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Forestry Commission UK

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I'm in discussions at the moment with the Forestry Commission about flying where I live. They've come back to me saying even though it's a non-commercial / recreational flight, I would need to fill out a request form, a copy of my Civil Aviation Authority Licence, a risk assessment and insurance. Once I send this then they will consider my flight.

Anyone else had issues with flying within forestry commission?
 
I appreciate it seems like a pain, but if the area is local to you it's worthwhile taking the trouble to build up a relationship with them. The posh phrase is probably 'Networking'.
At the moment they don't know you from any other scruffy 'erbert. Once you get to meet them, and they get to see and listen to you, the arrangements may become easier and more 'local', like a phone call to xxxx.
But you may well have to jump through the hoop a time or two before it gets to that stage.

The CAA licence question is just standard, the question has to be there, you just say officially 'N/A (Private flight)'.
For a flight plan, tell them the maximum height limit you expect to set (which may well be 120 metres), and (perhaps unusually) the maximum distance from the take-off point you will set. Don't forget to set it, on that occasion at least. It there is anything of particular interest, that you will be making a Point of Interest, put that in.
They want to know what to expect, they will be reassured by it.
Tell them (don't expect them to know) that you will keep within VLoS (although doing that in a 'forest' might be challenging, I guess it depends on whereabouts on any hill you will be taking off from).
Ask if they want to visit you flying.

Yesterday I was offered a choice, launch adjacent to some trees at 149m above sea level, or travel less than quarter of a mile and launch adjacent to some other trees at 214m above sea level. The choice was obvious, to me. This was farm land, not FC land.

Basically, do whatever is necessary to establish a positive working relationship with the people who work on the ground. It will pay dividends in the long run.

Regards.
 
I was just flying on a nearby forest and figured i'd google to see what the forestry commission's stance was, what a faff just to fly my 250mm racing drone around a bit, I only went there because my local playing field is full of kids and seemed a bit unsafe :p

I can't imagine anyone official would be there at the weekend/after 5pm so if the car-park is empty, just rock up and fly, act innocent if anyone turns up and don't go back for a week or two, easy game

Happy Flying!
 
I'm in discussions at the moment with the Forestry Commission about flying where I live. They've come back to me saying even though it's a non-commercial / recreational flight, I would need to fill out a request form, a copy of my Civil Aviation Authority Licence, a risk assessment and insurance. Once I send this then they will consider my flight.

Anyone else had issues with flying within forestry commission?

Someone here feel free to correct me if I'm wrong but my understanding is that they can stop you taking off, landing and controlling your aircraft on their land but can't stop you flying over it. After that, just limited by the drone code which I find to be fairly vague but for distances from homes(50m) and max height of 150m.
 
It's the stock response where they don't want to be in any way liable.
So if you crash or cause an incident they can say "we discourage drones by not allowing their use - what more can we do"
Easy way out.

A lot of forest land is highly suitable for safe flights, obviously there are some busy areas with carparks and visitor centres you'd not want to use unless perhaps at a quiet time of day.
It's not like anyone is policing miles of tracks through plantations.
 
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It's the stock response where they don't want to be in any way liable.
So if you crash or cause an incident they can say "we discourage drones by not allowing their use - what more can we do"
Easy way out.

A lot of forest land is highly suitable for safe flights, obviously there are some busy areas with carparks and visitor centres you'd not want to use unless perhaps at a quiet time of day.
It's not like anyone is policing miles of tracks through plantations.
I agree. There's all sorts of drones, and the easiest policy to adopt is to just say they're banned BUT, it's not an illegal activity so they can't arrest you for it, nor can they prosecute you for trespassing. All they can do is say you can't land, fly or take off here. Well, they can only do that if they see you.
 
Not FCC but last week I had a similar stance from my local borough council in that I was flying on my local park in accordance with the drone code, something which I have done several times before. A parks supervisor approached and mentioned that he had spoken to someone in the council and said I needed to have a "drone licence", public liability insurance, submit risk assessments and that flying a drone was an "event" so I would need to fill out an application form and pay a fee.

We had a calm and civilised discussion where I explained about the ANO, drone code, distances & how I was within limits, described my own procedures/risk assessment/pre flight checks and also showed him the NATS app showing no restrictions, NOTAMS etc. I had already checked the council website and there was nothing about drones/drone policies on it and no signs prohibiting flights or mentioning by-laws were posted at the park.

The outcome was that he asked me to write in to ask the council for clarification as it is an unknown area and lots of organisations haven't developed a formal drone policy yet. I was allowed to continue to flying. I have written to the council but no response yet.

I also raised the question of if people flying kites have to fill in risk assessments, book the park as an event? I have a Mavic Air which weighs less than a football. Do people kicking footballs around have to jump through the same hoops? The risk of being hit by an object is still there. I guess it is down to common sense, if you are flying responsibly and consideratly then keep on doing so until the FCC/councils etc put something more formal in place.

Also last week I was challenged in a forested area whilst going through pre-flight checks. The ranger allowed the flights but did explain about the ground nesting bird season would start soon and flights may disturb them. He also stayed to watch the flights as he was interested in the potential benefits to using drones to assist with his own role.

Drones and drone policies are new to a lot of organisations so we will all have to wait and see what happens with the changes to laws that are coming.

Happy flying!
 
I'm in discussions at the moment with the Forestry Commission about flying where I live. They've come back to me saying even though it's a non-commercial / recreational flight, I would need to fill out a request form, a copy of my Civil Aviation Authority Licence, a risk assessment and insurance. Once I send this then they will consider my flight.

Anyone else had issues with flying within forestry commission?
Hi there. My first post so here goes.

I was in the New Forest over Christmas and drove past an abundance of flying opportunities that more than honored safe operations within the A2CofC category. What I didn't see was a single sign at any of the car parks drawing attention to drone operations restrictions. I don't know about other manufacturers but DJI have no Geo-Fencing in the New Forest outside ATZs etc and nothing came up using various planning Apps.

It's a real gotch-ya as I'm certain people will see the miles of open land, no App flier warnings and believe they are good to go. Open and honest dialogue is the way forward and I'm pleased to read that Rangers and Park Staff are remaining calm and meeting pilots in the middle. Perhaps publicity of the Forestry Commission drone restrictions is really required to ensure fliers aren't caught out?
 
After reading these replies it seems drone people do seem to live in 2 completely seperate worlds.

All you need is common sense and to act in a way that doesn’t draw attention to yourself and you’ll never have an issue.

Pre asking people who have no idea what you’re really doing is almost always going to end in a no. Nobody is going to say yes when there’s even a 0.01% chance they would be liable if you hurt someone and they had said yes.

They would much rather you got on with it and they can then rightly blame you if there’s any subsequent issues.
 
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Someone here feel free to correct me if I'm wrong but my understanding is that they can stop you taking off, landing and controlling your aircraft on their land but can't stop you flying over it. After that, just limited by the drone code which I find to be fairly vague but for distances from homes(50m) and max height of 150m.
This is all correct. However, if something happens and there's an accident or damage and you didn't follow their request then you'll find yourself on the end of a hefty legal case.
 
This is all correct. However, if something happens and there's an accident or damage and you didn't follow their request then you'll find yourself on the end of a hefty legal case.
So you suggest that if you ‘did’ follow their request there would be no hefty legal case🤔
Of course there will - point is you don’t need permission to fly over!
 
So you suggest that if you ‘did’ follow their request there would be no hefty legal case🤔
Of course there will - point is you don’t need permission to fly over!
There are laws in place to protect species and their habitat. Flying over them would break the laws. Look them up.
 
There are laws in place to protect species and their habitat. Flying over them would break the laws. Look them up.

You can fly over any habitat you like, its disturbing them that is the crime. To prosecute or fine you'd need evidence the bird has been disturbed and the type of bird, there is a long list, but not every bird. I believe some nests have CCTV on for example, seeing a drone with your flyer ID would be easy to prosecute. Flying 120m above a nest I'd say you're probably not going to disturb them, would I do it? NO! Bird nesting is between February and August, so all spring and summer I guess. Outside these you can fly where ever.

Example of drone disturbing nest
 
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