Hi guys!
This may be a simplistic question and somewhat UK-centric but it's something I'd like to ask your opinion on.
I recently bought an i2 which I intend to use for personal and recreational purposes. I live in rural Warwickshire (UK) and have a lot of farm land and fields around me. These fields are mostly pasture land and are mostly used by the general public to walk their dogs on, etc. There are "pedestrian" gates which are open and freely accessible.
There I was flying my drone in a small remote field with public right of way access when out of the blue a farmer comes racing up on his quad bike demanding to know what I was doing. I struck up a polite conversation with him and explained that I'm flying my drone in an attempt to get used to flying it. I wasn't filming at the time (it's a massive empty field - there was nothing worth filming). He politely asked me to vacate the field and not to fly my drone on it again. We shook hands amicably and I left. He wasn't very open about why he didn't want me to fly over his field other than to say he didn't want hundreds of drones buzzing around at all times of the day. Fair enough.
So, here is my dilemma: I've been to about 5 or 6 local farmers/landowners to ask for permission to fly my drone over their land and each one has declined. I've tried to appease them by offering them aerial shots of their land/property (once I get the hand of aerial photography) in return for permission but none of them have taken me up on the offer. I've now run out of "local" fields to fly on and will have to travel 20~30 minutes to find some more fields (and possibly encounter the same problem).
I would rather obtain permission before flying but it is just not practical for me to drive a distance to get half an hour's practice in once a week. One farmer suggested I spoke with a local RC Flying Club as they have access to a field nearby. Having done so I was informed that they're not taking on any new members as they have a limit as to how many people can use the field. Fair enough.
So, what would you do if you were in my shoes? Would you:
(a) continue looking for a field in the wider vicinity for which you could obtain permission to fly over, or
(b) just fly your drone in a local field until the landowner notices and chucks you off the field
I'm posting a little poll to make it easier to see your responses.
Like I said at the beginning, it's a pretty simplistic question but I am genuinely interested in hearing your opinions.
Many thanks for your feedback.
Dan
"i2 pilot with nowhere to fly ..."
This may be a simplistic question and somewhat UK-centric but it's something I'd like to ask your opinion on.
I recently bought an i2 which I intend to use for personal and recreational purposes. I live in rural Warwickshire (UK) and have a lot of farm land and fields around me. These fields are mostly pasture land and are mostly used by the general public to walk their dogs on, etc. There are "pedestrian" gates which are open and freely accessible.
There I was flying my drone in a small remote field with public right of way access when out of the blue a farmer comes racing up on his quad bike demanding to know what I was doing. I struck up a polite conversation with him and explained that I'm flying my drone in an attempt to get used to flying it. I wasn't filming at the time (it's a massive empty field - there was nothing worth filming). He politely asked me to vacate the field and not to fly my drone on it again. We shook hands amicably and I left. He wasn't very open about why he didn't want me to fly over his field other than to say he didn't want hundreds of drones buzzing around at all times of the day. Fair enough.
So, here is my dilemma: I've been to about 5 or 6 local farmers/landowners to ask for permission to fly my drone over their land and each one has declined. I've tried to appease them by offering them aerial shots of their land/property (once I get the hand of aerial photography) in return for permission but none of them have taken me up on the offer. I've now run out of "local" fields to fly on and will have to travel 20~30 minutes to find some more fields (and possibly encounter the same problem).
I would rather obtain permission before flying but it is just not practical for me to drive a distance to get half an hour's practice in once a week. One farmer suggested I spoke with a local RC Flying Club as they have access to a field nearby. Having done so I was informed that they're not taking on any new members as they have a limit as to how many people can use the field. Fair enough.
So, what would you do if you were in my shoes? Would you:
(a) continue looking for a field in the wider vicinity for which you could obtain permission to fly over, or
(b) just fly your drone in a local field until the landowner notices and chucks you off the field
I'm posting a little poll to make it easier to see your responses.
Like I said at the beginning, it's a pretty simplistic question but I am genuinely interested in hearing your opinions.
Many thanks for your feedback.
Dan
"i2 pilot with nowhere to fly ..."