Looking for fellow drone users in London, UK

[Cosmosis]

Hey guys,

I'm a creator who just moved from Toronto. I own a Mavic Pro 2 and live in central London (Covent Garden).

There are a few areas here that I'm keen on flying in (responsibly and with care, of course).

I mainly work on DSLR, GoPro, but am trying to reacquaint myself with my drone!
LMK if anyone is interested.

Angie

 

[Malcx]

Welcome to the forum!

Flying in London is always going to be a challenge but I'm sure some others can give some useful advice on places to fly. However I can recommend getting out of London, there are some great places in Surrey (Near Guildford or Woking), just 40 min or so from Waterloo. You can probably find similar great spots going north from Kings Cross. There are plenty of airports round here to keep things interesting but still lots of good flying locations ?

 

[nathankw]

Hi,
I'm a new London Drone Flyer (well not new to London - lived here all my life - but just got a Mini 2).
I've been surprised to find several great London sites. There's the well known Richmond Park flyers field but also a great one in chiswick (Dukes Meadows).

And I've just added one in Wormwood Scrubs to dronescene

Wormwood Scrubs - Added to Parks and Recreation in London

I have just added this to the map of places to fly your drone at Drone Scene - Location # 885 Land owner permission not required. This is an officially marked Model Aircraft field in Wormwood Scrubs - a large area of parkland in West London. The area is confirmed in the council byelaws here...

greyarro.ws

And of course after Jan 1st our options will hopefully increase!

 

[AndreiZero]

Hi! Just getting into drones now! Bought myself a Mini 2 but struggling to find a safe spot to fly in central London where I live.(Chelsea). I guess around here is a bit of a issue because the heliport in Battersea! Keen to get to know other drone pilots around!

 

[nathankw]

Yeah - Chelsea is right in the heliport NFZ.
However Duke's Meadow isn't far from you and that's a great site - right by the river.

West London is actually pretty good for legal places to fly.

 

[AndreiZero]

Hey, thanks!! that’s really good to know! So far I couldn’t really put my mini 2 to test properly while this virus **** show going on!

 

[Thomas B]

Welcome to the forum from the deserts of Arizona! Enjoy.

 

[nathankw]

Hey, thanks!! that’s really good to know! So far I couldn’t really put my mini 2 to test properly while this virus **** show going on!

Actually I've found flying a reall good lock down activity.
You're in the open air, socially distanced - perfectly safe!

It's the bloomin weather that's been stopping me from flying more :-(

 

[AndreiZero]

That is actually very true! I will try to get to this park at some point early January but yeah it’s not really pleasant to be exposed in this current weather! Any other good recommendation for flying spots in London? I believe Richmond is no longer a flying zone, right? Or none of the Royal Parks!

 

[nathankw]

Where did you hear that about Richmond?
I was flying there a couple of weeks ago no problems.
Their website still says it's fine:

Richmond Park

Welcome to Richmond Park, one of London’s eight Royal Parks, covering 2,500 acres and home to ancient trees, herds of deer and the Isabella Plantation.

www.royalparks.org.uk

But you're right that apart from this one area of Richmond Park - there's no flying in any Royal Park.

Wormwood Scrubs is good too.

 

[AndreiZero]

Oh that’s interesting! I read an article last week saying that Richmond is a no fly zone now because drones my be a danger for the park wildlife... but yeah I saw on the previous post of yours the wormwood scrubs! The place looks really nice for flying! I was checking on the DJI app the flying zone and it says that Duke’s meadow are on the Heathrow flying path so you can’t go higher than 150m.

 

[nathankw]

> Oh that’s interesting! I read an article last week saying that Richmond is a no fly zone now because drones my be a danger for the park wildlife...

Well you're not allowed to fly if there are Deer around - that quite what "around" means is unclear.
I've flown where there are deer over to one side and it didn't seem to be a problem. The tourists getting up close to the animals for selfies are a far bigger risk!

Do you have a link to the article?

> but yeah I saw on the previous post of yours the wormwood scrubs! The place looks really nice for flying!

It is - but don't fly over the prison by accident! (It's easy to avoid - just be sensible)

> I was checking on the DJI app the flying zone and it says that Duke’s meadow are on the Heathrow flying path so you can’t go higher than 150m.

Well you're not allowed to fly over 120m anywhere without special permission so that's not an issue.
Richmond is very much on the flight path too. The max there is 100m

 

[AndreiZero]

Very well!! Thanks for the tips!! My wife is from Countryside Ireland and there is no restriction around the areas where she lives and the landscape is just breathtaking! I was hoping to get there for Xmas this year which won’t happen anymore unfortunately! Is the Richmond fly zone area busy usually?

 

[nathankw]

Yeah - flying the irish coast would be amazing!

If it's a nice day you'll probably find a few other drone flyers at Richmond. But there's plenty of airspace so it's not a problem. Quite fun watching the ones with the crazy fast DIY drones.

On the weekends / bank holidays you're supposed to stop flying at 1pm - presumably because there are more people around in the afternoon. Weekdays it's any time (in daylight)