Drone Users

maltrab

Administrator
Staff member
Interesting that the press are all over the new drone laws coming into effect today, yet they don't make it clear in fact they mislead folk into what actually applies from today.

They seem to stress that users will have to take a test and register, that side of the law does not come into effect until Nox 2019
Then there is the flying height issue, it states 400ft, but makes no clarity if this is from sea level or the ground level you are flying from, it appears it is from the ground level where you take off from, but if you are on a cliff edge and the cliff is 500 ft to start with,when you fly over the edge of cliff you will then be above the the legal height at that stage, confusing isn't it
 
I've only just seen this post Terry, it interests me as a drone user/owner.
I've had an Audio/Visual production studio since 2001, incorporating two record labels and a music publishing company, which were launched in 2004 to cater for the increase in bands and solo artists wishing to release the music recordings i had produced for them.
Fast forward to last year, when the use of drones had been part of the video production industry for several years, negating the expense of hiring light Aircraft and/or Helicopters to film various scenes, such as in action movies or documentaries, a much cheaper option of course.
My reason for buying a drone, was to be able to shoot footage that i could only have dreamed about previously, using the sea or the mountains in North Wales where i live and work and adding the artists and bands over the footage, via green screen technology, filming the bands or solo artists in the studio and adding the footage shot on location behind them, which can make for an exciting music video production for them.
But now we have the problem of what happened at Gatwick airport over Xmas, with a suspected drone cancelling flights of aircraft.
Obviously, this has caused a situation whereas anyone seen flying a drone at the moment is considered a danger to life and limb, although i would have to say that it's usually people of limited intelligence that tend to look at it in that perspective!
My drone has software that limits it's height to 400 Feet, not that i've ever needed to go that high, plus it is ring-fenced so that if it's anywhere near a sensitive area, such as airports, power stations etc, the drone won't even take off.
So, the government is considering introducing new laws (read, a way of making more money), for anyone owning a drone, which is fair enough as long as they don't start getting silly, a licence fee and liability insurance i can live with, things can and do go wrong occasionally and the last thing i want, is to have my drone damage anyone or anything but as an ex mechanic i can say with experience, anything mechanical will break down eventually, the name of the game is play safe and be prepared for anything.
There will always be some idiots who ruin it for the rest of us, jail-breaking the software so they can by-pass the built in safety features.
So i fully expect, that once they have caused the mayhem and the government has had to bring in new laws, the idiots will move on to something else and leave the rest of us to sort the mess out, in this case it will probably be through legislation that will mean a financial penalty but i knew it would have to happen one day, it always does eventually.
I've included a link explaining the laws at the moment and the laws that are expected to be introduced this year.

https://www.trustedreviews.com/news/uk-drone-laws-2018-3146402
 
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