if anyone is interested. I regularly fly over the River Mersey and River Dee without any problems.
I asked the local cricket club if I could fly on their green. Their only proviso was that I became a social member so that I got notifications about car parking, match days, and new turf to avoid, etc.
I also used to have another spot on a farm. I just asked the farmer and he was fine with it. He said it would keep the birds off his crops and the vandals out of his buildings.
I saw one similar place put up signs saying “Police drone training site”, which did mostly keep the vandals / dirt bikes away apparently!
(These days I fly at an airfield, with permission of the manager).
You can absolutely organise meet-ups. We would love that. There is even a ‘Meet-up coordinator’ crew status for members.
We have absolutely no say in you choosing to go out and fly, and have a coffee with, other members. There are no ‘club rules’ that effect who you choose to fly with and when and where. It’s a free country, go for it!
Oops, you’re right, that was quite the omission.
I’m in North East London. Quite a way from Cheshire, sadly, which sounds lovely and it would be new terrain for me.
After our chat in the new regs thread I don’t think that’s the case, but I no longer feel like I’m on a good footing on regs.
The only drone I’m really worried about is my Vapor D6, which is vaguely 1kg as I’m changing the camera setup when I get back home.
I’m stressed about flying all my drones, though, TBH, even more so with so many reg changes happening.
Not as much is changing as you might think though.
The rules actually changed in 2021, and class marking became law back then. Then they delayed it. And delayed it. And now it is finally coming in to force.
Remote ID was also in those changes in 2021 and it was delayed and delayed and is now due to come in to force.
The change to require a Flyer ID over 100g is new, but the CAA has been talking about that for at least 4 years. They have always said they “highly recommend” that even sub-250g drone flyers has flyer IDs
I mean if it has to keep to the same power output limits as our other radio gear, you have to wonder how useful it will be?
I guess it depends on the purpose.
Is it to stop us crashing into each other, or to stop us crashing into small aircraft? Or so that our flights can be tracked remotely?
It will most likely be similar, or even identical, to the Remote ID systems in Europe and the USA.
Probably will be activated by a firmware update in DJI drones.
No.
No. That is electronic conspicuity. That is a different thing.
Yes. For the Police to be able to interogate a drone remotely as a sort of ‘digital licence plate’.
The current plan is controversial because it is unencrypted. The ID, and drone location, and transmitter location, is sent in plain text and therefore anyone could read it.
That is called Direct Remote ID. Someone nearby could detect it. E.g. a Police Officer with a device.
They also plan to have ‘Network Remote ID’. Where the information is stored centrally. This is controversial because they could search for infringements after the fact, and then prosecute you for them, etc.
Yes, lack of encryption sounds very problematic.
Open to spoofing etc. If that’s the right term?
Although the same problem exists with car number plates. Although ultimately cars have other ID numbers too.
Another thing that comes to mind is the ease with which you can capture and re-use the digital signatures in car keys.
Although perhaps those have moved to a call-and-response technology now, like digital dongles for expensive software (and my personal hobbyhorse, the Enigma machine).
Yes, you’re right about spoofing. It is possible to transmit spoof drones all over the place.
You could copy my remote ID, and then go and sit in Gatwick Airport car park and transmit signals showing 50 spoof drones flying around, all with my Remote ID.
Well, if it’s not a watertight ID, I’m thinking it will only take a few failed prosecutions before the authorities lose faith in it.
And unless it’s linked to a drone traffic control system available to flyers, it doesn’t benefit us.
In Poland, and I imagine across Europe, you can already view drone missions authorised through their app, and their effective radius, as an overlay.
I’m not flying any missions that require that level of authorisation, but it’s great to see how much drone activity there is in a city like Warsaw.
Not sure if DroneAssist does that yet.
The dream is to have instant, one-step mission authorisation for all types of flying, and one that includes all stakeholders.
But we’re only slowly learning about the importance of drones, I guess.
The UK military has largely shaken off the importance of drones and pilot skills in the Ukraine war, and continues to crave ever more sophisticated and expensive missile systems. Which depend on Chinese rare earths that might not be available much longer.
I wonder how the public will take to the gradual adoption of drone deliveries in the UK though?
It could present a more benign face of the technology, which would help us. And people are sure to ask why the drones aren’t made in the UK.