Having just attained my private pilots license, it got me to thinking the other day how I might combine exploring with flying and what sites you could potentially have a look at and scope about from the air. I did have a look at the Mostyn fun ship which was an interesting angle (From the air you can see she is tilting ever so very slightly).
I have also scoped out some former airfields that have clearly just faded away and been forgotten about in the stages just before and after world war 2. They would not be anything interesting at all from ground level but from the air it's pretty awesome to see just how many airfields have come and gone!!
Being the pilot and a pretty fresh behind the ears one at that (62 hours now, 21 of them solo), I've not been confident enough to get busy with the camera while I've been at the controls. As I get more comfortable I'm planning to take some photos and maybe get creative with a Go Pro (Have to be careful though, plane rental firms get very nervous about you sticking stuff to the outside of their aircraft).
Initially before I started to learn to fly I thought looking at stuff from their air would just be a more time intensive and expensive way of doing the equivalent of browsing through google maps, but it's really not. The level of detail and a 45 degree angle let's you see so much more than you could imagine. And of course it's real time.
I was extremely surprised when I first started learning to discover the majority of UK airspace up to a certain height is uncontrolled and does not require a flight plan for you to potter about in (I'm generalising there but it incorporates something called Visual Flight Rules). However quite a few of the big urban things such as Battersea are in controlled airspace so circling around them isn't an option.
So what other sites do you think would be worth a look from the air at 1 or 2 thousand feet (About as low as is practicle, safe and also legal)? Or maybe having an airborne view would assist a ground visit? I'd love some suggestions.
I have also scoped out some former airfields that have clearly just faded away and been forgotten about in the stages just before and after world war 2. They would not be anything interesting at all from ground level but from the air it's pretty awesome to see just how many airfields have come and gone!!
Being the pilot and a pretty fresh behind the ears one at that (62 hours now, 21 of them solo), I've not been confident enough to get busy with the camera while I've been at the controls. As I get more comfortable I'm planning to take some photos and maybe get creative with a Go Pro (Have to be careful though, plane rental firms get very nervous about you sticking stuff to the outside of their aircraft).
Initially before I started to learn to fly I thought looking at stuff from their air would just be a more time intensive and expensive way of doing the equivalent of browsing through google maps, but it's really not. The level of detail and a 45 degree angle let's you see so much more than you could imagine. And of course it's real time.
I was extremely surprised when I first started learning to discover the majority of UK airspace up to a certain height is uncontrolled and does not require a flight plan for you to potter about in (I'm generalising there but it incorporates something called Visual Flight Rules). However quite a few of the big urban things such as Battersea are in controlled airspace so circling around them isn't an option.
So what other sites do you think would be worth a look from the air at 1 or 2 thousand feet (About as low as is practicle, safe and also legal)? Or maybe having an airborne view would assist a ground visit? I'd love some suggestions.
