Folkstone in UK, questions...

Neon Euc · Jul 30, 2017

Hi guys taking the Mrs and me to folkstone in uk in August and also taking my P3A drone. Just a few questions..

1) I plan to launch of a traditional wooden pier, would that be OK?

2) also plan to fly off the white cliffs of dover, as soon as I launch off it will there be a back draft? Don't want it smashing into the cliffs

3) if I launch off the cliff and fly down, obviously the height will go to minus. I am fine with that. But if I lose signal and the RTH kicks in, will it rise up first or make its way to me? Yet again don't want it to smash into the cliff?

4) its about 61 miles away from where unusually fly. Should I do a compass calibration?

Thanks in advanced guys

msinger · Jul 30, 2017

Neon Euc said:
I plan to launch of a traditional wooden pier, would that be OK?

It'll be fine as long as there is no metal in the pier near the launch point.

Neon Euc said:
if I launch off the cliff and fly down, obviously the height will go to minus. I am fine with that. But if I lose signal and the RTH kicks in, will it rise up first or make its way to me?

If your Phantom tries to return home, it'll ascend up to 0 feet and then up to the set RTH altitude before returning back to the home point.

Neon Euc said:
its about 61 miles away from where unusually fly. Should I do a compass calibration?

You should not need to calibrate the compass.

alokbhargava · Jul 30, 2017

More on your points:

1. Be careful if you have a metal fencing around wooden pier. In that case, fly from the centre but if you get warning if any kind, avoid flying.

2. You might get a huge upward draft on cliff which will affect balance of aircraft. Try to fly high on the cliff.

3. Be sure to be away by at least 20 m from home point when you go down the cliff else RTH will not get it back.

4. No calibration needed. If you get calibration error, avoid flying.

PaulSouthport · Jul 30, 2017

As above, plus take care where you fly - there is HIRTA there
Home

Philltayl · Jul 30, 2017

Given that the prevailing wind in the UK is from the West or South West you should have no issues with updraft.

Neon Euc · Jul 30, 2017

Brilliant... Thanks everyone for all your input. Will get some cracking footage and upload it here when its done

Smiffy62 · Aug 4, 2017

Check out Ian from London on YouTube for tips on what not to do over the white cliffs, he just lost his magic there...
Cheers

Neon Euc · Aug 5, 2017

Smiffy62 said:
Check out Ian from London on YouTube for tips on what not to do over the white cliffs, he just lost his magic there...
Cheers

Thanks, do you have a link? [emoji4]

andy_k · Aug 5, 2017

The White cliffs of Dover are a National Trust site - strict no-fly policy

Flying drones at our places

There's also a couple of HIRTA's there and flying over the port will get you arrested

Ian222 · Aug 6, 2017

Interesting about the rth, so If it's set at 30m and you fly -30m below where you are standing why wouldn't it fly up to +30 and come home?

andy_k · Aug 6, 2017

I also noticed that you plan to fly from Folkestone Pier - I'm guessing that you mean the Harbour Arm - It's not a traditional pier as such but a concrete and steel construction - the 'wooden' pier you refer to was the Victoria Pier which was demolished after a fire in 1954

It's worth bearing in mind that this is a (privately owned/managed) busy location with lots of tourists and small retail outlets and lots of community/public events - 100% not a place to be flying your drone as it will certainly class as a 'congested area'.

Fly from the beach at low tide but other than that stay away from the harbour arm as you are guaranteed to get some grief - either from the management or the fishermen.

andy_k · Aug 6, 2017

Ian222 said:
Interesting about the rth, so If it's set at 30m and you fly -30m below where you are standing why wouldn't it fly up to +30 and come home?

It would fly exactly as you described

Neon Euc · Aug 6, 2017

andy_k said:
I also noticed that you plan to fly from Folkestone Pier - I'm guessing that you mean the Harbour Arm - It's not a traditional pier as such but a concrete and steel construction - the 'wooden' pier you refer to was the Victoria Pier which was demolished after a fire in 1954

It's worth bearing in mind that this is a (privately owned/managed) busy location with lots of tourists and small retail outlets and lots of community/public events - 100% not a place to be flying your drone as it will certainly class as a 'congested area'.

Fly from the beach at low tide but other than that stay away from the harbour arm as you are guaranteed to get some grief - either from the management or the fishermen.

Top advice. Thanks for that. I will just launch it from the cliffs [emoji4]

Neon Euc · Aug 6, 2017

andy_k said:
The White cliffs of Dover are a National Trust site - strict no-fly policy

Flying drones at our places

There's also a couple of HIRTA's there and flying over the port will get you arrested

Really? I understand parks being part of it.. But a cliff where the public can access it any time they want, I can't really justify anyone owning it. I can understand if it was a man made object or was fenced off. But for me... Its a public piece of open land that's been around for millions of years.. Not being sarcastic but to me its fair game. No one can officially own that land as there is no private property on it and when I take off no one owns the air above it. So as far as I am concerned I will fly regardless from the cliffs. And if anyone tries it on and say I am not allowed to do that as they own it then I will give them advice back and say

"no one should do suicide by jumping off the cliffs that you own under the national trust site but you let that happen, so your responsible for letting them kill themselves right"?

Chances are they will back off and let me fly

andy_k · Aug 6, 2017

Neon Euc said:
Really? I understand parks being part of it.. But a cliff where the public can access it any time they want, I can't really justify anyone owning it. I can understand if it was a man made object or was fenced off. But for me... Its a public piece of open land that's been around for millions of years.. Not being sarcastic but to me its fair game. No one can officially own that land as there is no private property on it and when I take off no one owns the air above it. So as far as I am concerned I will fly regardless from the cliffs. And if anyone tries it on and say I am not allowed to do that as they own it then I will give them advice back and say

"no one should do suicide by jumping off the cliffs that you own under the national trust site but you let that happen, so your responsible for letting them kill themselves right"?

Chances are they will back off and let me fly

They do own the land though - that's the whole point. They also manage and maintain the site so that people can enjoy it. They allow you access to the land but under certain conditions - if you don't abide by those rules (which you are aware of) then they can deny you access. Also, with the National Trust you may be on very thin ice regarding the airspace above it (certainly at the levels you will be flying) because they do have laws in place that govern it's usage to protect birds and wildlife.

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/documents/maps/1431730003843-the-white-cliffs-of-dover.pdf

The cliffs at Dover are also quite busy - as you no doubt realise they are a tourist attraction so you probably won't get the separation you need to legally take off/fly safely even if you avoid the National Trust Wardens - no, they won't back off - they will make sure you land! Worth considering as well is that directly below the cliffs is the port of Dover - Never mind the amount of interference etc you will pick up flying over that will get you most likely get you arrested - believe it or not they are quite keen on security there

If you want to film the cliffs, the best way to do it is from a boat, way out of the way of all the other tourists or (as in Folkestone) get yourself to the foot of cliffs at the lowest tide and fly out from there.

Just because you want to fly doesn't make it OK - you really don't want to be 'that guy'

There's plenty to do in and around Dover without getting yourself into a heap of trouble and getting drone flyers a bad reputation

gingerbloke · Aug 6, 2017

FWIW - I checked the location on the NATS app (android) and the HIRTA is shown at Swingate and Gliding at Waldershare Park, nothing else shows.

I use this app all the time to check areas before flying (it's NATS ffs) so somewhat surprised that I could be arrested for flying somewhere that isn't even flagged on it. It flags my local NT locations (North Herefordshire) and locations like prisons, SAS camp,etc

andy_k · Aug 6, 2017

gingerbloke said:
FWIW - I checked the location on the NATS app (android) and the HIRTA is shown at Swingate and Gliding at Waldershare Park, nothing else shows.

I use this app all the time to check areas before flying (it's NATS ffs) so somewhat surprised that I could be arrested for flying somewhere that isn't even flagged on it. It flags my local NT locations (North Herefordshire) and locations like prisons, SAS camp,etc

The front page of the NATS App says

'This app is designed to supplement your normal flight planning activities with additional information to help you decide where to fly your drone.
Flying your drone safely is ultimately your responsibility and you should not construe the information contained in this app as legal advice
Please also ensure you consider any local by-laws that may forbid the use of drones in certain areas which may not be shown on the map. For example national or royal parks.'

So, in their words - don't just rely on this app to decide whether your flight is legal.

The National Trust Rules/by-laws have been around for many years and should be something model/drone flyers should be aware of - ignorance of the law is no defence.

As for the rest...The White Cliffs area is a busy area in the summer months so the drone code should cover taking off/flying from there. The harbour below is a congested area so flying over that should (to any sensible owner) be a no no. It's patrolled by armed Police who will be very interested in anything flying over a 'sensitive' location - remember Britain is still on a high terror alert.

It's not an area I'd even look at flying without permission and if you are considering that......I'll happily share the reams of paperwork and details of fees we had to pay when we flew a camera equipped R/C heli around Dover Castle seven or eight years ago

Even with the backing of a pretty large publishing company it took over three months to get all the clearances.

Some places are best visited as a tourist but I doubt the OP will bother to take any advice. He seems to know best - even if his 'knowledge' of the pier at Folkestone was 60 years out of date

gingerbloke · Aug 6, 2017

According to the NATS Drone Assist website there are 3000 users signing up each month, these people are signing up in order to attempt to fly their drone safely. You'd have to admit that failing to mark the port of Dover as an arrestable offence is worrying?

andy_k · Aug 6, 2017

gingerbloke said:
According to the NATS Drone Assist website there are 3000 users signing up each month, these people are signing up in order to attempt to fly their drone safely. You'd have to admit that failing to mark the port of Dover as an arrestable offence is worrying?

Yes, those numbers may be true but as I said in the last post...the NATS app should never be the only thing you consult and at the end of the day it's down to the end user to fly safely.