Drone Flying Lessons & Experiences

You don't actually need a licence to fly a drone in the UK, but if you want to fly drones for commercial gain, you need what's called a PfCO - Permissions for Commercial Operations. This certification comes under the remit of the CAA, the Civil Aviation Authority.

It is, but the CAA has issued guidelines as to where you can fly drones and there is much discussion in the media and within the business as to how and should drone flying be regulated. This sort of thing is covered in-depth in the theory part of drone courses.

No. All the schools we use have their own fleet of drones from well-known drone manufacturers such as DJI, Parrot and Xero. They're all maintained in tip-top flying condition ready for you to learn all the basics of drone control and flying.

There are several 'sorts' of drone pilot. Some of our schools are born out of traditional plane and helicopter flying schools, where pilots have developed drone flying as an additional service. Others are experts at all things remote-controlled and gadgets and some are professional camera persons or photographers who have naturally migrated to working with drones. In all cases, your tutor will be a highly skilled drone expert.

Drone racing is an exciting sport that involves several smaller racing drones taking off at the same time and being flown around a circuit and negotiating obstacles as you go. It's usually indoors, with dimmed lights and theatrical lighting that makes something like a Robot Wars sort of setting - and yes we do offer it!

We have drone lessons that take place entirely outdoors, partially indoors and totally indoors. It all depends on the set up the school has, so check each individual drone school page for more details and feel free to contact us for more info if you need it. The quickest and easiest way is by using the online chat box that will pop up on the page.

Some of the experiences use micro drones that can be flown indoors and are great fun. Others let you loose on the professional-standard drones (once you've gone through all the theory before taking off!). We're talking big name drones like the industry-standard DJI Phantom and Mavic models.

We'll be honest with you, it's tricky. If you've ever tried a remote control model aeroplane, you'll know what we mean. You will have the controller in your hand and it's your job to safely take off, fly and then land. Luckily the experiences are all run as one-to-one lessons, so you'll learn lots about drone flight from some of the best pilots in the UK.

That all depends on the model of drone, the batteries and the range of the transmitter and receiver. As you can imagine, you can get yourself in quite a pickle if your drone is flying off somewhere and runs out of power, so these eventualities will all be covered in your course.

Obviously the aim is to not crash the rather expensive drones. To that end, most of the schools will start you off gently either in the training paddock on smaller drones, or even on a drone simulator with the VR headset so you can get used to the controls and how drone have fly before you take the real thing up in the air.

Pupils with their own drones are often keen to bring them along to the lesson. Most operators are absolutely fine with this, but you might want to check with them when booking in to make sure you have a suitable quality of drone.

Absolutely. They are aimed at recreational droners who want to be safe and aware when flying drones. No previous experience is necessary as everything will be explained to you. Teaching will be geared to your level too, so if you already have some experience you will still learn lots of new things.

If it's an indoor drone school there's no problem. For the schools that operate entirely outdoors, it's their call. If the weather is deemed unsuitable, you should be able to reschedule your lesson.

No. If you're talking about the CAA's PfCO (Permissions for Commercial Operations) certification, these taster lessons do not provide that. But nearly all out schools are CAA approved National Qualified Entities (NQEs), which means they have the clearance to teach drone courses and test drone pilots for their PfCO.

Yes. Booking on one of these courses is a great way to try a drone before you buy, chat about what sort of drone flying you want to do and which drone would suit you according you your budget. It's a great opportunity to glean lots of useful information from your instructor. What's more, as experts in their field, many of the drone schools are also retailers for drones and all the equipment that go with them.

There's no official body for drone schools, but if a school teaches and assesses drone pilots for their PfCO, they have to be a CAA accredited National Qualified Entity (NQE), which shows they have reached a very high standard in the droning worlds.

This is a great way for newbies to get used to holding the controller and how the drone behaves in the air without the risk of anything going wrong - these fancy drones are pretty expensive you know, so best avoid crashing on your first outing!

We have a selection of drone experiences at centres around the UK. If there's not a drone school near you right now, keep coming back because we are adding new operators all the time as drones are getting really popular! Our current locations include:

• Leicestershire
• Edinburgh
• Chester
• Cambridge
• Bradford
• Bristol
• Maidstone
• Oxford
• Winchester