Although Steve began flying in fix-wing aircraft he moved to small helicopters in 1998

Flying over the crop circles

Complete your visit to the crop circles by taking a flight over the fields. Crop circles are meant to be seen from the air and the experience is magical. However, please take care when booking a flight – always make safety your top priority.

Important notes on choosing a flight

Helicopter Flights: Helicopter is by far the best way to fly over the circles. It’s quick and comfortable, and great if you want to try your hand at a little aerial photography. Most helicopter companies are licensed and insured to take fare-paying passengers on pleasure flights. However, it’s worth checking this if you are not sure, correct insurance and licensing is essential to safe flying. Group together with friends and take up a larger aircraft to make the trip more cost effective.

If you plan to use your photography commercially, i.e. sell your photos or to publish them, you will need to make sure that your pilot has a full commercial license to carry out aerial work. Please make sure you mention this when you make your booking.

Micro-light (Ultra-light): Many micro-light (ultra-light) centres will offer a vastly cheaper alternative for flying – especially when compared to the cost of a helicopter flight – and many do take tourists regularly over the crop circles. However, please always make extra sure that they are properly and fully licensed, and insured, to take fare-paying passengers. If you plan to take photographs and plan to publish or sell your pictures, this does require the pilot to have a ‘commercial license’ – a ‘private pilots license’ is not adequate. Equally, if you are offered a ‘training flight’ please check with your pilot what the limitations for that type of flight are. Be aware especially about implications for insurance cover in the case of an accident and any implications for your travel and personal insurance.

Drones: While of course using a drone is not flying over the circles yourself, there has been a rise in popularity of using drones to take aerial photos and video. They can be a cost-efficient alternative to using helicopters and micro-lights. If you are intending to use a drone to fly over the circles please make sure you are fully familiar with UK regulations regarding the use of drones and that you are also fully aware of the many military (and other) zones where flights are prohibited or limited except with permission from the relevant authorities. Please also be aware that flying over the circles is very popular and that there are many aircraft around the circle sites. Make air safety your top priority. You can find all relevant information about flying drones in the UK on the Civil Aviation Authority website. Misuse of drones in the UK can carry a heavy fine.

The regulations for recreational drone flights are contained within the Air Navigation Order 2016 (ANO) which is the primary document for all aviation regulations within the UK.  In order to keep the regulations at a proportionate level for these small drones, a set of specific, simpler, regulations apply to aircraft that have a mass of 20kg or less (which are termed ‘small unmanned aircraft’ within the ANO).

In simple terms, these regulations state that:

  • you are responsible for flying your drone in a safe manner
  • you must keep the drone in your direct sight at all times while it is flying, so that you can ensure that it does not collide with anything, especially other aircraft
  • you must not endanger anyone, or any thing with your drone, including any articles that you drop from it
  • you must not fly more than 400ft above the surface.  If flying over hilly/undulating terrain or close to a cliff edge, this may be interpreted as being a requirement to remain within a distance of 400ft from the surface of the earth.
  • you must not fly within the Flight Restriction Zone of a protected aerodrome or Military Danger Zone.
  • if your drone weighs more than 7kg, additional rules apply if you fly in certain types of airspace.

IMPORTANT: If your drone is fitted with a camera, there are also a number of additional limitations surrounding where you can fly it, and how close you can fly it to other uninvolved people or objects. In order to be able to fly within these areas, or closer than the minimum distances that are in the regulations, you must obtain prior Permission from the CAA to do so.

Please see the CAA website for the full regulations.

 

The Temporary Temples Crop Circle Conference & Events 

Please see our Events Page for the very latest information. We have a series of online courses, workshops and our annual conference scheduled and you can also access our video archive from our previous events.