Dorothea Dix Park is located at the heart of Raleigh and has plenty of open spaces where you can launch your drone and capture incredible pictures and videos of Raleigh's iconic skyline. There are several great locations to fly your drone around Dix Park, here's a list of some of my favorites.
Big Field is the largest open area where hobbyists, academics and pros alike fly everything from model airplanes and rockets, commercially available UAS and experimental research vessels. If you're new to flying drones, or need a large area to fly, head to Big Field. Some of the local drone crews meet here for training and for fly days.
The Sunflower Field is an amazing place to fly and capture aerial views of the blooming sunflowers. The Sunflower Field is a bit closer to downtown, so you can get a better view of downtown from here. The sunflowers will be in full bloom soon!
Flowers Field is a great place to fly if you're comfortable flying a bit closer to trees and around elevation factors. This field dips down from the parking lot and you can end up flying below your launch point which can be confusing for beginners or even lead to gaps in telemetry leading to fly-aways.
The Grove is the North Eastern point of Dix Park and the best location to launch from to capture great shots of Downtown Raleigh. Lots of trees in this area, so only fly here after you've become comfortable operating your drone.
I'd love to hear about your experiences flying around Dix Park! Post your pictures and tag me or reach out via chat here on the site. I love to talk drones, so let me know if you have any questions about how to fly or on how to become a full-time drone pilot.