[Closed] Droning about drones

Have you a link to these new regulations?

Asking for a [s]friend [/s] son.

https://mailchi.mp/045f37696d1f/update-on-new-uk-drone-and-model-aircraft-rules-and-registration-renewals?e=75b01e1938

or try this which is relatively easy to follow if a little dull/geeky -

Mr & Mrs SadFace : (

Love them.

Anyone want to buy my Mavic air 2 combo?

Can't fly it anywhere without animosity or breaking the stupid UK laws.

People are happy to let you take a pic with your phone willy nilly. Go 20 metres into the air and everyone looses thier sh1t.....

No. I don't care about looking in your house, really not interested. Yes I can fly here.

Great pieces of kit with nimbys with influence tightening the screws.

Closest I can get to being a bird on my wage.

Thanks @convert

Where to you live olly? Is it really that bad? I'd love one tbh, plenty open space locally to fly (away from airport!)

Nobeerinthefridge
Free Member
Where to you live olly? Is it really that bad? I’d love one tbh, plenty open space locally to fly (away from airport!)

If you:

Stay the required distance from: houses/buildings
People.
Roads.
Train lines.
Restricted airspace.
Sssi areas.
Crown estate unless on the foreshore.
Places with bylaws
National trust land.

Even though ownership of airspace is vague....

On our congested island it really gives you nowhere to actually fly and stay within the rules unless you travel to do so.

If you look into it you can't fly on a lot of UK beaches because of land ownership and/or sssi designation.

You know that rare flower that grows? Might be affected by a drone 50m above it.

Places like the peak district have banned drone use despite it being open space. Someone with influence has done well there.

You need permission from Devonshire council to fly on their land. So no public spaces managed by them.

I live in North Shropshire. I get hassle when flying from people about 35% of the time:

Flying 5 metres above the sea: "you are scaring the fish"

Flying in a disused quarry, someone appears: "you are causing my dog distress"

Flying on common land, woman appears from nowhere: "you are invading my privacy as you have a camera and can see my house"

So now I don't use it or have to drive 30 odd mins to find somewhere where I won't be disturbed.

Have a Mavic pro and now a Mavic air 2. Don't know why I wasted the money!

DJI drones have loads of cool features that take great videos with the drone focusing on tracking and points of interest. But you can't use them. Can't even take off in your own garden legally.

You see YouTube videos of them following bikes and on mountain tops taking 360 videos etc. Try that here. You'll upset everyone.

Then the government made us register the drones. Now they change rules again. Now in 2022 drones like the Mavic air 2 will be legacy designated and be unable to fly in even more places.

Shame. Great fun. Not worth the hassle. Maybe if you lived in the USA etc with loads of open space.

As for shooting drones down. It's actually illegal and is classed as shooting at an aircraft lol.

Just fly it and stop worrying!

So long as you're not actually in restricted airspace and you're not crashing it into peoples faces no-ones going to care unless you bump into some Keith/Candice-Marie types

I mean really, what's going to happen if someone rings the police up and says "HELP, its an emergancy!! Someones flying a small drone near me" NOTHING, that's what.

there's a reason the old guys with RC fixed wing and helicopters mostly rent a corner of a field from a farmer out in the sticks... mainly because lots of people don't appear to like other people having any sort of fun

I wrote a lengthy reply to this yesterday but deleted the lot before posting, thinking "what's the point" It was pretty much a reflection of what @olly2097 wrote. The newly introduced legislation is very restrictive. It makes flying legally in most places virtually impossible. Adding to the burden, even in the middle of nowhere if the landowner doesn't want you operating a drone you can't take off. This doesn't prevent you overflying his/her land. There are a lot of overlapping "catch-all" rules included that are very difficult not to infringe. In reality, the majority of flyers aren't going to know all of the rules and how they are affected by them. The effect this is having is that people aren't buying and flying drones in the numbers they were previously.

The point i'd like to make is that you have to be careful what it is you decide to moan about/voice opinions/campaign to have removed. The few extreme & prominent cases in the UK that led to this legislation are also being reflected in other countries. There is an agenda to legislate these things out of existence without them being banned outright. The legislation is under constant review & will be changed/tightened again.

Where does that put people who take part in other pursuits that aren't considered mainstream or seem by others as incompatible with their own views, values or activities? Vocal & influential minorities or even individuals can have a big impact on your party. There may be people moaning about mountain biking, somewhere they've got a platform for their views & an audience.

I've owned a few over the years and have always followed the rules, especially Rule number 1, and have never had an issue. I now have the Mini 2, because amazingly they've actually relaxed the rules around flying small drones (the new rules that is) under 250g and I can now fly in loads of places I couldn't before. I will however stick to Rule number 1. I use mine to add different perspective to family holiday/days out films I like to make as a hobby, and always try to avoid flying if people are near by.

The sub 250g category seems practically unrestricted now?

Well, gotta say that is the most accurate thread title ever.

I also wrote a longer post about this yesterday but deleted it as decided it wasn't worth the argument.

I've got one I occasionally use for cinematic type shots, and really enjoy, but the moaning they attract is unreal.

Even flying within the code and with consideration they really trigger a lot of people, even if you're far away and someone gets a whiff of a buzzing drone in the air a fair number will find a reason to find you and complain.

FWIW Mine is only really noisy from a few metres away at ground level.

It's just Othering again, isn't it. I was out with my TF-19 the other day, you should have heard the complaints I got.

but the moaning they attract is unreal.

even if you’re far away and someone gets a whiff of a buzzing drone in the air a fair number will find a reason to find you and complain.

I complained about one last year. My neighbour's son and his mate were hovering it outside my teenage daughter's bedroom window.

I felt reasonably justified in complaining.

I complained about one last year. My neighbour’s son and his mate were hovering it outside my teenage daughter’s bedroom window.

I felt reasonably justified in complaining.

I don't know how anyone could think that was acceptable behaviour.

Well, gotta say that is the most accurate thread title ever.

Absolutely!

Cheers olly, that's mental. Mibbe try putting a Colin McRae sticker on it, he didnae even need a licence and he's virtually been canonised!.

The new regs do seem a little lax on the any under 249g models from last year or prior. I can pretty much fly anywhere now with my mavic mini (bar airports) and it's within the regulations. I don't even have to stick to the 50m away from houses or people. I obviously won't fly like that as I'm not a complete ****t. I only use it occasionally when I'd like to get another perspective of somewhere when on holiday but there will be others who will think it's a license to buzz them round their neighbours houses and gardens.

@verses you did well to just complain to the neighbours rather than take the drone and shove it up the neighbours son's posterior along with frozen sausages.

Even though ownership of airspace is vague….

Where does that put people who take part in other pursuits that aren’t considered mainstream or seem by others as incompatible with their own views, values or activities? Vocal & influential minorities or even individuals can have a big impact on your party

Replace 'airspace' with 'river' - who owns the air or water flowing through?
Replace 'drone pilot' with 'paddler'.
Replace 'influential individuals' with 'rich landowners'.

Paddling in England and Wales has similar 'restrictions' in many ways - and paddlers have had to learn to adapt, paddler where and when they can, negotiate if possible,

@verses you did well to just complain to the neighbours rather than take the drone and shove it up the neighbours son’s posterior along with frozen sausages.

Putting my teenage boy head back on for a minute. I think I would have totally done this if the technology had existed! Obviously rule #2 should be if you can't not be a dick, don't get caught being a dick and if you do take it on the chin.

Getting old your moral compass gets a bit of tuning up. Your ability to run from trouble and recover from a kicking also diminishes!

I complained about one last year. My neighbour’s son and his mate were hovering it outside my teenage daughter’s bedroom window.

Bit of detail:
I'd nipped to the supermarket one evening, daughter called to say she could hear something that sounded a drone outside her window, by the time she'd plucked up the courage to look outside it had gone. I was dark when I got back (about 10mins later) and there was no sign of it.

A few days later I was in the garden and one flew overhead, I've never seen one in the neighbourhood before so assumed it was the same one. I watched it buzz a few gardens then go over the rooftops and followed it until it landed (about 5 doors down from me).

The bloke who lives next door to them was in his front garden, we chatted about it (he had a typical Daily Mail-esqe "THEY SHOULD BE BANNED" type attitude), he hadn't realised it had landed in his neighbour's back garden. We both went round the back and found the lad (10yo-ish) and his mate (12yo-ish) with it. I asked if it was them with it the previous night, the older one looked guilty, the younger one ran in to get his dad.

The dad was pretty defensive, but agreed they shouldn't fly it outside my daughters window. He was keen to point out there was no SD card in it so they couldn't record anything, as though that made it better. After the 1st incident I'd read up on the various rules - I have a mate who's into them and records some decent footage, so picked his brains too. The dad seemed oblivious to the fact there's any rules about them at all, and denied they were breaking any laws. We agreed to disagree on that, but I suggested he looked it up before someone less tollerent reports them.
Meanwhile, the ranty neighbour was unintentionally quite funny, he was demanding that it never be used again, when asked "why" his only response was "it's annoying"...

I've not seen it since.

I complained about one last year. My neighbour’s son and his mate were hovering it outside my teenage daughter’s bedroom window.

I felt reasonably justified in complaining.

I don’t know how anyone could think that was acceptable behaviour.

How else will she get her drugs delivered 😉

I've got a mini 1 and thought the new regs actually made things better in terms of being able to fly. That being said it's clear that anyone who currently owns a drone that isn't a mini is getting screwed as even something (e.g. mavic air 2) that meets the new regs to fit into one of the fairly unrestricted categories gets put in the most restrictive class if it doesn't have the correct sticker on it. Presumably at some point this year existing models of drones will start to the get right stickers, and a black market will appear on ebay!

So, is there a sub 250g drone that has a follow function?.

The dad seemed oblivious to the fact there’s any rules about them at all, and denied they were breaking any laws.

it is not possible to do both.

So, is there a sub 250g drone that has a follow function?.

What are the expectations for a self build coming in at 250g (A1) category? Otherwise its an A3 and practically useless...

What are the expectations for a self build coming in at 250g (A1) category? Otherwise its an A3 and practically useless…

So, is there a sub 250g drone that has a follow function?.

Mavic Mini and the Litchi App I think... https://flylitchi.com/

Mavic Mini and the Litchi App I think… https://flylitchi.com/

No active tracking on mini or mini 2 sadly. No obstacle avoidance either. Otherwise it would be the one I'd go for.

What are the expectations for a self build coming in at 250g (A1) category? Otherwise its an A3 and practically useless…

Self build is usually the fpv freestyle or race stuff. Typical 5” drone is way over before you put in a battery or a gopro. There are mini/indoor ones but very limited either for power or camera.

The capable lightweight stuff is very tightly integrated. There are cheaper clones than the DJI ones but nothing self-built.

There are cheaper clones

Next thread: clone drone moan

I haven't tried it but I have seen plenty of chat on MavicPilots about the follow me function on using the litchi app so I think it does work.

@covert oh yeah if I'd had one as a young lad I'd have definitely tried it. Hopefully I'd have been sensible enough to go further than 5 doors down from where I lived though.

I haven’t tried it but I have seen plenty of chat on MavicPilots about the follow me function on using the litchi app so I think it does work.

A couple of mates have several FPV freestyle/racing drones, self built and not in any way easy to fly like the mavic type drones most people buy, they have never had anything but positive comments when random strangers have seen them flying over the years and have spent a lot of time and money on them. They've both said the new law makes it pretty much illegal to fly them anywhere that they used to go and the only time they're going 2 use them is following the lads on the mtbs ( following close behind at similar height and speed, not hovering a hundred ft above ) as they both ride bikes as well. I've personally never had any interest in learning to fly a drone but, while I can see the reason for their introduction (potential terrorist using as a flying bomb etc), the d*******s who would be anti social users/potential terrorists will definitely not abide by any laws to control their use.

, shatters peace and quiet in the countryside.

Sort of sound like the ramblers complaining about 'bloody mountain bikers tearing up the countryside ', live and let live as far as I'm concerned

So, is there a sub 250g drone that has a follow function?.

Litchi looks like a pretty decent control app too with some nice features the DJI app doesn't have so looking forward to trying it outdoors at some point.

sub 250g freestyle/race machines are out there already

bit of a sod if you've just put something bigger together

@thebibbles - are you sure you meant to tag me? I haven't posted here in about 5 years.

Edit: ahh you meant convert. Not to worry.