Traveling with Your Drone - Packing, Rules & Accessories

More and more people are deciding to bring their drones with them on holiday. Are there any better photos than those taken with a bird's eye drone? If you are planning to use the drone outside of Ireland, then read this article.

Going abroad with a drone

While there is no issue when traveling with a drone by car, train, or even by bike in the country, when going abroad you have to remember a few quite very improtant things. Otherwise, you can face unpleasant consequences, including imprisonment. So it is worth spending some time before leaving to check what and where is allowed.

Where is it allowed to fly a drone and where to seek expert advice?

Some drones, such as DJI brands, have been programmed not to fly in restricted areas such as around airports or stadiums. However, they do not always have the latest updates covering new restricted areas. Where can you find out about such areas? Preferably in the local equivalent of the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA). So, for example, if you are heading to Poland, it is called the ULC. It is good to do it in advance, because sometimes you can wait up to even a couple of weeks for an answer. In a letter addressed to them, it is worth defining precisely which drone, in what place and for what purpose you want to fly. For your own safety and comfort, take the office's response with you. It is advisabel that you take this aspect seriously, otherwise you could risk a drone confiscation or a civil lawsuit that will cost you even more.

Landing site

If you are planning to operate your drone in desert or grassy areas and you will use a larger drone, it is worth taking the landing pad with you. Take-off and landing will result in sand-blowing gusts that can damage the rotor drive. Small drones, such as the Spark, can be released into the air by hand, so that they do not face this type of danger. And if you want unique photos, you can think about filters that, when put on the camera, will give them a unique color.

Local drone flying regulations

Despite the fact that drones are relatively new products on the market, many countries already have regulations related to flighing them. When planning a vacation, it is worth checking whether the regulations allow you to bring drones into a given country at all. For example, remote-controlled vehicles cannot be brought into Morocco or Egypt. So, while we leave Ireland without any problems, we can meet an unpleasant surprise during the customs clearance on the spot. The France, on the other hand, people do not want their privacy to be violated, which means that movies and photos recorded during the flight cannot be distributed without the consent of the people being filmed. Drone operation is also banned in some historic cities, such as Venice, where you can be arrested for something like just flying around the city.

Drone Battery Regulations

For safety reasons and travelling via plane, batteries cannot be transported in a bulk. Batteries are considered a dangerous load and should be packed in a special Lipo bag that will prevent possible ignition of the cells. Otherwise, you will risk confiscating the batteries . Of course, we can also take them to hand luggage, where the regulations do not require the use of safe packaging for them, but it is worth considering using it anyway. It does not cost much and will protect against stress during the inspection. As a rule, there is no discussion with customs officers at the airport.

What to pack the drone in?

When packing, you should first of all take care of its safety. Various types of bags and backpacks adapted to transport such devices are available on the market. They vary in size and functionality, so it is good to consider such a purchase.

The advantage of larger backpack models will be a large number of pockets that will allow you to separate the controller, battery, cables, etc., elements of the drone from each other. This will not only keep order, but also ensure the safety of these accessories.