New to the forum, so Hi to all!

I've just bought a new Mavic Air and am looking for places to go practise flying.  I live in Cheshire but am not from the area so struggle thinking of places to go.  I live around the Northwich area so the closer the better, but can travel :-)

I'm conscious of obeying UK flying laws so ideally, I'm looking for remote wide open spaces...


Cheers,
Drammy

Welcome to the forum mate! Congrats on your new drone! Hopefully some member from UK can give you some suggestion to fly in Cheshire

Hello and good day Drammy. Welcome to DJI Forum and thank you for reaching out. I will be posting a link where in it can help you can find some DJI Flying Tips in UK ( https://www.dji.com/flyingtips?site=brandsite&from=nav ). I will also post  link where in you can check a certain location is this area is free to fly in and if this location is a NFZ ( https://www.dji.com/flysafe/geo-map ). I hope these links can help you. Thank you.

Thanks for the welcome wishes guys and for the links.

Hi Drammy, not too sure of ideal space to practice in, but maybe worth checking whether you can fly at the Chester Meadows near the River Dee. Alternatively North Wales is a short dive away - but keep away from farm animals - especially as its lambing season.

Welcome Drammy, hope one of the UK folks gives you some good tips.

Lamplighter55 Posted at 2-25 16:38
Hi Drammy, not too sure of ideal space to practice in, but maybe worth checking whether you can fly at the Chester Meadows near the River Dee. Alternatively North Wales is a short dive away - but keep away from farm animals - especially as its lambing season.

Cheers Lamplighter55, I will look into the Chester Meadows idea!
Yeah, I've been avoiding animals already - there's a perfect field over the road and round the corner from me with a public right of way.  So I went there on day 1 quite excited to fly but had already read lots about where not to fly etc.
I was gutted when I got there to find there were horses in it.  Also, I guess it must be owned by a farmer so I didn't have permission to take off and land!  Came back home very disappointed!

I suppose that brings up an interesting point: If a field has a public footpath, there are no animals and I watch for people - is that ok?
I guess not if it's obvious it belongs to a local farm, but what if it isn't obvious??

Welcome to the forum Drammy!

Drammy Posted at 2-26 01:28
Cheers Lamplighter55, I will look into the Chester Meadows idea!
Yeah, I've been avoiding animals already - there's a perfect field over the road and round the corner from me with a public right of way.  So I went there on day 1 quite excited to fly but had already read lots about where not to fly etc.
I was gutted when I got there to find there were horses in it.  Also, I guess it must be owned by a farmer so I didn't have permission to take off and land!  Came back home very disappointed!

Public footpaths and open ground in the UK are 'public' so free access by all. Only limitations are local bylaws - but these are very specific and usually relating some historical reason to set. Along the lines of ' don't graze your cattle here' etc. As long as you observe the 'Drone Code' with common sense these public rights of way can be used as launching and landing spots. You can also fly over empty farm land but at a reasonable height, but bear in mind it you land on that farm land and have to retrieve your drone, then best to know who's land it is an be prepared to ask them to permission to retrieve your drone. Otherwise you could be stopped for trespass. Its the same procedure for other flying craft. The air space above most UK properties is free to fly through/over except where indicated on the Geo Maps. The mobile app Drone Assist has a good map view and shows all the areas both fully restricted down to just warning zones.

Lamplighter55 Posted at 2-26 04:16
Public footpaths and open ground in the UK are 'public' so free access by all. Only limitations are local bylaws - but these are very specific and usually relating some historical reason to set. Along the lines of ' don't graze your cattle here' etc. As long as you observe the 'Drone Code' with common sense these public rights of way can be used as launching and landing spots. You can also fly over empty farm land but at a reasonable height, but bear in mind it you land on that farm land and have to retrieve your drone, then best to know who's land it is an be prepared to ask them to permission to retrieve your drone. Otherwise you could be stopped for trespass. Its the same procedure for other flying craft. The air space above most UK properties is free to fly through/over except where indicated on the Geo Maps. The mobile app Drone Assist has a good map view and shows all the areas both fully restricted down to just warning zones.

Oh OK, so that makes things a little easier than I thought...
I was under the impression that I couldn't fly over a 'congested area'.  I read that a congested area included villages.
Great to know that I'm fine to fly to/from public footpaths; was overthinking that perhaps I should be trying to find out who the landowner is.


@everyone - thanks for the warm welcomes!

Drammy Posted at 2-26 12:15
Oh OK, so that makes things a little easier than I thought...
I was under the impression that I couldn't fly over a 'congested area'.  I read that a congested area included villages.
Great to know that I'm fine to fly to/from public footpaths; was overthinking that perhaps I should be trying to find out who the landowner is.

In the UK its worth reading through the content on this site:- Dronesafe.uk

Lamplighter55 Posted at 2-27 17:45
In the UK its worth reading through the content on this site:- Dronesafe.uk

Thanks, yeah I read that before I bought the drone and have re-read since with the new regulations coming in.

I find the website a little light on information though tbh.  It reiterates a few important points but doesn't really give me any other information, for example, as we've discussed in the tread.

Drammy Posted at 2-28 09:00
Thanks, yeah I read that before I bought the drone and have re-read since with the new regulations coming in.

I find the website a little light on information though tbh.  It reiterates a few important points but doesn't really give me any other information, for example, as we've discussed in the tread.

Yes, in fact there's a bit too much emphasis on what one 'can't do' when in fact if one properly understands the 'drone code' there's a lot more one can do safely than much of the worriers and 'drone police' types imply. Just fly sensibly and away from the obvious 'no go areas' and its just a lot of fun getting that unique aerial view of the world around us! Next best thing to flying suspended under a hot-air ballon IMO.

Lamplighter55 Posted at 3-1 13:41
Yes, in fact there's a bit too much emphasis on what one 'can't do' when in fact if one properly understands the 'drone code' there's a lot more one can do safely than much of the worriers and 'drone police' types imply. Just fly sensibly and away from the obvious 'no go areas' and its just a lot of fun getting that unique aerial view of the world around us! Next best thing to flying suspended under a hot-air ballon IMO.

Yeah, I'm much happier with my feet on the soil thanks!  The thought of even going in a hot air balloon terrifies me let alone being suspended from one!! :-)

Hello all, I live in Nantwich and would love to find out areas to fly my drone, I am very new to this and yet to learn how to fly, any comments welcome x ( we only positive ones please)

Olwen1965 Posted at 2022-11-22 10:42
Hello all, I live in Nantwich and would love to find out areas to fly my drone, I am very new to this and yet to learn how to fly, any comments welcome x ( we only positive ones please)

Hi. Appreciate this is a while later but hope you've  got up and running. I'm in Nantwich and there is alot of places locally to go, but a few considerations to make over how best to fly without causing anyone concern. If you've not got any experience in actually flying yet then I'd strongly recommend getting yourself tuition first. After that, a field in the middle of nowhere with a public footpath on it and no crop or livestock near by is a good bet. Also make sure it's well away from railways, transmission lines or anywhere else that's an obvious hazard. Use the altitude angel mobile app to check there's no other restrictions.  Pick a place that isn't overlooked or heavily frequented, and ideally take someone with you for the first few flights. That way if you're approached they can deal with it while you concentrate on the safe handling of the drone. Stay safety conscious and enjoy!

I'm a newbie ..... just got my drone? Just passed the theory and just had my training and good to go. I'm also in Nantwich also looking for a large area to fly thanks Jaynie

Olwen1965 Posted at 4-22 07:06
I'm a newbie ..... just got my drone? Just passed the theory and just had my training and good to go. I'm also in Nantwich also looking for a large area to fly thanks Jaynie

Ok. Congrats on the theory and training. Footpathmap.co.uk will be a good guide to finding remote fields with public footpaths and dronesafetymap.com will help confirm there's no airspace restriction there. Generally, to the west of Nantwich is best as its less populated so more open space. Here is an example (only) of the type of place I'd do more research into. Start of a footpath traversing numerous fields with seemingly little domestic property around. Need to then take a reccy and check there's no animals or other hazards. Best to avoid fields overlooked by property as it lessens the chance of unneeded interruption! Hope this helps!!!