As the British summer warms up just in time for the nation’s school holidays, more and more drone enthusiasts are taking to the skies and exploring countryside and coast from above.

This summer we’re going to see more drones in the sky than ever before. So whether you’re new to the hobby and flying for the first time or a veteran drone pilot, here are some useful resources before you take to the skies and best of all they won’t cost you a penny.

Most private GA pilots go flying to get away from the stress and strains of modern life. Some may think that talking to ATC will increase that stress, in fact the opposite is often true.

We’re very proud of our safety record at NATS and, right across the industry, aviation has never been safer. However as the volume of air traffic continues to increase in the UK we have had to find new ways to ensure those standards are maintained and improved.

Airspace is our invisible infrastructure: we might not be able to see it, but it is as important as our roads, our railways and our runways.

Any company’s most important asset is its people, and NATS is no exception. People are our lynchpin in the safe and efficient management of our increasingly busy skies and advances in technological developments across the air traffic management (ATM) industry.

Flying is one of the safest forms of transport; emergencies are rare. But if and when situations do occur, pilots and air traffic controllers have the skills and training to handle them.

I am pleased to announce that my colleague Philip Binks and I will be presenting and hosting a stand at the UK Drone Show, using this opportunity to improve awareness about the safe use of drones in our airspace.

Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) or “drones” are now well established in the public consciousness. Safety agency EASA has launched a public consultation on their new regulatory framework, which will enable drone operators greater access to the airspace used by manned aviation.

An ‘invisible infrastructure’, with ‘huge motorways in the sky’. When NATS released its UK 24 video, it showed just how many flights are up in that invisible infrastructure on a daily basis.