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Drones

Use this area to co-ordinate the formulation of the regulations governing our body.
Geoff Pearce

Drones

Post by Geoff Pearce »

Get them insured
B Sharp

Re: Drones

Post by B Sharp »

Absolutely right Geoff.
On the 28th of last month I was out for a breath of fresh air in a large park in my local city. A young lad, accompanied by his father, was flying a quad above the grass a few yards from the public path. He lost control of the quad and it shot across the path in front of me and my wife before ploughing into a park bench. Taking my life in my hands I decided to have a quick word with the dad and give him a little advice. Luckily he was quite receptive and was totally amazed to find out that there are laws and regulations covering the use of these machines. He had bought the machine from Maplins and had not received any advice about the operation and dangers. I advise him to look up one of a number of YouTube items on safe operation and also to contact either the BMFA or the SAA to get insurance and help. It didn’t take a lot of imagination on his part to realise what would have happened if they had injured a member of the public.
Brian. :)
eric friend
Posts: 92
Joined: 19 Aug 2015, 19:59
Location: Kent
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Re: Drones

Post by eric friend »

If I come across someone at work or a friend or relative who tells me that they have a drone, then I have a chat as Brian has done, and also give them a copy of the CAA 'quick start safety guide' leaflet, so they have something to remind them of their responsibilities.

http://www.caa.co.uk/WorkArea/DownloadA ... 4294975468

You can access it and the accompanying video by going to the CAA Home page - http://www.caa.co.uk - and then follow 'Consumers' and then 'Model Aircraft and Drones'.
SP250

Re: Drones

Post by SP250 »

Excellent tv programme on PBS America (freeview channel) re most aspects of drones albeit from a US perspective.
With the FAA requiring registration now quite timely. Prog is repeated daily.
John
matt

Re: Drones

Post by matt »

Geoff Pearce wrote:Get them insured

Get them banned!
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RobbieB
Posts: 547
Joined: 07 Mar 2015, 22:22
Location: North West

Re: Drones

Post by RobbieB »

I see we have had our first drone/commecial airliner collision today at Heathrow - an Airbus A320 on approach.

Hold your breath boys and girls............
B Sharp

Re: Drones

Post by B Sharp »

Yesterday I was talking to my local model shop owner and the airport issue was raised. His attitude was the same as most responsible fliers in that operators who fly their quads around airports and suchlike were idiots. However as the conversation progressed he admitted that he was not a member of any national model flying association and that he did not have insurance as he had never seen the need. He races quads and has operated some very large 4, 6 and 8 motor drones for several years now. He was unsure of the current legislation and could only advise purchasers to come and fly with a group where they would get help. He also confirmed that he did not know anyone who actually had insurance cover for their model flying.
There gentlemen is the crux of the problem. There is a lack of knowledge, information and responsibility among the drone (quad) flying community.
Brian. :(
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mjcp
Posts: 183
Joined: 29 Jul 2015, 08:14
Location: A wind swept hill with no wind, in driving distance of Windsor, UK
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Re: Drones

Post by mjcp »

In the space of 45 mins the other day:

Family of 4 walk past me on the cliff path. One says to other hey [Fred] look at that. [Fred] says "oh yeah... drone." (it was a 3m K-8 @ 400 odd feet agl)

Older couple walk past, one says "oh you're controlling it are you?", then [wife] says to him as they walk off: "I was going to get you one of those a few years ago" to which he asks what she got him instead.

Group (family?) of 4 / 5 walk up with more nylon than a tent and a staffie. [man] proceeds to talk about gliding and how was I going to get it back without and engine? followed by a 20 min discussion (transmission) about how he has flashed his drones to non EU firmware "'cos they go further" and he doesn't want to damage a real plane or person but he knows he shouldn't go over 1200m, and where he lives in saaf London he is sensible about where he flies, but if he brought it here (Cornwall) who's he going to get in the way of?

I'm not sure lack of knowledge is *really* the issue so much these days - people know how to google (age is irrelevant) and most will google a new thing (e.g. a gift of a drone/glider) - we are enquiring animals!

mjcp
m̶j̶c̶p̶ Marc

Hanger -
Some (now) pristine models that are un-flown for a year.
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jimbo
Posts: 293
Joined: 18 Mar 2015, 21:32
Location: Cornwall

Re: Drones

Post by jimbo »

Interesting marc, our slopes are very near public and we get lots of differing interactions. Most assume it is a motorised plane. They are usually quite astonished when they learn it has no power. Then usually a discussion on the techology ie range battery life etc. I cant actually remember the last time a model was called a drone. Theres never a bad word said and usually they stop to watch. Ive seen one guy flying a drone when i turned up this year. As soon as he saw the glider come out the car he landed and left without a word. I suspect he knew he couldnt fly there but would chance it while no modellers were present. Ive found that the public most certainly see the glider soaring as part of the landscape soaring with the birds. Id say their reaction is 99.9% positive.
Mark Erwood

Re: Drones

Post by Mark Erwood »

Hi All. I wonder how many of you have seen this? https://uk.news.yahoo.com/unmanned-dron ... 40955.html. A news item about plans for commercial drone testing up to 50 miles from the operator. Now we know why our air space has been stolen!

Mark
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