Hi I'm a bit of a new pilot and had a bit of an unfortunate incident today.
I was flying in Red castle near Inverness today the weather was clear and no wind. I took off from a small car park (public land) and flew out and over the water, at some point a fellow who I think was sitting near by said "I wasn't allowed to fly within 50m of people". I explained my drone was less than 250g and hence was able to fly within 50m of people. He then grumbled that I was disturbing the peace and walked off, I put it down to someone who has a hatred of drones and moved on. I was conscious of the people there and felt like I kept a good respectable from them, although most likely may not have been always greater 50m but I felt I was not causing a nusicane.
Shortly after another unrelated man then shouted at me that I was "breaking the law". He said he had prior spoken to the police and drone flying was not allowed here due to the proximity to the houses and it scaring the horses. I explained to him there is no regulations stopping me since my drone was less than 250g and there is no restrictions from flying in this area (I triple checked this but if anyone knows different please let me know) and since I was approximately 100m from the horses at take off (and no closer) I suspect they wouldn't even be aware of it. He also mentioned I was not allowed to fly near at the near the castle either since it was a historic site. Again after looking into this I see no such regulations or requirement for permission but again I could be wrong.
After he approached me I said I would to stop flying since I don't want to antagonise him but informed him I believed (and still do) I was well within my rights to fly here. Annoyingly I didn't have the CAA site handy to show him because I believe he is quoting old regulations before the 250g limit got introduced.
Since I'm a new pilot i'm a bit raw and I can't help but feel I got a bit bullied from flying there by a couple of guys who seem to dislike drones. Still I want to check that I'm not misinterpreting the rules or otherwise was mistaken.
I was flying in Red castle near Inverness today the weather was clear and no wind. I took off from a small car park (public land) and flew out and over the water, at some point a fellow who I think was sitting near by said "I wasn't allowed to fly within 50m of people". I explained my drone was less than 250g and hence was able to fly within 50m of people. He then grumbled that I was disturbing the peace and walked off, I put it down to someone who has a hatred of drones and moved on. I was conscious of the people there and felt like I kept a good respectable from them, although most likely may not have been always greater 50m but I felt I was not causing a nusicane.
Shortly after another unrelated man then shouted at me that I was "breaking the law". He said he had prior spoken to the police and drone flying was not allowed here due to the proximity to the houses and it scaring the horses. I explained to him there is no regulations stopping me since my drone was less than 250g and there is no restrictions from flying in this area (I triple checked this but if anyone knows different please let me know) and since I was approximately 100m from the horses at take off (and no closer) I suspect they wouldn't even be aware of it. He also mentioned I was not allowed to fly near at the near the castle either since it was a historic site. Again after looking into this I see no such regulations or requirement for permission but again I could be wrong.
After he approached me I said I would to stop flying since I don't want to antagonise him but informed him I believed (and still do) I was well within my rights to fly here. Annoyingly I didn't have the CAA site handy to show him because I believe he is quoting old regulations before the 250g limit got introduced.
Since I'm a new pilot i'm a bit raw and I can't help but feel I got a bit bullied from flying there by a couple of guys who seem to dislike drones. Still I want to check that I'm not misinterpreting the rules or otherwise was mistaken.