UK distance from other people.

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So I bought my new P3A and it came the other day. I have been reading all the rules and regs and want to stay on the right side of the law. which brings me to my question.

When the CAA says you cannot fly within 50 meters of someone does that mean just horizontally? or does that mean that I can over fly a dog walkers for example as long as I am above 50 meters I altitude?

And help clarifying this would be brilliant.
 
It's a horizontal measurement....draw a 50 metre radius circle round a person (or building), and you're not meant to fly inside that circle at any height.
 
It's just in some cases they mention not to over fly and then go on to mention not within a certain distance as well and in other paragraphs they just mention the required distance with no mention of not over flying.
 
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The wording is a little vague but is a 50m horizontal exclusion. Also be aware, your estimate of 50m may differ to that of a person on the ground - play it safe.
 
I can begin to understand why some people chose to ignore the rules with how draconian the can be.
 
You can always ask permission from the people you are filming as far as I know, after you explain what is the "buzzing thing", what the risks are and why you are doing it you might be able to go closer.
Beware: the 50m limit is not the same when you are filming a group of people (defined as more than 150).
 
I can begin to understand why some people chose to ignore the rules with how draconian the can be.
With a surface wind of just 7kts your P3A 'flying blender' will cover 50 metres in just 2.5 seconds. In fact by the time you've finished reading this paragraph it could have covered 200 metres.

There's nothing draconian about safety.
 
With a surface wind of just 7kts your P3A 'flying blender' will cover 50 metres in just 2.5 seconds. In fact by the time you've finished reading this paragraph it could have covered 200 metres.

There's nothing draconian about safety.


My "flying blender" would compensate for the wind with its stabilisation system. if the weather was bad enough that it could not cope then I would not fly.
 
And as for the draconian laws, individually and taken in isolation each law seems quite reasonable and sensible. it's how those laws interact with each other that is the problem.

Take this for instance . in the UK as far as I can tell you are unable to fly legal in almost the entire countryside. why you ask? 2 laws that interact badly with each other.

Law 1. you cannot take off or land on someone else property.
Most of the UK country side is owned by somebody so that leaves just roadside verges or paths to land and take of from. that's where the next law comes into play.

Law 2
You cannot fly within 50 meters of a road. which now excludes paths and grass verges because they are within 50 meters of a road in most cases.

so essentially you cannot fly legally in almost all locations but a few of the most isolated spots.

I would love to be wrong but that's my Interpretation of UK law.
 
And as for the draconian laws, individually and taken in isolation each law seems quite reasonable and sensible. it's how those laws interact with each other that is the problem.

Take this for instance . in the UK as far as I can tell you are unable to fly legal in almost the entire countryside. why you ask? 2 laws that interact badly with each other.

Law 1. you cannot take off or land on someone else property.
Most of the UK country side is owned by somebody so that leaves just roadside verges or paths to land and take of from. that's where the next law comes into play.

Law 2
You cannot fly within 50 meters of a road. which now excludes paths and grass verges because they are within 50 meters of a road in most cases.

so essentially you cannot fly legally in almost all locations but a few of the most isolated spots.

I would love to be wrong but that's my Interpretation of UK law.
If your back garden isn't big enough then find a field, ask the owner, job done. If you can't do that - find your local model flying club and ask them where they go, job done. If you can't do that - find your local model shop and ask them where everyone goes, job done.

The rules are there to protect the members of the general public who are legimately going about their business and aren't expecting to be hit by a kilo and a half of phantom travelling at 50mph.
 
I live like most people... with neighbours so the 50 meter law applies. who owns the field next to me? Not a clue and I don't want to have to go through the arduous process of investigating land ownership evert time I want to fly.

I don't own a drone for the thrill of flying as high as I can or as fast as I can. I own a drone because I want to see things in a way I could never before. not hover over a abandoned airfield in the back end of nowhere. if I did I would buy a hobey rc aircraft.
 
I'm not looking for excuse just trying to understand the laws regarding the drone. as I have found out; flying a drone legally in most parts the UK is essentially impossible and finding out where is legal to fly for the average hobbyist is very hard and leaves you with almost no areas to take off and land from without seeking permission from multiple landowners of who you have to find and persuade. as I original said. you can see why people ignore the rules. the only upside is that they are rarely inforced.
 
flying a drone legally in most parts the UK is essentially impossible and finding out where is legal to fly for the average hobbyist is very hard
Googling your local R/C club is not very hard.

With flying comes a whole list of responsibilities - finding safe and legal places to fly from is just one part of that. Just going out and doing as you please is a recipe for disaster - TBE into someone in your local park - even at low speed - and you will probably get all drones banned right across your local authority, spoiling it for everyone.
 
With all due respect. flying safe and flying legal are not neccisersly the same thing.
 
With all due respect. flying safe and flying legal are not neccisersly the same thing.
Possibly not, but you need to be both safe AND legal if you want to avoid any problems.

To answer your original question more accurately...

The 50m rule (from ANO rule 95) DOES allow overflying because it's a bubble rather than a horizontal distance (this practice comes from the old 500 foot rule in the low flying provisions). There are stricter provisions (150m) for 'congested areas', which then specifically mention 'not over' (not least because 150m > 400 foot ceiling). That's the 'LEGAL' but.

Now comes the 'SAFE' bit. ANO rule 241 is overarching: "A person must not recklessly or negligently cause or permit an aircraft to endanger any person or property." So, in all practical terms - you should not be flying directly overhead any person or property because in the event of a problem (e.g. prop failure) you would be negligent.

In practical terms, if you're a hobby flyer, the suggestions above that consider the 50m rule as a horizontal measurement are sensible ones: not only is it both safe and legal, it's easier to visualise and measure a distance that's against the ground (e.g.: 'don't fly beyond that fence over there which is 50m from those dog walkers') rather than using Pythagoras in mid air.

If you're a commercial flyer then you would tackle things differently, depending on the permissions the CAA have granted you.
 

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