A video made whilst visiting Yarmouth Harbour, Isle of Wight

[henryf]

Henry, any idea of what the circumstances would need to be for you to be prosecuted? As you say, the rules seem to be the proverbial sledgehammer to crack a very small nut.
Btw, really enjoyed the video, has me thinking that maybe I should turn left out of Dartmouth this summer rather than the usual right turn.

I live in hope that common sense would prevail. As stated I have no desire to be a poster boy for either side of the argument. I'm just someone who enjoys making short films as a hobby, was bought a Phantom 4 for his birthday and enjoys sharing the beauty of the world with others whilst taking care not to harm anyone along the way.

Henry

 

[Paul&Ness]

Henry, I also live in hope that common sense would prevail should the unthinkable happen but with the number of near miss incidents on the rise it is likely that someone will be made an example of in order for the authorities to be seen to be doing something! In answer to 'longjohnsilver' "any idea of what the circumstances would need to be for you to be prosecuted? Well just about any infringement of then regs whether you're aware of the regs or not! Ignorance is not a defence in the eyed of the law. The simple ones are flying above 400ft or at a distance greater than 500m. Flying within 50m of persons/vehicles or vessels not under the direct control of the person flying the UAV etc. Henry, my conversations with people at the CAA lead me to believe that the emphasis is on mitigating risk, having a plan, and a back up plan etc. Documenting your Risk Assessment, taking all reasonable precautions... things you say you do; that puts you in the group of responsible operators of your UAV. I think that the problem you have Henry, if I understand the relationship between yourself and Solent Charters, is that you own the company and that you film for leisure purposes which is fine and then you use those videos on your company web site! If challenged legally, how can you distance yourself as the leisure user of the UAV/Drone from your business interest and the marketing/advertising benefit derived from using the video. It's a minefield for sure. My personal take on this whole thing is that the regs are there to impose unrealistic control over the use of UAV/Drones, creating sufficient regulatory uncertainty so as to make casual users ignore the regs. All that having been said, I really enjoy watching the videos and seeing other boat users enjoying their boats