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Queen Elizabeth Country Park added to Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in South East by AeroJ on 11/08/2024

The South Downs contains a good few spectacular locations along its length, and Butser gets a lot of attention for being among the tallest and most open of them.

But the neighbouring peak of Butser is a slightly lower, almost entirely tree-covered hill where we find QECP, Petersfield's main big out-of-town country park, which deserves a pin on the map because it will occur to many to try and fly here, but we should be aware of the challenges in advance...

Parking is expensive if you bring the car, but bikes (and EUCs) get in free if you are up to the 400 ft climb to the top of the hill with another mile or 2 to go to the fly site once you get there ! Toilets and cafe facilities open within normal park sort of hours (also expensive !). The Park does not have any 'no drones' signs (as of Aug 2024), and I believe it's fine as long as you don't hang around the busy picnic and pizza oven areas at peak times. These border the closest TOAL field right next to the car park and make that one the least preferable of the 3 or 4 available - the others don't generally have stationary groups of people in them !

There ARE spectacular views available here, just not as many as you'd think ! It is MAINLY about the trees and sheer amount of them ! And it's quite a challenging place to fly for number of reasons I will briefly mention below.

All 3 of the potential fly sites are right at the top of the hill and are variously sized fields that adjoin the main gravel track running all the way along the main ridge from the upper car park to Wardown, which is the highest point of and end of the hill. The best place to fly from is undoubtedly the largest field, furthest from the car park (about 1.5km walk), and just before the hill drops off into the Wardown viewpoint (which is almost entirely obscured from view by trees from the ground). THIS is the view we want though and is a stunning vista back towards the town, in which we have imposing Butser on the left, the chalk quarry and town in front, and the A3 carving between the 2 hills, and vast, lush tree canopy in the foreground. This looks AMAZING in Autumn.

But the Achilles heel, so to speak, of this site is the fact that each of these TOAL fields are surrounded by tall trees, seriously limiting the amount of horizontal travel we have, even at some height without losing VLOS. The ONE exception is if you get your UV to follow the main track all the way along the hill ridge, which will give a long continuous shot with clear views of craft all the way along if you follow it on foot and lovely wooded drop-offs on both sides once you get about 100 ft above the tree-line.

We do get some RAF traffic appearing low over those trees on occasions, so good to notify them of any flights you may be intending to make here in advance. We also have to watch out for excess wind, which may seem calm at ground level, but can become suddenly huge as soon as you emerge from the canopy, where you are subject to a powerful prevailing wind that gets channelled along the A3 between the 2 hills. Although updrafts from this do get diffused by the woodland to some extent, some skim above it and can catch you, making descent a bit sketchy if you try it in the wrong places or need it in a hurry, so this is actually quite a challenging place to fly because you don't have much chance to see things coming and winds are unpredictable and powerful ! My advice is 'don't run low on power here - land well early'. The main risk is being blown out of VLOS for craft that can't handle big wind. I will only fly my M4P here on the very calmest of days.

A valid question to ask might be why you would fly here, when there is even bigger hill Butser right next door, which is a relatively easy-fly, vastly wide open space, with amazing all-round visibility wherever you fly on it, and I would have to agree !

QECP is for specialists, who want tree-lined ridges in certain lights, (and ones tall enough to poke through clouds occasionally) and who want to actually fly IN the woods where there are helpfully widely spaced and nicely managed trees and a number of interesting things to film including assault courses, bike trails, epic drop-offs and several crafty type play areas with rope swings and bridges and what-not. Looks great in golden hour. FPVers would have a ball in the woods if the light was right...

View and discuss this location in more detail on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 50.97363, -0.967226 • what3words: ///logs.marching.relations

The originator declared that this location was not inside a Flight Restriction Zone at the time of being flown on 10/08/2024. It remains the responsibility of any pilot to check for any changes before flying at the same location. Landowner permission may be required before taking off.

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Hove Lagoon, Brighton and Hove (By Yezzer)

Great views over the lagoon, Shoreham Harbour, and along the coast into Brighton.

Fantastic at sunrise and sunset, highly recommended.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 50.82666, -0.199996 • what3words: ///works.melon.critic

Loch Thom, Inverclyde, Kilmacolm, Quarriers, Greenock Upper East/Central (By IanC2002)

This is the beautiful Loch Thom on the Old Largs Road between Largs and Gourock, Inverclyde.

Where I flew from is off the road up a track, perfectly legal in Scotland as we have no Trespass Laws for land like this. This is a great vantage point as it is above the loch.

Although the hills to the left have Orange Significance Warnings, the Loch and Reservoir do not.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 55.91544, -4.769204 • what3words: ///outdoor.fully.aimlessly

Kinlochard at Loch Ard the Trossachs, Stirlingshire, Highland (By IanC2002)

This is an incidental parking area, when we were there, three cars, ours a WAV Wheelchair accessible vehicle with ramp, plenty of room.

We stopped on the spur of the moment, heading further on to a carpark, but this wee spot had a bench, so was ideal for lunch with my wife where I could get her wheelchair beside the bench.

While there the owners of one of the cars came back with their canoe, had lunch and left, then another family, mum with paddle board and kids with a canoe launched from this spot. That was the ideal time for me to take off and fly around the loch.

What a beautiful spot.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 56.18806, -4.488382 • what3words: ///curly.picturing.fewer

Low Wood Bay Watersports, South Lakeland (By yorkie9668)

My wife was looking for a spot near the Lake to stop, we found this place, parking for 2 hours is £4, staff were about and never asked what I was doing, I was out of the way by the water, not flying directly over anyone, I am not sure if you need permission but seeing there was no problems with the staff watching me, I don't think it is an issue, it may become one if loads turn up at once, but for the 30 minutes we were there there was no issues :)

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 54.40809, -2.947987 • what3words: ///tutored.bypasses.finely

Dumfries House, Cumnock Rural (By JoeC)

Dumfries House is an impressive Palladian country house in East Ayrshire. It is owned and maintained by The King's Foundation and sits in a 2000 acre estate which also has impressive gardens and an ornate maze.

Although not in an FRZ at the time, it's always worth checking as temporary restrictions have been known.

Contact the estate for permission to fly from their property (I can't see any good way to get decent images of the house and gardens without this). When I flew there I had to submit a flight plan (with risk assessment) and have £10m public liability insurance.

There is ample parking on the estate, but they've just introduced a £5 fee. If you live locally you can apply for a free annual parking pass.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 55.45547, -4.307885 • what3words: ///downsize.short.books

Cinderbarrow Miniature Railway & Picnic Park, Lancaster (By Crackerjack)

Cinderbarrow is home to the Lancaster & Morecambe Model Engineering Society (LMMES) who were previously based in Steamtown Carnforth. The land is owned by Lancashire County Council and it's a picnic area as well as the trains, sitting alongside the West Coast mainline. The site is open 24/7 but the train areas are fenced off.

LMMES have a website, https://lmmes.co.uk/, which is down at time of writing but they are active on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LMMES2018. Opening times are SUNDAYS and BANK HOLIDAYS 10.30-12.30 then 1.15 to 3.45 plus Thursdays during the school summer holidays, check their Facebook page before travelling if you want to ride the trains. They accept donations for rides.

On-site parking is free and if full, there's space on parts of the lane that approaches the site.

No drink or food sold on site nor are there toilets but about a mile away on the A6 there's a garage/Spar where I've always found the fuel to be cheaper than elsewhere.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 54.17614, -2.745829 • what3words: ///mailboxes.wicket.reapply

Stambermill Viaduct, Dudley (By eathen00)

Stambermill Vidauct just outside stourbridge town centre.

I parked on a small carpark just up the road however you can park on the roadside near by. It is a very quiet "park" but its essentially just a field which no one really goes in, perfect for practicing.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 52.45773, -2.134352 • what3words: ///push.rings.await

Staunton Country Park, Havant (By grandad1950)

A lovely country park with a large lake, walled gardens and fine parkland. A good farm shop sells excellent produce and a good ice cream. You have to pay for parking.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 50.87637, -0.978365 • what3words: ///rural.risk.contracts

Chantry Chapel and Bridge, Wakefield, Wakefield (By richrab)

The Chantry Chapel of St Mary the Virgin is a chantry chapel in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, and is designated a Grade I Listed building by Historic England. It is located south of the city centre on the medieval Chantry Bridge over the River Calder. It is the only survivor of four chantries in Wakefield and the oldest and most ornate of the surviving bridge chapels in England.

Parking by the Dominos pizza shop, walked to the end of the bridge for TOAL.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 53.67667, -1.489439 • what3words: ///throw.exist.basis

Brecon Canal Basin Towpath, Powys (By stubbyd)

There is plenty of parking around here so I haven't bothered with a market for that, but be aware most of it is paid for.

I have set my TOAL point as the towpath as that is where I was, but there is a nearby open field which is mostly empty whenever I visit. But depending on time of day and time of year you may need to juggle the precise where.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 51.94416, -3.387973 • what3words: ///croutons.crucially.press


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