I was wondering about getting a "toy" (cheap) drone for the "kids" (me included) for Xmas.

It seems that I am free to fly this where I want as long as I keep it in direct sight, keep it 50m away from people and property outside my control, fly it less than 120m above ground, keep it 150m away from crowds (and no overflying) and stay away from airfields (ie: follow the NATS "drone code")

So basically I can't fly it over my house due to my neighbours' houses being too close, I can only really fly it over open fields with nobody else around. So not much fun in that, and not much point in getting one, even it it had a camera on it? Mind you, we do have some suitable open areas close by, so could be fun if we got more than 1, duelling drones perhaps?

I'll let you know how it goes but only after Chrsitmas as I've bought one 'for my son' for a present.

This one

At the moment, I see it as a way of dragging him off the PS3 while allowing us to have some father / son time.

If it goes well them I'm considering buying us both bikes and going on 'proper' rides with a decent one that could follow us around taking video. I think that could be fun and might even give him hobby as he's growing up??

Regs and Legislation around drones is in its infancy or 'evolving' as the Civil Aviation Authority puts it. One good source of regularly updated advice can be found on the CAA website. www.caa.co.uk

Yeah, that's where I got the "drone code" from

It's a good job I didn't read any of that before flying ours in the field right next to our estate.

We have one and although not as fancy in terms of recording ability as the one Trappy linked to, it will be similar in terms of flying stability as it looks a similar size and weight. Kept low down it's pretty stable and much better than the smaller one we had previously however if left to an over enthusiastic 13 year old it doesn't take much of a push on the "let's see how high it will go" stick before it hits winds stronger than its motor capability. This may lead to it being flown completely out of control over the roofs of the estate and so far out of view that the estate needs every door knocking on and flyer-ed before it can be located. This could happen from about 30/40m away from the fence and maybe as soon as Boxing Day.

Probably not necessary to ask how I know that.

Have just heard from a former colleague that there are to be some legislative changes (currently planned for 2018) in relation for drones. Anticipate there will be a register of drone owners, power of seizure, power to order device to ground, and a ban on flying above 400ft and within certain distance of airports etc. Legislation is designed to deal with criminality rather than casual user

Oddly enough, that legislation already exists: it's part of the air navigation order. But many of the drone fliers don't seem to think it applies to them (they're wrong).

Yep, i remember my BIL showing my a photo he took from his, above the clouds and with the Altitude on the controller.

I won't say what the altitude was, but lets just say I went from Wow to really?

I have considered one that will follow me on the bike or in the race car, but enver really taken the jump as cannot justify the cost for a decent one to the amount of use it will get. (P.S I do not race on a traditional race circuit)

Me and Adam have a number or pro & semi pro drones and have dabbled with a few of the cheaper (Sub £500) toy drones too.

With drones you definitely get what you pay for but also need to be prepared to loose it too. We've lost a few drones to the parts bin, mostly cheap ones but sadly a DJI Phanton 3 too

Cheaper drones lack GPS positioning, flight info feedback, let alone any return to home feature. I would never fly outdoors without any of those functions unless I were in the middle of nowhere.

We were out flying this summer and a friend launched a SYMA drone. It was one of their more expensive models with FPV features. Despite zero wind I advised that above 30 Meters my Dji Mavic was reporting a wind warning. Well this poor fellow took off and at ground level the machine was performing fine but as soon as he started to climb he started to have issues. The drone apparently has an "air pressure" feature that enables it to hover when you release the sticks. I guess that's fine if there was zero wind but this drone just kept drifting away and the chap ignored our advice to ditch it in the crops. It continued to drift away until he lost all control, at an alarmingly short distance! It was rather amusing to see a fellow running through a field of crops trying to re-capture his drone.

If you are going cheap remember it's a toy so don't expect it to match the more expensive machines.

The best half-way house drone I have flown is the DJI Spark. It's not cheap but this little drone can be flown from a smart phone (Apple preferred) and even operated by gesture control. Sadly I found those modes a bit odd and found it to be much better with a proper controller, available as a kit buy.

NOTE: Adam is now a fully qualified (Licenced) commercial drone pilot

But as you said...

... and then discussed items that could restrict your outdoor use. My point above was trying to make it clear that it could be even harder to control a cheap drone and keep within the drone code restrictions than with a more feature packed drone.

So... why not consider a smaller micro drone with guarded props for flying indoors only. You could then set up some fun indoor challenges to test control skills?