where to fly in London? UK

[BrendanP]

from sheen gate you could cover the whole park. I wonder why they allow it at that gate only.

There are far more quieter areas away from the ring road tha the Sheen gate end mmm i might have to go take a look.

Flew at the Richmond Park flying field in the weekend. The cops drove past me on the way to go tell off some people who were chasing dear. They didn't seam to mind at all.

 

[Soundtekk]

Flew at the Richmond Park flying field in the weekend. The cops drove past me on the way to go tell off some people who were chasing dear. They didn't seam to mind at all.

It's been a licensed flying field since I was a kid 40+ years. Great fun.

 

[rabidhyena]

If you don't mind flying over the river, I would do that. Out past Putney along Barnes/Mortlake etc you can find discreet spots off the path down the river bank. I often fly from there. Once you are out into the middle of the river its pretty hard for anyone on the banks to see it or hear it and you can fly off and explore various spots. Its quite good for a newbie as well, because there are no trees etc.
There is also a lot of riverside open space around Ham/Kew. If you study google maps, you can always find spots on disused land that you can discreetly take off from.
For me personally,I hate people being able to see me take off and control my mavic. I'll even keep my controller as hidden as possible. It's not because I am doing anything dodgy...just that people are so suspicious

 

[Youser]

DJI - The World Leader in Camera Drones/Quadcopters for Aerial Photography

Hi,

I'm thinking of purchasing a Mavic Pro but most of the research I'm doing is making me feel like it'll be a headache to fly as I live a mile away from the City of London.

So looking at the map you provided, I'm in one of the big green areas and I fly in areas that's in a smaller green area. Am I right in thinking that the drone will not arm the motors in the smaller green circle but the larger green circle would be OK? or do I need to get authorisation from DJI for both?

If permission is required to fly in the green areas and is granted, how long is it granted for?

Thanks

 

[Gary cato]

Hi,

I'm thinking of purchasing a Mavic Pro but most of the research I'm doing is making me feel like it'll be a headache to fly as I live a mile away from the City of London.

So looking at the map you provided, I'm in one of the big green areas and I fly in areas that's in a smaller green area. Am I right in thinking that the drone will not arm the motors in the smaller green circle but the larger green circle would be OK? or do I need to get authorisation from DJI for both?

If permission is required to fly in the green areas and is granted, how long is it granted for?

Thanks

Green areas you can fly in yellow need authorization red you can not enter that airspace at all

 

[Youser]

Green areas you can fly in yellow need authorization red you can not enter that airspace at all

So the map posted on page one of this thread would suggest that you can take off in the city (although you're not allowed to)?

What happens when you try to enter an enhanced warning zone? is it just a prompt on the transmitter without blocking the flight?

 

[jasonbrooks]

Just another tip-off on the South-East London side of things. Oxleas Meadows is a large playing field surrounded on three sides by Oxleas Woods. The majority of visitors are dog walkers and they're easy to keep away from. I've launched several times from the middle of the field and flown around over the fields and surrounding woods, and never had any issues from other park users. There are nice views of the city over the trees, and it's a big enough space to practice moves at speed and altitude. Here's a GoogleMap link showing the location, plus a screengrab of the view towards the city from the air (excuse wonky horizon - was pretty windy and still stuck on laggy-assed android for Go4 [got an iPhone SE on order ;-]):



Good luck!

- jason

 

[Gary cato]

So the map posted on page one of this thread would suggest that you can take off in the city (although you're not allowed to)?

What happens when you try to enter an enhanced warning zone? is it just a prompt on the transmitter without blocking the flight?

who says you are not allowed too? also the maps and DJi bear no reality to where you can and can not fly they are all arse about face to be honest the only true way to know is to carry the drone everywhere and try it. it also depends on what FW and app you are running if you are on 400 you can fly anywhere on 550 and 600 same but 700 up starts restricting you with 0800 and 0900 practically grounding you. The latest app will shut you down anything before app 4 1 0 is good to fly with anything after is lousy, they have changed how you can now unlock the zones before it was just a tick box i dont know anymore how that works anymore confuses the hell out of me so i just modded mine and do not have that problem now i still have a million tick boxes on the latest app but can fly without the hassle of the restrictions.

 

[Youser]

who says you are not allowed too? also the maps and DJi bear no reality to where you can and can not fly they are all arse about face to be honest the only true way to know is to carry the drone everywhere and try it. it also depends on what FW and app you are running if you are on 400 you can fly anywhere on 550 and 600 same but 700 up starts restricting you with 0800 and 0900 practically grounding you. The latest app will shut you down anything before app 4 1 0 is good to fly with anything after is lousy, they have changed how you can now unlock the zones before it was just a tick box i dont know anymore how that works anymore confuses the **** out of me so i just modded mine and do not have that problem now i still have a million tick boxes on the latest app but can fly without the hassle of the restrictions.

Thanks for the response.

All these restrictions and FW updates limiting the capabilities is really putting me off. I even read somewhere that if you enter certain zones the mavic will just land itself instead of RTH!

Really had fun with my Hubsan H501 although it's a toy grade. It was just missing the 4k camera and a gimbal.

Really want to be able to get shots like this

in 4k and with stability.

 

[Gary cato]

Thanks for the response.

All these restrictions and FW updates limiting the capabilities is really putting me off. I even read somewhere that if you enter certain zones the mavic will just land itself instead of RTH!

Really had fun with my Hubsan H501 although it's a toy grade. It was just missing the 4k camera and a gimbal.

Really want to be able to get shots like this

in 4k and with stability.

Husban was great i had two lost one lol and ermm i will pm you. I understand how u feel about all the NFZ etc i was grounded for a month over that until i was helped out. now depends on what FW you have on the Mavic right now?

To be honest if you fly within reason and safely you will not get too much trouble from anyone and the good thing is you can travel quite a way without being noticed,

also the drone will not auto land at an NFZ it will hover there and you will lose any DJI intelligent functions even RTH you then have to manually fly the drone back out away from that restriction.

This is only bad if the NFZ you hit also coincides with a signal loss on RC as the your drone will be hovering with no connection and i have no idea if RTH will work on signal loss in this condition as intelligent flight modes are disabled.

one thing is as DJI have messed up all the NFZ u will find some places you should not fly but you can and the reverse also.

 

[Creaky]

Just another tip-off on the South-East London side of things. Oxleas Meadows is a large playing field surrounded on three sides by Oxleas Woods. The majority of visitors are dog walkers and they're easy to keep away from. I've launched several times from the middle of the field and flown around over the fields and surrounding woods, and never had any issues from other park users. There are nice views of the city over the trees, and it's a big enough space to practice moves at speed and altitude. Here's a GoogleMap link showing the location, plus a screengrab of the view towards the city from the air (excuse wonky horizon - was pretty windy and still stuck on laggy-assed android for Go4 [got an iPhone SE on order ;-]):

View attachment 16441

Good luck!

- jason

I live on the edge of the Oxleas Woods but not flown there yet. Did you get permission to fly as it's class d airspace?

 

[Youser]

Husban was great i had two lost one lol and ermm i will pm you. I understand how u feel about all the NFZ etc i was grounded for a month over that until i was helped out. now depends on what FW you have on the Mavic right now?

To be honest if you fly within reason and safely you will not get too much trouble from anyone and the good thing is you can travel quite a way without being noticed,

also the drone will not auto land at an NFZ it will hover there and you will lose any DJI intelligent functions even RTH you then have to manually fly the drone back out away from that restriction.

This is only bad if the NFZ you hit also coincides with a signal loss on RC as the your drone will be hovering with no connection and i have no idea if RTH will work on signal loss in this condition as intelligent flight modes are disabled.

one thing is as DJI have messed up all the NFZ u will find some places you should not fly but you can and the reverse also.

thanks for the info.

I'm not really bothered about getting trouble from people as I try and fly when not many are around. More bothered about getting trouble from this drone lol

 

[TiTaN]

There is app called Drone Assist, that can help you determine where you can and cannot fly. I'm only one using it?

NATS Drone Assist: helping you to fly safely by Altitude Angel Ltd
NATS Drone Assist: helping you to fly safely on the App Store

 

[jasonbrooks]

I live on the edge of the Oxleas Woods but not flown there yet. Did you get permission to fly as it's class d airspace?

No, I didn't. I'm now researching how I should do that. Any info you know of that explains it clearly? I'm currently neck-deep in the CAA's delightfully clear and simple website! ;-)

Thanks for the heads up though!

jason

[Edit] P.S. On the CAA site it says the following (Article 94 - small unmanned aircraft):

(4) The person in charge of a small unmanned aircraft which has a mass of more
than 7kg excluding its fuel but including any articles or equipment installed in or
attached to the aircraft at the commencement of its flight, must not fly the
aircraft:

(a) in Class A, C, D or E airspace unless the permission of the appropriate air
traffic control unit has been obtained;

(b) within an aerodrome traffic zone during the notified hours of watch of the
air traffic control unit (if any) at that aerodrome unless the permission of
any such air traffic control unit has been obtained;
or
(c) at a height of more than 400 feet above the surface unless it is flying in
airspace described in sub-paragraph (a) or (b) and in accordance with the
requirements for that airspace.

Which would seem to suggest that for <7kg craft, such as the MP, there's no requirement to get permission to fly in Class D airspace. Any takers?

 

[Creaky]

Been reading that as well, very confusing. I have sent them an email but had no response as yet.

From the above it sounds like it's fine, better safe than sorry though.

 

[chopcat]

First off get an air map. The heli route map will show you all of the restricted airspace and london no fly zones. Those apply to drones as well as aircraft. You then need to check all of the byelaws for the parks etc. You can assume that all parks have restrictions on UAV flight.
The air maps will tell you that the river is totally a no fly area for drones as it is the main heli route into battersea for single engine helicopters flying low as you have to fly under the heathrow traffic to get there. Also remember that twin engine machines do not have specific heli routes and are likely to be at the same altitude as a drone. Even though they will be under the control of Heathrow or Battersea you will not know where they are flying. The designated routes run all the way to the M25 but as I say a twin will not necessarily be on any of those. Dont just look at the airspace classification look at the restricted areas. R160, for example goes from SFC (surface) and of course the heathrow CTR is class A
SO
Essentially unless you have exemptions I would say that pretty much all of greater London is not flyable legally.
I fly both commercialy and would not touch a flight in Central London without specific CAA exemption/permission.

 

[wanson]

hello all, i will be traveling to london in the 3rd week of September. Hopefully i can fly my mavic somewhere wtih some fall foliage.

i have checked the site Home which basically i can't fly drone anywhere near london.
including richmond park and oxleas meadows which this post suggest. any suggestions you have for me as a tourist to fly in london area?

 

[jasonbrooks]

hello all, i will be traveling to london in the 3rd week of September. Hopefully i can fly my mavic somewhere wtih some fall foliage.
I have checked the site Home which basically i can't fly drone anywhere near london.
including richmond park and oxleas meadows which this post suggest. any suggestions you have for me as a tourist to fly in london area?

I find the data provided on NoFlyDrones quite confusing. Although the large blue zones covering almost all of central London are marked as "Controlled Airspace", and definitely derived from London City & Heathrow, they're way too big to be the absolute NFZs for those airports. I think they cover all of the Class-C/D/E airspaces, and so aren't true NFZs at all.

Feel free to continue your own research, but I can assure you that Oxleas Meadows/Woods is a fine place to fly, with good views North and West to the city. I've also read a long thread elsewhere on this site that discusses the pilots regular visits to Battersea Park for flying.

Just IMHO, but as long as you stay below 200ft, and maintain VLOS, you'll be fine in these areas. One place to be particularly wary of is flying over any/all of the Thames itself. I know that the majority of helicopter traffic uses it as a highway in/out of the city, and often fly through relatively low.

If you want 100% peace of mind though, take a day trip out on to the South Downs - it's much more beautiful than London!

Have a good trip!

jason

 

[wanson]

I find the data provided on NoFlyDrones quite confusing. Although the large blue zones covering almost all of central London are marked as "Controlled Airspace", and definitely derived from London City & Heathrow, they're way too big to be the absolute NFZs for those airports. I think they cover all of the Class-C/D/E airspaces, and so aren't true NFZs at all.

Feel free to continue your own research, but I can assure you that Oxleas Meadows/Woods is a fine place to fly, with good views North and West to the city. I've also read a long thread elsewhere on this site that discusses the pilots regular visits to Battersea Park for flying.

Just IMHO, but as long as you stay below 200ft, and maintain VLOS, you'll be fine in these areas. One place to be particularly wary of is flying over any/all of the Thames itself. I know that the majority of helicopter traffic uses it as a highway in/out of the city, and often fly through relatively low.

If you want 100% peace of mind though, take a day trip out on to the South Downs - it's much more beautiful than London!

Have a good trip!

jason

thanks very much jason

will truly take your words

have a great day

 

[MKAL]

DJI - The World Leader in Camera Drones/Quadcopters for Aerial Photography

Thanks, what is a difference between red and green area on the map?