Hi,

Thursday of this week was the first really calm day since I have been the proud owner of my Mavic Mini. As it was a clear day as well, a decent sunset was on the cards, so I took it for a flight around Mercia Marina. This lies right on the edge of Derby Airfield's controlled zone, but the very helpful people there kindly gave me unrestricted access for the duration.

I got well over an hour's flight  out of my three batteries without draining them to the limit, coming away  with over  40 minutes of footage and a handful of stills -- all of which I'm really pleased with. I'd like to share two videos here; a seven minutes or so edited version of my flight and an unedited 11 minute clip which -- though I say so myself -- I was very pleased with and thought worth sharing.

I hope you enjoy.

Dave

What type of marina?   Canal?

Some really nice shots in there, what editor are you using?
Enjoy your new hobby!!

Nicely done,  looks like the most modern marina Ive ever seen.

Nice video! maybe a bit long in some shots but cool to see, thanks for sharing!

I´m personally not a big fan of this sort of artificial shopping center, luxury lodges, circular walks... however you could easily "sell them" some aerial shots for their website, their site lacks some good imagery.

One question that arise to me, as far as I know, only air space agency can give you permission to fly in restricted areas, no local authorities, no the mayor, no the owner of the facility... is this different in the UK?

Nice video, why would people like to live in tubs?

Droneflier Posted at 2-9 02:12
Nice video, why would people like to live in tubs?

I think you can rent them cheaper than houses, and you can move when tired of the landscape.

Nice videos!

Very nice!

InspektorGadjet Posted at 2-9 01:44
Nice video! maybe a bit long in some shots but cool to see, thanks for sharing!

I´m personally not a big fan of this sort of artificial shopping center, luxury lodges, circular walks... however you could easily "sell them" some aerial shots for their website, their site lacks some good imagery.

Hi,

Thanks for the feedback!

Derby Airfield is a small grass strip (actually three strips in a 'delta' pattern) for recreational aviation. However it is fully licensed and as such has control over its own airspace like any airport. Being a small outfit however, the club is its own ATC and  -- at least as I understand the rules -- that is who grants permission for use of their airspace.



If any more experienced flyer familiar with UK rules & regs knows otherwise I'd be delighted to hear.

Regards,

Dave

Ingo Sundowner Posted at 2-9 00:55
Some really nice shots in there, what editor are you using?
Enjoy your new hobby!!

Hi Sundowner,

Thanks for the comment.

I use iMovie on the Mac. It has the advantage of being free and seems to do most of what I want to do. I find the captions/titles a little cumbersome, but know I can always fall back on using a png file as picture-in-picture.

All the best,

Dave

Akirasho Posted at 2-8 15:57
What type of marina?   Canal?

Hi Akirasho,

Yes a canal. "Inland waterways" in the UK are big business and as @InspektoreGadget says below, lots of people live full time in canal boats as well as those using them for leisure, Having a large marina for mooring, both short term and long term, also tends to become a minor tourist attraction in their own right -- cafes, pubs and like here, some quite "high end" shops. There are quite a marinas like this one in this area along the Trent & Mersey canal.

Thanks,

Dave

djharrisx Posted at 2-9 09:38
Hi,

Thanks for the feedback!

Thanks for the info.
Not sure if the UK is different in this regards, I just experienced this myself, I was trying to fly by a lake near my home, when I got there I found it was restricted NFZ, the artificial lake has a dam, I never saw it but there is an old and small Heliport  there which is never in use, but in case there is an emergency the authorities could use it.

I asked the relevant air space section in Spain and they told me that even if it´s small, you need permission from them... let say there is an accident, something urgent, a fire or somebody missing, then it will be used, so yes authorities must know you are flying nearby.

Same thing happened to me in Germany, an old abandoned small airport from world war 2, literally a small green stripe like you mention, Germany is full of this type of Airports, and guess what, same thing, you must get permission since while not in use, it could be used.

The Berlin one is actually used by parachute guys, also fixed wing AC and other recreational activities but all of them must have permission.

I´m saying this cause it was quite interesting for me to know, the owner of some land or premises may be ok with you flying there, but Air Traffic Control are the ones who really know.

Anyway I was just pointing out, this stuff is all new to me too.
Happy flying!

InspektorGadjet Posted at 2-9 11:21
Thanks for the info.
Not sure if the UK is different in this regards, I just experienced this myself, I was trying to fly by a lake near my home, when I got there I found it was restricted NFZ, the artificial lake has a dam, I never saw it but there is an old and small Heliport  there which is never in use, but in case there is an emergency the authorities could use it.

Dealing with this local aerodrome was interesting. As it is literally on my doorstep, I wanted to Do The Right Thing so I made contact with them. They couldn't be more helpful. They needed to know who I was, what my CAA registration was and a copy of my public liability insurance.  Obviously with the MM I don't need either of the last two as a hobby flyer, but I thought what the heck. If I ever want to put a strobe or something on my MM I'll be over the 250g and having some liability insurance just in case the thing drops out of the sky and causes mayhem seems like a good plan anyway.

With that I was told their hours of operation and that outside those times I have standing permission to fly. Inside their operating hours I have to ring up and check with them and, if permission is given (where I fly I think it always will) ring them when I've concluded my flight. The guy from the air club said they would then treat me like any other aircraft... albeit one confined to a small area and  which will never go above 400'.

I can see your problem in the examples you mention; if there is no information as to who is the relevant 'controlling authority' there's no-one you can ask for permission.

Take care.

Dave

djharrisx Posted at 2-9 11:41
Dealing with this local aerodrome was interesting. As it is literally on my doorstep, I wanted to Do The Right Thing so I made contact with them. They couldn't be more helpful. They needed to know who I was, what my CAA registration was and a copy of my public liability insurance.  Obviously with the MM I don't need either of the last two as a hobby flyer, but I thought what the heck. If I ever want to put a strobe or something on my MM I'll be over the 250g and having some liability insurance just in case the thing drops out of the sky and causes mayhem seems like a good plan anyway.

With that I was told their hours of operation and that outside those times I have standing permission to fly. Inside their operating hours I have to ring up and check with them and, if permission is given (where I fly I think it always will) ring them when I've concluded my flight. The guy from the air club said they would then treat me like any other aircraft... albeit one confined to a small area and  which will never go above 400'.

I see so you actually talked to Air Traffic Control of that area, then is all 100% legal, sorry my bad, I misunderstood the info and thought you only asked a normal manager of that resort.

You did great, drone pilots have bad reputation and we must all act correctly, good example of how to do things. Thanks for clarifying and sorry if I sounded like a snob lol
Best and happy flying!

Nice videos.  Thanks for sharing.

Great job, for such a long video I didn’t see much wrong with auto white balance, so it can be done.

The video is exceptional the subject barge is great and so well filmed, but the end of the video is really nice and the Mavic mini really coped so well in low light.

Thanks for posting .

Interesting marina!  Nice video.