SINGAPORE - Physiotherapist assistant Janson Lim, 47, used to carpool with friends to get to their usual, but more inaccessible, haunt in Old Holland Road to fly his drone.

But he now has a scenic location just five minutes away from his home to head to.

The Pandan Gardens resident, who picked up unmanned aircraft flying as a hobby around 1½ years ago, said he was quite excited to hear about the launch of a dedicated flying area at Pandan Reservoir.

"The field in Old Holland Road is quite well known among drone users, so it can get quite crowded, especially on weekends. So it's great that I can now come here to fly my drone," said Mr Lim.

"I'm also looking forward to see the community building up here over time and to meet like-minded people."

Unmanned aircraft enthusiasts told The Straits Times that they welcome the opening of the flying area at Pandan Reservoir, as it adds to the list of locations they can operate their aircraft.

However, most said flying unmanned aircraft over a body of water comes with a level of risk, as any malfunction would result in their drones falling into the water.

Mr Liu Shi Song, 29, founder of aerial services company Phantom Wings, said some people who are not as confident about their unmanned aircraft or their skills may find it difficult to operate it over the reservoir.

"There's a mental jump to fly above water because once your drone goes out, there's no stepping back. On land, if it falls, at least you can retrieve it and there's potential for repairs," said Mr Liu, who is also a commercial pilot.

"If it falls into the water, it's hard to retrieve. And even if you do get it back, it's likely irreparable because of the water damage."

Signage around the flying area states that no retrieval services will be provided if an unmanned aircraft falls into the water.

At Pandan Reservoir, unmanned aircraft pilots do not need to apply for a permit to fly recreationally but have to follow prevailing rules, such as registering any aircraft above 250g and not flying it higher than 60m above mean sea level.

Permits are still required for those who fly an unmanned aircraft above 25kg and those who do non-recreational flying.

Mr Alvin Yeoh, 42, the secretary of the Multirotor Association of Singapore, said he usually has to plan days advance before flying one of his 10 first-person-view drones as he needs a permit to fly at his usual spot in Marsiling.

"Usually a permit takes about five days to be approved. With this new flying area, I can just check the weather and go any time," said Mr Yeoh, who is a co-founder of a marine electric propulsion company.

"I think it's good that the CAAS (Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore) is trialling designated flying areas, because there are many applications for unmanned aircraft besides just recreational flying."

Ms Joyce Wong, 32, founder of aerospace education provider JustFlyIt, said more people, including schoolchildren, are interested in picking up unmanned aircraft flying as a hobby.

Schools in Singapore - mainly secondary schools - engage her company to host unmanned aircraft workshops where students learn to fix, programme and fly drones, as part of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or Stem, education.

"Among secondary school students, about 70 per cent already know what a drone is but most have never had a chance to fly it. So that's where we come in, to teach them the necessary skills," said Ms Wong, who has been flying recreationally since she was 13.

She added: "Ultimately, this is a hobby at heart for many of us. We have to educate and groom the next batch of hobbyists on safe and responsible flying so that the hobby can grow in Singapore."