Black Down

Black Down is the highest point in Sussex and in the South Downs National Park at 280m, a heather-and-woodland ridge above Haslemere with the celebrated Temple of the Winds viewpoint looking south over the Weald. It is a wonderful landscape, but this is firmly a caution entry because the hill is National Trust land, and the Trust prohibits drone take-off and landing across its property, so a legal flight means launching from land you have separate permission for, or from a public right of way or nearby non-Trust ground; the honest position is that most of the accessible hilltop is off-limits for TOAL. Airspace is the easy part clean Class G, no aerodrome zone nearby, with Gatwick well to the east and Farnborough some 30km north. If you do secure a lawful launch point, expect big Wealden views, greensand ridges and, in late summer, purple heather. Practical hazards are the tall pines that fringe the tops, sudden lee turbulence off the scarp, and paths busy with walkers and dogs at weekends. Heathland birds nest on the ground in spring. Bring this one to your local flying group or approach the landowner rather than assuming access; the default answer on NT land is no.