Yesnaby Cliffs, Orkney

Yesnaby is Orkney's west-facing wall against the Atlantic: layered old red sandstone cliffs, geos, blowholes and the Yesnaby Castle sea stack — a two-legged stack that makes a superb orbit subject. The car park sits at a former wartime lookout right on the clifftop, so TOAL is a walk of metres, and the flying is dramatic straight away. Evening is the time here; the cliffs face west into the setting sun and in summer the golden hour lasts forever at this latitude. A low pass along the cliff line with the swell exploding beneath is the signature shot, but keep height in hand — the updraught at the cliff edge turns to nasty rotor and sink just behind it, and pilots lose drones here to exactly that. Do not launch from the cliff lip; step back onto the flat grass. The big seasonal issue is birds. These cliffs hold nesting fulmars, guillemots and kittiwakes roughly April to mid-July, and disturbing an active colony can be an offence, so either fly outside the season or keep a genuinely wide margin from occupied ledges. Kirkwall Airport's FRZ is over 20km east, so airspace is clear. Swell watchers and anglers use the clifftop, but crowds are rarely a problem — this is a wild, windy, brilliant flight when conditions allow.