Flying in the UK

[Ryanmini]

I’ve done my operator ID theory test, just a question on if I was to go sit in a random field ie farmers field no animals or people around and want to get footage of surrounding areas do I need permission to fly in the field or as long as I’m flying in line of sight and keeping to the distances I need to stay in I be fine?
thanks
Ryan

 

[Crouching Leopard]

Apart from permission from the farmer, personally, I wouldn't bother.

 

[old man mavic]

unless you have permission from the owner of the land then you are trespassing,
if you stopped at the side of the field in a layby then you could fly over the field ,and surrounding area as long as you observed the drone code ,what you cant do is fly low so as you could be frightening any animals that might be in the fields ,its always better if possible to ask permission from land owners to fly over their land ,all land is owned by someone

 

[FireStorm-X]

One way I found a few good places to fly, was open google map switch to Sat view and just start to move around places near me that looked nice and open, Then take a drive/walk and check them out, so far found 3 good spots just need the good weather to really enjoy them

 

[THE CYBORG]

I’ve done my operator ID theory test, just a question on if I was to go sit in a random field ie farmers field no animals or people around and want to get footage of surrounding areas do I need permission to fly in the field or as long as I’m flying in line of sight and keeping to the distances I need to stay in I be fine?
thanks
Ryan

I did exactly that and the farmer came, the first thing he said was can that thing find my sheep ? So I flew a battery looking for his sheep up a fell, ended up he was going to get a drone for the job.
We had a good chat about the various drones on the market but it could have gone the other way.

 

[Tolly]

Get an Ordinance Survey map of the area and follow public footpaths

 

[Fizzbang]

You only need permission to take off from or land on someones property.

You must obey the drone code to fly near or over land and/or property.

"Do I need permission to fly in the field?" no. Only to Land in the field or take off from the field.
Any sign that says 'No Drones' means nothing except that someone does not like drones. Trespass and nuisance is a different matter.

Technically speaking taking off from a layby is not allowed by the code, because you are too close to live traffic.

Ask yourself this. Did that jumbo jet just flying over this field at 30,000ft seek permission from the land owner? No.
The jumbo jet we hope is flying in accordance with CAA and European air authority guides.

The CAA is the authority on what can fly where. The land owner is the authority on who can take off or land on his property.

Public footpaths are not places where you can legally take off unless you have the land owners permission.
That said I have never been approached by any land owner whilst launching from a public footpath.

The zone between low watermark and high watermark for most of the coast line is crown property and the crown have given permission to take off and land there, but be careful in Cornwall and Devon because much of that is not Crown Property.

National Trusts objections to drones is mostly based on nuisance. They have no powers that can stopy you flying over or near national trust property.

Just be mindful careful and avoid becoming a nuisance to others.

 

[old man mavic]

@Fizzbang you are correct with the proximity of a layby to live traffic ,and of course ,there are laybys ,and laybys that often are quite a way from the actual live traffic because they are parts of the original road that have been altered to allow smoother traffic flow ,its a matter of using ones common sense ,and also what sort of road the layby is on