RAF Shawbury, drone flying advice for Low Flying Area 9

My alma mater, RAF Shawbury has produced a handy drone safety leaflet. It points out where operators might more likely find themselves in conflict with manned aircraft within low flying area 9. That is a region that surrounds several airfields connected with joint services helicopter flight training in central England.

It is a tidy document, with very clear, concise and well-represented operator distance advice.

I do wonder though how the leaflet will be promulgated to drone drivers. It strikes me that for those that care enough to pay attention to what is in the sky around them this is a nice to have.

Folks more likely to cause an issue are going to be harder to reach.

That said, well done RAF Shawbury for reaching out. The drone world has to do more to integrate with manned aviation.

The military low flying system was established in 1979, military aircraft avoid built up areas with more than 10,000 inhabitants and major controlled airspace.

LFA’s 1,3,9,19 and Yeovilton contain mainly, but not exclusively helicopters that operate down to 100′ and lower with authorization.

Fast jets and transport aircraft are cleared down to 250′. In three tactical training areas (red on the map above) all traffic can be much lower.

There are places in the LFA system that allow photographers to climb a hill and watch aircraft fly past below them.

The most famous being the Mach Loop in Wales.

Let us give the Station Safety Officer at RAF Shawbury a hand, if you know somebody who flies in that area or are planning to yourself share the guide with them.

You can find it here

https://www.raf.mod.uk/rafshawbury/rafcms/mediafiles/C7F31AA4_5056_A318_A8E12352C8DCB361.pdf