Hi all,
I was flying at a country park today when a council worker spotted me and told me that I wasn't allowed to fly there as it was "private land" owned by the council (despite it being a public park...?). He listed a series of nearby airspaces as another reason why I'm not allowed to fly (though I had checked weeks in advance that I was well outside of them, so I knew he was skewing the truth in order to pressure me to leave). I wasn't about to argue with him as I didn't have any proof handy (I will print out the CAA regulations and aerodrome/airspace maps in future). I made sure I was >50m away from people, buildings, vehicles, etc., and I'm confident that in the eyes of the CAA, the flight was entirely legal. However, he insisted that I was not allowed to fly there as it was privately owned by the local council.
Firstly, is a country park that is open to the public really "private land"?
Secondly, what land in the UK ISN'T private/owned land? Surely if this was the case, we wouldn't be allowed to fly anywhere at all!
Thirdly, I know the CAA makes no mention of flying over private land (since real planes obviously have to) but it does mention that you should seek permission from the land owner in order to take off from said land. How do you get around this? How are we supposed to fly anywhere at all? Where do you typically take off from?
Thanks!
I was flying at a country park today when a council worker spotted me and told me that I wasn't allowed to fly there as it was "private land" owned by the council (despite it being a public park...?). He listed a series of nearby airspaces as another reason why I'm not allowed to fly (though I had checked weeks in advance that I was well outside of them, so I knew he was skewing the truth in order to pressure me to leave). I wasn't about to argue with him as I didn't have any proof handy (I will print out the CAA regulations and aerodrome/airspace maps in future). I made sure I was >50m away from people, buildings, vehicles, etc., and I'm confident that in the eyes of the CAA, the flight was entirely legal. However, he insisted that I was not allowed to fly there as it was privately owned by the local council.
Firstly, is a country park that is open to the public really "private land"?
Secondly, what land in the UK ISN'T private/owned land? Surely if this was the case, we wouldn't be allowed to fly anywhere at all!
Thirdly, I know the CAA makes no mention of flying over private land (since real planes obviously have to) but it does mention that you should seek permission from the land owner in order to take off from said land. How do you get around this? How are we supposed to fly anywhere at all? Where do you typically take off from?
Thanks!