Line of Sight: which drone to buy, and how to fly it legally in the UK

The airspace a hobby flyer occupies. The rising dashed line is the edge of what you can still see, and the seven sheets of this site are plotted across it

A drone is a small aircraft you fly from the ground, and in the United Kingdom flying one is governed by two things: how much it weighs, and whether you can see it.

Line of Sight is an independent reference for somebody buying a drone or working out what to do with the one they have just been given. It covers the classes of machine and what separates them, the rules that apply before the first flight, learning to fly, getting a picture worth the flight, the battery, the parts, and the radio controlled hobby a multirotor came out of. Fifty-three pages, and nothing on any of them is for sale.

The sheets

A1 / 18 pagesHow to choose a droneThe classes and what separates them A2 / 8 pagesThe UK rules, in orderWhat the law asks of a hobby flyer A3 / 4 pagesLearning to flyThe first flights, in order B1 / 3 pagesDrone photographyGetting a picture worth the flight B2 / 4 pagesDrone batteriesThe lithium polymer pack, explained B3 / 8 pagesThe parts of a droneWhat an aircraft is made of C1 / 5 pagesRadio controlled aircraftRC planes and the radio controlled hobby a drone came out of

Nothing is sold here and no price on this site is a current price for a named machine. The rules pages describe what the requirements are about; the Civil Aviation Authority publishes them, and they change.