Popham drone Flight Restriction Zone
 

Hoping to visit shortly. Looking at their website it indicates that they have to protection of a drone Flight Restriction Zone. Can find no reference to such in the UK AIP.

As Popham is unlicensed cannot understand how they apparently qualify for a FRZ. Is there one or is someone telling porkies?

It appears that they require 48 hours notice to operate a drone at that location.

The website extract as you quote does indeed indicate that "Drone flight requests within the Popham Airfield FRZ must be submitted 48 hours in advance. Any drone flight request made within the 48 hours notice period may not be processed in time"
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Looking at the applicable legislation (ANO Article 94) being an unlicensed aerodrome and without an ATZ, Popham does not qualify as a "protected aerodrome" so my vote goes with at least a misleading statement, and requirements that they have not legal right to make.

Appreciate the intent to protect manned aircraft ops, website needs correcting.

Thank you, I'll go with that. More diplomatic than I would put it.

"Some smaller airfields do not have an FRZ, but you still must not fly on or near these airfields where you could pose a danger to the safety of aircraft"
https://www.caa.co.uk/drones/getting...points-3-to-9/

These are general provisions for flying of drones. The point made by the thread starter is that the Popham website alleges that they have a FRZ and control flying of drones within it. Both are incorrect, they do not have a FRZ pursuant to ANO Articles 94A & 94B and therefore have no right to require drone operators to seek their permission to fly.

I understand that, I can ask and see what the position is. It does concern me that someone would consider flying a drone next to one of the busiest airfields in the UK because an FRZ doesn't exist on paper!

Commercial drone operators are doing so with an operational authorisation issued by CAA, which provides safeguards whereby the operator would be legally bound to speak to the aerodrome operator. The recreational drone operators, although broadly bound by civil aviation legislation to not endanger flight of manned aircraft, are often oblivious of it.

The point to be made is that the Popham aerodrome operator either does not apparently understand current civil legislation or chooses to ignore it and make out they have a FRZ with the authority to have jurisdiction over drone ops. Hopefully someone in CAA may view this thread and put Popham straight.

Runway Length Available.
 

Most drones do not require much length of runway to take off. So why do they need to use Popham's runway ..?

Sorry, have no clue as to what you are talking about. The subject is a Flight Restriction Zone (FRZ) that Popham allege on their website that they have, they clearly don’t have one.

Normally these zones are only applied at licensed airfields but with Popham being unlicensed, it looks as if this is being applied as a 'special case'.
www.nats-uk.ead-it.com/cms-nats/opencms/en/uas-restriction-zones.html