Travels with my Mavic - Episode 1 - St Catherine's Chapel - Guildford, UK
I was looking at a map, it happens to explain all the great places you can possibly fly your drone. It doesn’t work especially well on a phone as its map scrolls when you want to zoom in and zooms in when you want to scroll, or maybe that’s just me. But that said it is a wonderful map which, with the aid of the users of the “Great Arrows” Drone Forum, its regularly updated with great places to fly.
Since I have had my Drone, the weather has been, well terrible to say the least. I have rarely been aware of the weather, I take for granted when its warm and complain when its cold. But once you start encompassing the fact that you have to throw one of these Drones into the air, it encourages you to be more aware of the wind speed, the precipitation and the temperature(even the temperature affects the batteries)
Anyhoo..one of the places that caught my eye, mainly because its nowhere near the Class D Airspace of Heathrow Airport and it looks pretty clear of and restrictions according to my drone safety apps, its not too far from my house either, was a Chapel Ruin(Google map here) on the outskirts of the Town of Guildford.
St. Catherines Chapel stands about a mile outside the centre of Guildford and in the Early 14th Century Richard de Wauncey Established the Chapel as a way of allowing his parishioners a more convenient place to worship.
The ruins of St Catherines Chapel were thought to be a stopping point for Pilgrims on their way to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Thomas a-Beckett. Situated along the Pilgrims which follows the North Downs from Winchester through Surrey and Kent.
As the sun started to set, I tried out some reasonably simple moves, I had to turn off the sensors to fly through the windows, If you are new to flying then this is a great place to practice your manoeuvrability, its quite near a main road and parking is very limited. Its about 10 minutes walk from the town of Guildford if you would like to make the journey on foot.
Just across from the chapel there is a quite stunning view across the North downs so if you go then don't miss it!!
I follow the Drone Code and fly with extreme caution If you visit St. Catherines Chapel, please be aware of the Drone Code and make sure you are insured Ito Fly and you’re registered with the CAA. Although not PfCO accredited as yet, I have a course booked in and will be attending soon.