Drones

[Drago]

Im don't have one as such...

But I invested in my friends start up as a drone surveyor so Indiredtly own a third share of some professional grade kit.

 

[Drago]

I do wonder about privacy
Most of the Estate Agents seem to automatically use drone shots of the houses as part of the advert

There is one for sale 2 up from ours - so, of course, we looked
both of us has the same first reaction
"Wow - our new patio looks really good in that!!"

but in reality they have launched a drone and taken photos of a private non-overlooked area of several other houses without any notification of permissions
We are not at all bothered
but other might be


I presume that they would not use shots with people in them - or edit them out in some way
but you could see how some people might have a problem with the concept

Most of them will be in likely breach of the Air Navigation Order, but they won't care.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Many years ago I was out of a job and I came across the concept of drones for the first time

They were just becoming something you could actually get and use and I came across a few people who were starting to use them commercially

One was using them to scan large houses - such as stately homes - and give the surveyor the ability to view the whole roof and hight up area without having to go to the expanse of scafolding and stuff

I started looking at regulations needed to start a company using such things but the regulation at the time were basically those for flying a plane

they had made it so you didn;t actually get a pilot's license
but it was basically the same except that you stayed on the ground and flew the drone
and the "license" was specific to that exact make and model in an area that was advancing rapidly

So I abandoned it as it would have taken many months to even get the license

shortly after that they started to ease the regulation to be more reasonable but by then I had got another job
and then drones with smaller better cameras came out

but maybe the regulations and their enforcement has gone too far and they might start to become a majot problem in terms fo threats and the like


I would hate the IRA (etc) from "The Troubles" to have access to the sort of modern drones you can get for next to nothing nowadays!

 

[classic33]

There's someone with his own channel on youtube, posts video footage from drones flown over town centres, motorways and even local airports. His even flown through the local windfarm. All restricted airspaces.

Trying to report him setting up at the side of the road under the runway got met with blank looks.

 

[briantrumpet]

I do wonder about privacy
Most of the Estate Agents seem to automatically use drone shots of the houses as part of the advert

There is one for sale 2 up from ours - so, of course, we looked
both of us has the same first reaction
"Wow - our new patio looks really good in that!!"

but in reality they have launched a drone and taken photos of a private non-overlooked area of several other houses without any notification of permissions
We are not at all bothered
but other might be


I presume that they would not use shots with people in them - or edit them out in some way
but you could see how some people might have a problem with the concept

It might be interesting to ask the estate agent whether the photographer has a proper licence and permissions, pointing out what you've mentioned, if you're interested about what controls there are.

 

[briantrumpet]

There's someone with his own channel on youtube, posts video footage from drones flown over town centres, motorways and even local airports. His even flown through the local windfarm. All restricted airspaces.

Trying to report him setting up at the side of the road under the runway got met with blank looks.

I'm not sure if the UK maps are as precise as the official French one I refer to... the French one clearly marks all habitations over a certain size as no-fly zones, very precisely, and other areas different altitudes of allowed flying. The UK one has airports, NT land, SSSI's marked as verboten, but conurbations not, and no differentiation in permitted max altitude. It all seems a bit slapdash in comparison.

Top one is my bit of France, the bottom one Exeter.

 

[classic33]

I'm not sure if the UK maps are as precise as the official French one I refer to... the French one clearly marks all habitations over a certain size as no-fly zones, very precisely, and other areas different altitudes of allowed flying. The UK one has airports, NT land, SSSI's marked as verboten, but conurbations not, and no differentiation in permitted max altitude. It all seems a bit slapdash in comparison.

Top one is my bit of France, the bottom one Exeter.

View attachment 776966

View attachment 776967

Your Exeter one is missing the air corridor that comes in from the SW, before heading towards Birmingham and Manchester.
But I think its safe to assume you shouldn't be flying over a motorway, or near a runway to catch the planes landing.

 

[briantrumpet]

Your Exeter one is missing the air corridor that comes in from the SW, before heading towards Birmingham and Manchester.
But I think its safe to assume you shouldn't be flying over a motorway, or near a runway to catch the planes landing.

Quite. It looks very incomplete, and even the shaded areas need clicking on to see what's what. In contrast, the French one is crystal clear, and laid over proper IGN maps. I'm really surprised that there's not a definitive UK map.

 

[classic33]

Quite. It looks very incomplete, and even the shaded areas need clicking on to see what's what. In contrast, the French one is crystal clear, and laid over proper IGN maps. I'm really surprised that there's not a definitive UK map.

Check https://nats-uk.ead-it.com/cms-nats/opencms/en/uas-restriction-zones/#Dronesafe_Map

Leeds-Bradford airport, with the air lane that goes up the west side of the Pennines and a smaller no fly zone marked under the "L" of Leeds on the map. Around Armley Prison.

 

[briantrumpet]

Check https://nats-uk.ead-it.com/cms-nats/opencms/en/uas-restriction-zones/#Dronesafe_Map

View attachment 776974
Leeds-Bradford airport, with the air lane that goes up the west side of the Pennines and a smaller no fly zone marked under the "L" of Leeds on the map. Around Armley Prison.

OK, interesting and obviously 'official' but still looks only partial (and you have to click on each one to see what the restriction is... for instance, whether it is for 'unmanned aircraft' (which sub-250g drones aren't) generally, or whether it's OK if they remain in line of sight, etc.

It would appear to be a major task in the UK to get things better codified/mapped and shared so everyone can find and understand the restrictions.

FWIW, my sub-250g Potensic effectively is classed as a 'toy', and the only reason I needed to register as a user is that it has a camera. https://register-drones.caa.co.uk/

 

[classic33]

OK, interesting and obviously 'official' but still looks only partial (and you have to click on each one to see what the restriction is... for instance, whether it is for 'unmanned aircraft' (which sub-250g drones aren't) generally, or whether it's OK if they remain in line of sight, etc.

It would appear to be a major task in the UK to get things better codified/mapped and shared so everyone can find and understand the restrictions.

FWIW, my sub-250g Potensic effectively is classed as a 'toy', and the only reason I needed to register as a user is that it has a camera. https://register-drones.caa.co.uk/

I've an RC helicopter that I know I can't fly in the fields near to where I live, even with the landowners permission due to being in a restricted airzone.

 

[Seevio]

Check https://nats-uk.ead-it.com/cms-nats/opencms/en/uas-restriction-zones/#Dronesafe_Map

View attachment 776974
Leeds-Bradford airport, with the air lane that goes up the west side of the Pennines and a smaller no fly zone marked under the "L" of Leeds on the map. Around Armley Prison.

It may be that the altitude limit for drones, or at least as it applies to <250g models, is about 120m iirc. It seems to me that commercial flights will be significantly higher that this away from airports. As such there appears to be no point in making this corridor a drone no-fly zone or marking it as such on a map.

 

[briantrumpet]

It may be that the altitude limit for drones, or at least as it applies to <250g models, is about 120m iirc. It seems to me that commercial flights will be significantly higher that this away from airports. As such there appears to be no point in making this corridor a drone no-fly zone or marking it as such on a map.

All this conflicting stuff (and different maps) does seem to be a mess.

 

[classic33]

It may be that the altitude limit for drones, or at least as it applies to <250g models, is about 120m iirc. It seems to me that commercial flights will be significantly higher that this away from airports. As such there appears to be no point in making this corridor a drone no-fly zone or marking it as such on a map.

Maybe not, but there has to be limits somewhere. The same as there are for surface traffic and routes.

To the west of me, is the "Area 51" of England. It's also where there's marker beacons for the local airports.

Overflown this evening by two military jets, that low it was possible to see the pilot in the cockpit of the second. First had long gone from sight.