Open Skies Initiative

12/02/2026

Schrodinger's Ruleset - the quantum reality of UK drone flying

10/08/2025

"“I can find no support in authority for the view that a landowner's rights in the air space above his property extend to an unlimited height... The problem is to balance the rights of an owner to
enjoy the use of his land against the rights of the general public to take advantage of all that science now offers in the use of air space. This balance is in my judgment best struck in our present society by restricting the rights of an owner in the air space above his land to such height as is necessary for the ordinary use and enjoyment of his land and the structures upon it, and declaring that above that height he has no greater rights in the air space than any other
member of the public."
[Berstein v SkyViews Ltd [1978] 1 QB 479, at 487-488 Griffiths J,
there considering whether the taking of a photograph of the claimant’s home from the air
constituted a trespass, https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/1977/1.html]

09/04/2025

At UKOSI, we have learned to love drone auditors. There are a few bad apples just out to create confrontation, but by and large, auditors are the Heroes we Deserve. Heroes because they are the ones asserting and defending our rights as drone pilots. Deserve, because all too many of us were quick to give up our rights without a fight, or act like the drone police online. Respect to DJE Media for standing your ground in situations like this.

An auditor legally flies a drone outside St Pancras Station, but what follows is a shocking display of police overreach. From false claims about drone laws t...

03/02/2025

While UKOSI is all about more freedom and pushing back against unreasonable and broken regulation, one thing we are absolutely against is reckless endangerment. This incident was perhaps the one and only time that a drone was provably the culprit, as parts of it were embedded in the wing of the aircraft. The firefighting plane was largely unaffected but was grounded for repairs, taking it out of service at a time when it was desperately needed. Don't do this, drone pilots. Don't endanger people or property, especially when you have to violate a no-fly zone and a bunch of rules in the process. This kind of thing sets us all back. Thank goodness, no-one was directly injured in this incident.

Peter Tripp Akemann, the entrpreneur behind Treyarch Studios, has been identified and charged as the person who recklessly flew a drone near the Palisades wi...

31/01/2025

https://www.youtube.com/live/1qzaey3xVBg?si=6s5a_i9GFAhJC8qo

Hey everyone! Join Sean, Graham Degg and Matt Williams for our final show in this series of shows focusing on the issues surrounding the CAA regulation of dr...

13/12/2024

Drone sightings over US military bases turn out to be "not drones", according to the White House, surprising no-one in the drone community. Yet the press will irresponsibly report these unverified sightings as fact, drones are vilified for no good reason, and politicians will call for more regulation, even though pilots are already subject to onerous regulation far beyond what is necessary to protect the public. Gatwick? Yeah, no drone was found, but more rules and regulations as a result. Drone pilots are fed up with this nonsense.

The recent fiasco regarding alleged drone sightings over New Jersey and New York has brought the world's number-one superpower into ridicule as elected repre...

27/11/2024

The CAA seems to be a complete shambles, with at best hopelessly wrong figures and at worst deliberately misleading the public and government ministers in its legally mandated report. Check this Geeksvana video for details. https://www.youtube.com/live/2k-i4vUZsJ0?si=eg4Q2J5iSZoqkual Shaun and Graham are doing a sterling job holding the CAA to account.

Hey everyone! Further to our recent report looking at the annual accounts report from the CAA and their predictions and claims, we have received what can onl...

16/05/2024

This might seem unrelated to drone flight, but bear with me. Despite at least 10 million flights per annum globally (figures from DJI via the AAIB), UAS pilots maintain an impeccable safety record. There have been no deaths or serious incidents that were provably caused by a drone in the 15-or-so year history of drone flight. Zero. Nada. Zip. And yet we have over-reaching and unreasonable regulation placed on us in the name of safety. Cyclists, on the other hand, kill on average three pedestrians a year in the UK alone (source: Office for National Statistics). Yet, cyclists are not regulated at all. The government has recognised the problem and is introducing legislation to make it a crime to injure or kill someone by dangerous cycling. Fair enough; that seems reasonable and proportionate. Note that they do not set up a regulatory body and impose unwanted and unworkable regulations for cyclists. They do not introduce registration requirements requiring an annual fee. They do not limit where you can ride bicycles based on the weight of the device. So given the much better track record of UAS pilots, why do we then have to put up with this over-regulation? Why can't we just rely on the law, the Air Navigation Order 2016, which states (paraphrasing) it is illegal to wrecklessly endager people or property? That would seem fair and proportionate. Why, when the risk of a drone incident is provably less than one in 10 million (and probably much smaller) do done pilots, and not cyclists, have to suffer the over-regulation of our safe passtime? Why do we need to regulate the "safest form of aviation that has ever existed" [DJI] at all?

07/05/2024

So the FAA got audited. Not by a drone pilot, fortunately, but it's hilarious.

Second Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClTjur-9cx8Bb4MW8r0K6xwSpotify: https://spoti.fi/439TpHTPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/audittheauditTwitte...

25/04/2024

We. Won't. Stop.

Just a Short little video this time. There is often talks of the legality of FPV, more so drones specifically.Gear Frame : TBS source one V3FC ...