Where can I fly my drone in the UK and get £5,000,000 Public Liability Insurance cover? Welcome to Drone Scene!

Sentinel is a 16-metre-high (52 ft) sculpture by Tim Tolkien, installed upon Spitfire Island, a roundabout at the intersection of the Chester Road and the A47 Fort Parkway.

It is near Junction 5 of the M6 motorway and the present day Jaguar Cars plant (the former Castle Bromwich aircraft factory). It shows three Supermarine Spitfires peeling off up into the air in different directions. The half-scale Spitfires are made of aluminium, with curving steel supporting beams which act as vapour trails. It captures the dynamics of the Spitfire in flight and commemorates the nearby Castle Bromwich factory where most of Britain's wartime Spitfires were built.

Firstly this is a busy junction, try to stay clear of rush hour, and the obvious precautions regarding traffic, take off away from driver visibility where possible so as to not be distraction and cause an RTC. Trying to fly 50 meters away is difficult, so use a sub 249g drone only within this area to keep within the drone code.

Secondly, seagulls. On this visit there was a colony of gulls that seem to use the Jaguar Land Rover Plant as home, probably a hot spot of left over food from workers. So whenever I got over that side (which the monument faces) then the gulls got interested which made getting good video footage frankly impossible, photos were a case of go in, photo, go out, repeat. I eventually gave up after several runs as didn't want a drone potentially falling on traffic after a gull attack.

Thirdly, this is just outside the Birmingham Airport FRZ, so don't stray!

If arriving by car use either the B&Q Car park or the Sainsburys car park near by. Both allow 3 hours free parking for 'customers only' be aware of the opening and closing times of the stores as the car parks do get locked up.

The best TOAL is where I've placed the marker, as this is a path on a gradiant and allows you to be higher up than the road giving a good VLOS.

The next best place is the opposite side of the A452 by the pedestrian crossing. There is a telephone junction box here which makes a nice stable TOAL point, however you are closer to traffic and could be a distraction to drivers, so use cauction, be sensible and only use this point at quieter points of the day.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentinel_(sculpture)

Land owner permission not required.

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Co-ordinates: 52.51235, -1.797005 • what3words: ///ranks.bond.leads

No permission required. TOAL available on the footpath that runs parallel to the car park. Open 24/7

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Co-ordinates: 50.73157, -1.205052 • what3words: ///expect.weeks.puns

The Duck At Drakeholes. Lovely spot to see Narrow Boats on the Chesterfield Canal and have a cool drink or a bite to eat. TOAL was parked up at side of Wiseton Road.Clear LOS

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Co-ordinates: 53.40559, -0.938813 • what3words: ///helpers.pots.supposing

Flew here today after much research, no actual access to site as is actively protected by security guards hiding in building wearing kharki, combat clothing was reported on other sites this their attitude to combat trespass. My drone did draw two guards out of cover whilst hovering above incredible old building in poor disrepute.

Land owner permission requirements unknown.

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Co-ordinates: 53.17417, -3.421029 • what3words: ///hippy.divided.hillsides

Gamelands stone circle lies between the village of Orton and the hamlet of Raisbeck. It is an oval enclosure of around 40 large stones, all of which have fallen, together with three smaller stones. The stones are set into a slight bank. All of the stones are of pink granite with the exception of one which is limestone. The stones are all below one metre in height and are arranged in an oval of 42 metres by 35 metres.

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Co-ordinates: 54.46751, -2.556853 • what3words: ///bonkers.ghosts.opposing

Teignmouth is a seaside town, fishing port and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is on the north bank of the estuary mouth of the River Teign, about 12 miles (19 km) south of Exeter.

Parked Car and TOAL from the Ness Car park.

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Co-ordinates: 50.53737, -3.499931 • what3words: ///emporium.screeches.breathing

Paignton is a seaside town on the coast of Tor Bay in Devon, England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the borough of Torbay which was created in 1968. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the English Riviera.

TOAL from a Bench on the promenade.
Last week in March so not many people about.

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Co-ordinates: 50.43277, -3.558799 • what3words: ///among.keeps.brass

Dartmouth is a town and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is a tourist destination set on the western bank of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes. It lies within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

TOAL and Parking was on Higher Contour Road. ///roofed.clenching.glider

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Co-ordinates: 50.3489, -3.568722 • what3words: ///sings.rezoning.fists

Park up at the Forestry Commission car park - there is a charge, but also toilets - and walk the short distance to the loch to find a spot for TOAL, we chose the path near the bridge and flew from there.

It can get busy at certain times of day and year, especially when the Fantasy Forest is on in the Autumn, but definitely worth a stop, the reflections are awesome in the sheltered and still water...

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Co-ordinates: 56.71111, -3.765409 • what3words: ///galloped.pouch.store

Blagdon Lake lies in a valley at the northern edge of the Mendip Hills, close to the village of Blagdon and approximately 10 miles (16 km) south of Bristol, England. The lake was created by Bristol Water (Bristol Waterworks Company as it was known then), when it dammed the River Yeo, starting construction in 1898, to designs by Charles Hawksley, and completing this in 1905. The Wrington Vale Light Railway was constructed primarily to bring building materials for the lake.

On the edge of SSI, plenty of birds around the lake, so one to be mindful of.

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Co-ordinates: 51.33576, -2.706242 • what3words: ///promoting.throw.cowboys

Burrington Combe is a Carboniferous Limestone gorge near the village of Burrington, on the north side of the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, in North Somerset, England.
According to legend Augustus Montague Toplady was inspired to write the hymn Rock of Ages while sheltering under a rock in the combe, although recent scholars have disputed this claim.

The Cobme is in a Amber zone for Scientific or Nature interest.
There is a herd of goats living wild among the rocks.

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Co-ordinates: 51.32418, -2.752609 • what3words: ///think.fire.producing