Flying for fun – safely: Reviewing NATS’ hobbyist drone course

NATS hobbyist drone user, Krishan Singhal, has completed our new online hobbyist drone course – we asked him to share his first impressions:

I have been flying drones as a hobby for many years now, since purchasing my first drone back in 2010. Back then I couldn’t have imagined the dramatic increase in drone use across the world and the dramatic evolution in drone technology and capability. As a hobbyist, flying my drone gives me hours of fun and allows me to explore and enhance my personal photography skills from the skies.

Having completed NATS’ interactive online hobbyist drone course, designed as a useful tool for drone pilots, other airspace users and the general public alike, it’s clear that the focus is on helping pilots fly their drone safely and responsibly. I found the informative film very effective and answering the quiz questions at the end of each section was a helpful way of reminding me of the topics covered by the animations. For everyone’s safety it’s important to remember that, unless they’re flown responsibly within the appropriate rules and regulations, drones have real potential to cause harm.

For me, protecting personal privacy while flying a drone is an important aspect of the drone code, although I feel it is sometimes overlooked by drone pilots. So it was great to see the course content focussing on this. Throughout the course, all the information you need to pilot a drone safely and legally is conveyed in a clear and accessible manner.

I would recommend every drone user takes the five minutes needed to watch this short yet essential video to improve their experience of drones so that everyone can continue to work together to fly safely.

Detailed safety information for drone users is available on the DroneSafe website and via NATS’ free Drone Assist app, which incorporates airspace mapping and flight-planning tools and is designed to help drone operators fly their drone safely.