Good Flying Locations In Norfolk

Thisboyluke · Apr 11, 2017

Anyone know of any good places to fly, struggling to find anywhere that isn't National Trust, or a nature reserve

Soundtekk · Apr 13, 2017

I will be up there in the next couple of weeks with some mates. Will try and get them to give up the info you want.

TomE · May 9, 2017

The Broads are a good area for flying, just have to be careful the closer you are to Norwich and the airport.

The Broads Authority have taken a more enlightened stance than EH or the NT, and have published guidance for drone pilots rather than just trying to ban them:

Drone Use

The landscape is a bit on the flat side but plenty of points of interest. I was up there a couple of weeks ago on holiday and flew the Mavic most days. The only problem I had was with the weather!

Tom.

Alacrity · Jul 29, 2017

I'm going to try Santon Downham in Thetford Forest. Beautiful place. Just steer clear of the nearby MOD STANTA battleground and the numerous USAF bases!

Ceejay · Aug 15, 2017

Thisboyluke said:
Anyone know of any good places to fly, struggling to find anywhere that isn't National Trust, or a nature reserve

I live on the outskirts of Norwich, and know most of Norfolk like the back of my hand, having lived here for 64 years.
I have a Phantom 3 Advanced ,Phantom 4, and a Mavic Pro.
I reckon I can leave my house and within 5 minutes be flying in my local Eaton Park, yes I am lucky that it is a BIG park.
and within 10 mins be in the countryside where there is open countryside.
Norfolk is approx. 20% open Marshland, a hugh area between Acle and Great Yarmouth is a perfect place to fly !.
I went out to a friends house in the middle of Halvergate Marshes, had great 2 hours of flying around Windmills, Open rivers, Dykes, etc. would never have guessed it looking from the main A47 road !.

Suggested Pointers of areas that I have flown:

How Hill near Ludham, great area of outstanding natural beauty.

Happisburgh Lighthouse:

Weybourne Windmill:

Don't be frightened to jump in the car and just go into the countryside, there is loads of areas around that are suitable for flying.
I think half the battle is being able to spot them !
Have fun !

Ceejay · Aug 15, 2017

You will find the New "Google Earth" 3D extremely useful scouting out locations before you leave the comfort of your home !.
Happy Hunting !!

Norfolk Flyer · Aug 16, 2017

Hello there. Firstly - all the above videos are fantastic, so my compliments to all. I'm also in Norfolk and looking to find some good places to fly, but wondering what to do about seeking landowner permission. I always aim to fly safely, legally and with permission - but it's not always obvious who owns the land out on the broads and in the marshes. How did you guys go about getting permission for all these sites? Specifically, TomE, did you struggle to find out who the relevant landowner was when flying in and around the marshes? Thanks for your advice.

Ceejay · Aug 16, 2017

Firstly, all the videos above have been taken from public areas, or open areas with little or no people in the area.
I do not seek landowners permission, they own the land, not the airspace above it.
Well, that's according to CAA write ups I have been reading.
Yes, it would be courteous to ask land owners permission.
But, as you said, you/we do not always know what land/area belongs to who!.
And I for one do not expect to waste most of my time asking anyone who happens to be in the area, "Who does this land belong too"?.
If you are sensible, and keep to public areas, or areas that seem quiet, away from NFZs.
A good bet is the local beach, but,these are not always free of bodies, so to speak.
As TomE has pointed out, at least we are lucky that the Broads Authority has seen fit to issue information for us Drone Flyers.
I will quite often just stop beside the road, and if I see an area I think is worth a flight over, I will just go for it.
I do not want to be restricted to where other people tell me I can fly, I want to go,where I want to, if anyone does not like it, then I let them tell me so, then say "Sorry, I was not aware that flying a drone here was not allowed".

Ceejay · Aug 16, 2017

P.S. Most marshland is probably private, but is usually under direct control of the Broads Authority, just follow their guidelines and you should be fine.

Ceejay · Aug 16, 2017

Its funny on TomE's video, you can just see at 1m 23 secs, directly above the Windmill two dark wooded areas right near the top of the screen, just before it fades to the next scene.
You basically turn right, opposite that windmill in TomE video and the road leads you into very open marshland, in the direction of Freethorpe.
That is where I flew from only a couple of weeks ago.
The House belongs to a friend of a friend, he allowed me to fly from his back garden and it was great being able to fly in just about any direction with no obstacles.
He lives basically in the middle of Halvergate Marshes !.
Great flying area, Anglian Water are currently working on dredging all the waterways near him ,and he wondered what they were doing?.
the answer was a drone flight towards Breydon Water, I done this in repayment for allowing me to fly over some unspoilt areas of marshland around his property.
And a beautiful Windmill about 300 yards from his house that he had never seen at close quarters, until now !.

Bite BayKon · Aug 18, 2017

Alacrity said:
I'm going to try Santon Downham in Thetford Forest. Beautiful place. Just steer clear of the nearby MOD STANTA battleground and the numerous USAF bases!

I hope to acquire a Mavic, but before doing so I'm researching possible areas to fly. Hence would be interested to know where in Santon Downham you would intend to launch from. It's completely surrounded by Thetford Forest and therefore line of sight is severely restricted (unless you fly along the railway line, which I'm sure must be restricted). Also I can't imagine that you would be very popular if you flew from the village green. Santon Downham tends to have F15s fly over, from RAF Lakenheath, so I would expect it to be classified as a NFZ.
I look forward your comments with much interest.
As an aside, the site of the old RAF station adjacent to Watton is no longer an airfield and that may be an area to fly over?
Another possible location for research is at the site of the wartime station RAF Downham, Bexwell, Downham Market where the old Downham RC club flew from:
Downham Radio Control Club

firestars · Aug 18, 2017

That's the benefit of the Mavic, you can get it up and in the air in seconds, so public parks become an ideal take off spot. As for Norfolk, there are only so many marshes of rivers you can look at before they all merge into one and become dull. Why not head over to Yarmouth and get the pleasure beach? Some great colours there.

Bite BayKon · Aug 18, 2017

firestars said:
That's the benefit of the Mavic, you can get it up and in the air in seconds, so public parks become an ideal take off spot. As for Norfolk, there are only so many marshes of rivers you can look at before they all merge into one and become dull. Why not head over to Yarmouth and get the pleasure beach? Some great colours there.

Not so sure that Yarmouth is a good place to fly.
See Home. It shows Yarmouth as controlled airspace, or at least an area where permission should be sought for drones over 7kg.

Ceejay · Aug 19, 2017

Bite BayKon said:
Not so sure that Yarmouth is a good place to fly.
See Home. It shows Yarmouth as controlled airspace, or at least an area where permission should be sought for drones over 7kg.

The NFZ is for Caister Heliport, the Pleasure Beach is outside the zone.
And his drone would be under 7 kgs.
I have flown over Breydon Water with no problem, that is not that far from Caister.

Ceejay · Aug 19, 2017

You do need to be aware that a lot of planes coming into Norwich Airport, do use that area as an approach to the airport.

Bite BayKon · Aug 19, 2017

Ceejay said:
The NFZ is for Caister Heliport, the Pleasure Beach is outside the zone.
And his drone would be under 7 kgs.
I have flown over Breydon Water with no problem, that is not that far from Caister.

Thank you for the clarification regarding Caister Heliport.
Because I'm new to this, please excuse my ignorance; but, the map, I guess, is a bit generic. How do you find out the precise limits of a NFZ?
I assumed, because this is a Mavic forum, that 'Thisboyluke' was flying a Mavic which I understand weighs 7.43kgs

Ceejay · Aug 19, 2017

You weight is way out!, the Mavic only weighs 750grammes,that is 1/10 of your 7.53kgs!.
The best shot to get the NFZ is from the DJI website, they are the ones that the drone will fly by.
You should be able to move the map to your location.
The map is zoomable on most NFZ Apps, that should give you an approximation of where to fly.
Just be sensible and you will be fine, where in East Anglia are you?

Bite BayKon · Aug 19, 2017

Ceejay said:
You weight is way out!, the Mavic only weighs 750grammes,that is 1/10 of your 7.53kgs!.
The best shot to get the NFZ is from the DJI website, they are the ones that the drone will fly by.
You should be able to move the map to your location.
The map is zoomable on most NFZ Apps, that should give you an approximation of where to fly.
Just be sensible and you will be fine, where in East Anglia are you?

Whoops! Don't know what I was thinking 7+kgs !!
Thanks for your reply. I'm based in the centre of Norfolk

Ceejay · Aug 22, 2017

Bite BayKon said:
Whoops! Don't know what I was thinking 7+kgs !!
Thanks for your reply. I'm based in the centre of Norfolk

I'm on the outskirts of Norwich, near Eaton Park

Renni Aire · Sep 1, 2017

We flew a few times back in June when we had a boat on the Broads for a long weekend, mostly on the Northern Broads. Flying was limited by the very windy weather more than anything. With a couple of exceptions we took off from the boat, largely because reedy banks are not very helpful - which was pretty scary for us as novice pilots still.