Ralph C

Posted by ken anderson. on 19/05/2020 16:03:07: good luck Ralph...hope you read all the rules and regs regarding flying a drone..as some people have created a massive problem for the drone flyers in respect of flying the things wherever they want without any regard for the same rules.. ken anderson...ne..1..drone dept. Yes, I've done all the tests and know all the rules about where not to fly. I'm mainly in this for aerobatics to be honest. It is a shame that errant drone flyers have tainted the very respectable and well established UK RC flying community as a whole.

Hello again, I've read all the replies. Not entirely sure how useful the comments about full size aircraft were but interesting nevertheless! I will continue on my pursuit to find a friendly farmer to allow me to fly over his land.

I was reading the BMFA guide to "Model Flying and Farmers" from 2013 and it mentions that it is legal to overfly private land (otherwise normal flying would be illegal). Is this still true? I am thinking with my drone that if this is the case, surely I can just find a public footpath (50m from buildings/people/pylons, 150m from settlements) and take off vertically from that and fly over fields? Surely I will incur the wrath of a farmer watching this? I can't see how it would end well. Grateful for any opinions on this. Thanks.

Posted by Glasshopper on 05/05/2020 12:47:01: Probably the best way to find out if any farmer is likely to cooperate is to speak to the local NFU mutual rep. who will already have extensive contacts with his farmer clients and who may be willing to put you in touch with a prospect. Thanks, that is a nice idea. I'll give that a go.

Posted by Mr Chinnery on 04/05/2020 23:56:40: If you're trying to find a farmer from "cold" I would look out for someone who is already making some sort of alternative use(s) of his land e.g. A few touring caravans, occasional events like grass track motor biking and the like. Also look for a casual approach to gate and fence maintainance, and the yard a bit untidy i.e. Not the smartest - you're unlikely to have much joy with an intensively managed arable or livestock enterprise - shall we say you're more likely to have success with a Grundy than an Archer. Edited By Mr Chinnery on 04/05/2020 23:58:16 Indeed, and I think I would end up paying much more for a field in a nicely run place.

Posted by Dickw on 04/05/2020 22:20:40: Posted by Ralph C on 04/05/2020 21:37:58: Posted by Gary Manuel on 04/05/2020 12:59:35: Posted by Wilco Wingco on 04/05/2020 12:31:41: Just tried and been told I do need a Microsoft account ??? Try THIS Regarding the BMFA docs, anything with "sharepoint" in the link is inaccessible to me, even after logging in to bmfa.azolve.com. If you go into Private Mode in your browser and try accessing them there, that would be a good indication of whether other people can access them. Try the Downloads menu on the main BMFA site (not the Azolve site) - that works for me. Dick Thanks, that worked perfectly.

Posted by Martin Harris on 04/05/2020 13:48:04: Well, I keep getting the M$ message - try this link instead. I'm a little curious - you say the local BMFA [club?] is "mostly indoors" - does this mean they have access to a flying site but it's not used much? If that's the case, can't you use it if you join - you'll be no worse off than going it alone if nobody else turns up! Whereabouts are you? There could be forum members with local knowledge... My last follow up post for now... My local club has access to an outdoors field though it can be shared with occasional dog walkers and I have not been inducted yet. There is another non-BMFA club (all BMFA members of the first club though) that flies from a grass strip owned by a farmer. The thing is, they have not flown there (to my knowledge) for 6 months due to rain/wind/corona and so I have been unable to be properly inducted. Once inducted into the latter site, I would be able to fly freely. So far, my attempts at flying have been in public parks (always reading the rules and regs on the noticeboard first as well as checking online) and due to the public being about, 90% of my time has been spent standing around waiting for a jogger to go more than 50m away. P.S. I have not flown during lockdown.

Posted by Andy Stephenson on 04/05/2020 14:28:32: One thing rarely mentioned about clubs on farmer's fields is that some farmers feel quite isolated and a friendly group meeting on their land may serve to dissuade some of the less welcome element in society appearing when they see people about regularly. We also found that if someone in the club has farming experience it gets lots of brownie points if help is offered occasionally to the farmer if they need something. A. Yes, that is a good selling point. As a "responsible member of society" I would hopefully be a good person to provide an eye out for problems.

Posted by Gary Manuel on 04/05/2020 12:59:35: Posted by Wilco Wingco on 04/05/2020 12:31:41: Just tried and been told I do need a Microsoft account ??? Try THIS Regarding the BMFA docs, anything with "sharepoint" in the link is inaccessible to me, even after logging in to bmfa.azolve.com. If you go into Private Mode in your browser and try accessing them there, that would be a good indication of whether other people can access them.

Posted by Alan Gorham_ on 04/05/2020 11:29:54: Ralph there is no best way to go about this. Bear in mind a few things: 1. If the farmer is not using the field to actively grow crops then it is likely that he is being paid to set it aside. He will be reluctant to let you use the field in case he should lose this payment which is likely to be more than you may be prepared to compensate him for. 2. If he is actively growing crops or using the field for livestock, your flying will be viewed at the least as a nuisance, at worst as an impediment to the faming activity. 3. Consider how you will get access to the field...will it involve you using an access road and/or a gate into the field. Will you be blocking access for farm vehicles if you want to park a car? Will you be adding wear and tear to the field and it's access by using your car? 4. Is it just you accessing the field or will other local modellers want to use it? Having been down this road before, I can say that cold calling wasn't really fruitful. Knowing someone who knew the farmer to make an introduction was our way to a solution. Good points. My current plan is to join local Facebook groups and see if anyone knows a friendly farmer. I would definitely not be flying near animals as I am aware they can be disturbed by flying things.

Posted by stu knowles on 04/05/2020 11:27:09: For a club base:- Depending on the land, an annual rent of £120 to £150 an acre would be a going rate for agricultural purposes. Three of four acres would make a good patch. Overflying the surrounding fields is usually catered for by bottle of a good malt each year Next big problem, how are you going to cut it?? As an individual, its unlikely that anything that you could reasonably pay will be worth his while so you need to find a friend who will put up with you. Preodminantly I will be test flying my own invention of drone so vertical take offs will be the norm. i.e. no grass cutting! I got my maths wrong before and in fact £30 a month = £360ish a year would be a nice amount to pay.

Posted by Peter Miller on 04/05/2020 11:25:36: Posted by Ralph C on 04/05/2020 11:10:21: Posted by Jon - Laser Engines on 04/05/2020 10:19:53: My old club did this and its going to cost them 10 grand a year. 10k!!! Farmers must be much better off than I thought. Maybe I have far too much optimism on how much this will cost. I was hoping £1k a year would make a farmer happy since it would be zero effort on his part. We pay £1000 a year. It helps if you have a small club as they often don't like the idea of masses of cars parking round their yards The type of model that you all fly can be a major factor as well. For example smaller two strokes. four strokes and electric power are all far more acceptable. Small private airstrips are good places to try. The sort with just one or two aircraft based there. Stress the fact that you are all insured and that the farmer is also covered by our insurance. For years our small club had three different fields which we rotated round, all of which were actually free .One of these we shared with full size flying but only the odd aircraft movement and weknew that as soon as an aircraft started we all landed and if we saw an aircraft in the circuit we all landed at once. The owner of the strip was an avid home builder and we were treated as equals. I will take note of the insurance tip as well as looking at private airstrips. Currently my drone is in a cycleable state but my next drone is bigger so I will have to use a car.

Posted by John Lee on 04/05/2020 09:21:28: Welcome Ralph. For starters have a read of the BMFA's booklet 'Model Flyers & Farmers', which you can download here. Ah, turns out I can't access that as I need a Microsoft account. Any chance you could post it here? Thanks.

Posted by Jon - Laser Engines on 04/05/2020 10:19:53: My old club did this and its going to cost them 10 grand a year. 10k!!! Farmers must be much better off than I thought. Maybe I have far too much optimism on how much this will cost. I was hoping £1k a year would make a farmer happy since it would be zero effort on his part.

Posted by Brian Cooper on 04/05/2020 10:00:57: Whatever you do, Ralph, it would be wise to wait until the lockdown has thoroughly ended before approaching any farmers. Good luck with the quest. B. C. Yes, I won't be doing anything for a couple of weeks.