Flying on public land

[Beans]

It would be quite nice to be able to fly to the park close to where I live. It's generally fairly quiet in the early evening but people do walk their dogs there. The thing that concerns me is landing the heli and having the dog wander up for a closer look and end up getting a smack in the chops. Do any of you fly in public areas and if so how do you deal with the obstacles?

[scousethief]

Hello, I fly in a few public places (only small electric helis dragonfly 36 and now 60 ) dogs i chase away lol but kids and people i usually wait till they are out of my flying lawnmowers way.

[inverted-converted]

public places

I also fly in what could be considered a public place,but there is never anyone there 99% of the time no matter when you turn up,and it also gets flooded and marshy a lot too.the very odd time a person has been there,it is usually to walk the dog and they are gone in a matter of minutes.to be honest the flooding is more of a problem than any people problems.

[Steve]

We don't fly in a public place at all, but 3 club members always take their dogs up to the field when they go flying.

One dog (a Spaniel) just sleeps all the time, another (a Highland Terrier) doesn't care for nitro planes or helis but goes absolutely beserk for electrics - Shock Flyers and small Trexs. She'll chase a hovering Shockie all around the field for days. The third is a Viarama pup - and is just stupid - has to be kept on a lead at all times.

In many years, I've never known a dog get hurt - their eyesight and sense of smell are both very good, and the it's the owners responsibility to hold them back if they're of the boisterous type.

However, I suppose if you're at a public place, then any old dog of unknown temperement could come bounding up to you at any time. It's difficult. I've tried shoooing off grazing cattle and horses before with a 90 hoverring over their heads, but they just don't seem to care. Dumb animals!

[chisnsid]

i fly in the park behind my house on the odd occasion. If dog walkers are there or turn up I land and move the heli out of the way and pop over to chat to them, mostly they are keen to see ther heli fly and I ask them politely to put their dog on a lead as I wouldn't want it to get hurt. They always oblige. I always fly with another person watching for newcommers to the field, if I need to I put the heli down and stop the blades asap, and move to the side. I don't mid letting the dog walkers run the dogs out for half an hour, let's face it, after 15 mins hovering i'm k/o'd and need a break anyway - lol

Just be sensible and respectful of others wishing to use the space. Also, be warned that the council may order you to stop, if they do, fine, stop, just fly at a club site instead.

In my experience (limited thus far) as long as you'r courteous and respectful to others using the space, you'll be fine.

Make sure you are insured tho!

Mikey

[3dx]

And if you guys do this,please make sure you've got BMFA insurance- most of the parks round here are ok for leccy flying(no no on IC!!)- unoffically,the local council don't mind flyers,provided they behave themselves...

[Raptormadsteve]

Hi Guys i fly on 2 public sites both are approved by council and bmfa. Can be awkward with members of the public one thing to be aware of and i think this is a grey area bmfa insurance and non approved site dodgy at best. Please check with them as they may not cover you in the event of a claim. Be very carefull.
Steve

[nightstalker]

You just have to be careful of the bylaws, you will be surprised that your not aloud to fly in any public places and could face a fine, i looked into this along time as go as i was flying on waste ground (not used) but bec it was within 150 yards of a public place (eg: houses, roads, park) i was braking the law and i was spoken to by police, now i was just hovering nothing more, my name was passed to the local council and i received a letter warning me of this and that i could be fined if found flying there again, BMFA or not bec this land was owned by the council,

now if u had permission from the land owner then your fine

so don't risk it mate not worth it

[Nutz]

Nightstalker, what type of model were you flying at the time?

I think the less noisy smaller models give you a better chance at getting away with flying in public places. Now if you took a gasser down to your local park and started hovering you would be asking for trouble.

I often fly my 450 in public places in and around London as I keep it in the car whilst a driving around at work. If I see somewhere quite and suitable I will have a quick fly. I have never had a problem and I have always been sensible and safe, if in doubt don't fly.

Bottom line is I am probably breaking a bye law or 2 by flying it in a public place but I have never had problems with the authorities. Now if I was blatting a Trex600 around in St James park (Buckingham Palace) I would be asking for trouble, I would not even dear hover my 450 there.

[nightstalker]

I was only trying to set up my TWISTER 3D elec heli thats all, the thing is every council has different bylaws on where you can fly powered aircraft elec or ic to them its a powered aircraft,
so would be worth checking to see where you stand to make sure, it does say about it in the BMFA handbook under: park flyers,

Just be careful guys thats all mate, i walk around a lot of parks and wish i could come down with the family and have a fly with the trex but ant risking it

[Raptormadsteve]

Another thing to bare in mind is the proximity to an autherised flying site! If you are in an area where there is a club and are unaware of it you could cause a serious accident. Now that is a very valid point also i sometimes do basic setup at home. I have a very large garden and my neibours are not bothered by lecky or nitro heli's BUT i only do this with pcm as i do have parks and open land around me. At the end of the day you are responsible so take care .
Steve

[SRH990]

Another thing to bare in mind is the proximity to an autherised flying site! If you are in an area where there is a club and are unaware of it you could cause a serious accident. Now that is a very valid point also i sometimes do basic setup at home. I have a very large garden and my neibours are not bothered by lecky or nitro heli's BUT i only do this with pcm as i do have parks and open land around me. At the end of the day you are responsible so take care .
Steve

Or course, you could buy a DX7 then proximity to other sites wouldn't be a problem

As a member of a club that flys in a very large public park, these days we have to have a red flag flying to show the public that RC model flying is taking place and a safety marshall has to be there wearing a flourescent yellow vest, not as bad as it sounds but most members of the public have no ideas of the possible dangers of our toy helis!

I fly all electric and sometimes use a local park for trimming out and final setup but I can go during the day when the kids are at school and I don' need eyes in the back of my head.

[Raptormadsteve]

For a second i thought that was ade lol Maybe one day interferance will be a thing of the past and maybe everyone will be on 2.4 but for now i am sticking with my beloved Futaba FF"trusty" 9
Steve

[Nutz]

I went to DX7 2.4 for the security of it as well as the fact that 35MHz sucked in my Trex and even the PPM on my Raptor had good range but once a day I might see small hit (glitch) if it was PCM it would of masked. I like to know of problems if there is any rather than masking them.

[Flybar]

Beware also of "common land" years ago when young and foolish I flew Hang Gliders and lot of sites used were termed "common land", but it does belong to someone and we as a club had long negotiations with "commomers" who have the right to "graze" their animals,to get their consent to use "common land"

Peter