Drones are gaining in popularity and nowadays you can see them everywhere, on the beach, in the park, near your house, in the woods… Unfortunately, most of the owners are not aware of the rules and the law regarding drones and often break the law.
Rules and laws usually limit locations, where you can fly a drone, its proximity to other objects and people, and the maximum altitude you can fly a drone. Some of these limitations are already built in drone’s firmware and you’ll probably get a warning if you break them or your drone even won’t let you break them. But it’s still good to know why these rules are in place and why you shouldn’t break them.
Location
In almost all countries it’s prohibited to fly a drone close to airports, in city centers, and close to military fields. The reason for that is to increase the safety of other air space users and also for security reasons. Flying a drone close to an airfield can be very dangerous for planes coming to or from it. Drones are small and almost impossible to see in the air. It’s possible that a plane collides with it in the air which could have catastrophic consequences, from the plane crash to even passenger death.
In city centers, there is usually a lot of buildings that can cause irregular wind patterns. The drone could be impacted by strong winds and could crash into a building, causing it to fall on the sidewalk or a road where it could hurt someone.
Proximity
When you fly a drone you should take into consideration its proximity to other buildings and people. Flying over a group of people could be very dangerous as a drone could malfunction and fall on someone hurting them. Because of that, it’s best to avoid it and fly far away from them. You should also stay away from other buildings to avoid crashing in them or in case of malfunction landing a drone on its roof. Recovery could be very expensive and it’s best to avoid it.
Altitude
Airspace is heavily regulated in most countries. There are a lot of rules to make air traffic as safe as possible and you should get familiar with the rules of the country you plan to fly. Flying a drone is usually limited to 150m above the surface. That’s the altitude where there is almost no other air traffic as they usually fly higher so the risk of collision is very small. Flying a drone higher could also cause loss of signal and in the end you can even lose your drone
Conclusion
Flying a drone is very fun and you can make some breathtaking pictures with it. Wherever you plan to fly you should get familiar with local limitations, proximity to special objects like airports, proximity to other people or buildings… It may be seen that these rules limit your experience but in the end, they are there to protect other air space users and other people. So you should respect them to avoid any unwanted consequences.
