A lot of hate towards "drones"
- Thread starter Djrichone
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Yes, that is true today - but having zoom on cameras is not far around the corner...rbhamilton said:
The biggest problem is that there are no laws yet, so people are intimidated, scared at best and paranoid at worst.
I have had my share of haters. The biggest problem is that they distract you from flying. They force you to answer and continue to pester you with questions.
By the way this is not restricted to neighbors. I have had people complain to me on a hiking trail. On another occasion I flew it over a river and someone threatened to turn me in to the park ranger because I was disturbing the fish. Mind you, there was a highway above the river....
Someone once came to me and wanted to 'see my license'. When I told them there is no license needed, their response was: "oh yes there is. You don't know and you are breaking the law". At this point I stopped arguing and continued to fly - they eventually left, but these are not fun experiences.
Geert, you handled that perfectly. We need to learn how to turn the map around and see how it looks from the other perspective.
Tony McDrone
Premium Pilot
My neighbor complained about mine, so I've declared my cul de sac a "no fly zone". I still take off from my back yard, I just get to 400 ft elevation really quickly and fly wherever I want from there, day or night. The novelty of flying around my neighborhood has warn off, as I now understand these things need more than a city block to stretch their legs...usually I go to a park or field with alot of acreage to have fun now.
detholm said:
This is how I am. The person that came to complain the first time was a very old man. I tried to explain it was just a toy and that I'm flying it mainly over my house. The second time it was a young girl 21-24 yrs old. I just told her sorry and wouldn't fly around them. Funny thing is their house is literally surrounded by 50 ft palms and I was flying at 200 ft. I almost want to go knock on their door and show them the video.
The replies I have gotten here comfort me a little but at the moment I don't want to fly around my house in order to not deal with ignorant people.
I put myself in their position and can understand their point of view. As I stated above, I may just go knock on my neighbors door and show them what it films at the altitude I cruise at.
In Texas the UAV laws are the most strict in the country, I think. Upside down; law enforcement has cart blanch, civilian usage is highly restricted. We're not aloud to capture images over private property. I tend to error on the side of caution and not fly over neighborhoods. I get nervous when I even get with LOS of a neighborhood.
I have not yet been approached by anyone angry, however.
We're friends with most of our nearest neighbors. The wives had a discussion one night at a party at our house, which I overheard but was not apart of. It was funny the misconceptions people have about the surveillance capabilities of these things. Ultimately, they all realized wrong headedness. All my wife had to do was assure them it can not spy on them (and that I would not try) and talk about how it's impossible to sneak around with it since it's so loud.
The conversation did bring to light who walks around in their underwear though; which is far more than I have discerned though UAV flights.
I have not yet been approached by anyone angry, however.
We're friends with most of our nearest neighbors. The wives had a discussion one night at a party at our house, which I overheard but was not apart of. It was funny the misconceptions people have about the surveillance capabilities of these things. Ultimately, they all realized wrong headedness. All my wife had to do was assure them it can not spy on them (and that I would not try) and talk about how it's impossible to sneak around with it since it's so loud.
The conversation did bring to light who walks around in their underwear though; which is far more than I have discerned though UAV flights.
Clipper707 said:
I don't know about "embracing" the name drone, but I do agree in calling it what it is. It's a UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) commonly called a "drone". People call it a drone, the news calls it a drone, the military calls them drones, etc. They don't have to be armed with weapons to be called drones. Our military is developing drones the size of insects for intell purposes. If I start calling a pizza a "tomato cheese pie", the rest of the world is still going to call it a pizza. So I see no point in not calling the Phantom a drone. What would help is if owners didn't do stupid things with them which fuels the negative publicity, but I think that's probably hoping for too much.
I've been approached three times so far. One time a park maintenance crew pulled up and just asked that I avoid a nearby baseball game going on so neither team could claim I distracted them if they lost. (I thought that was kind of funny.) At the same park an elderly couple walked up and was just curious to learn about it. And at another park, when asked by a woman strolling by if it was a drone I was flying, I said yes and that I was using it as part of a scientific study of the nearby saltwater marsh. She seemed happy about that. I even started boasting to her about it's capabilities. So I think how one responds to inquiries is important. People generally don't like secretive things and if you engage them in conversation it can often keep the situation pleasant. But I realize outright hostile encounters pose more of a challenge and I have yet to run into that, mainly because I am careful in picking the places that I fly.
Very well said MapMaker.
It is tempting to say "I work for Facebook." , but wisdom usually prevails.
It is tempting to say "I work for Facebook." , but wisdom usually prevails.
And ultimately, that's exactly what I did. Because when I first started flying, some neighbor's thought it was waay cool but others remained politely silent. So I made a lazy 6 minute video of our neighborhood at about 200' up, posted it on YouTube, and gave everyone the URL. A few of the silent people have since started asking some neat questions and thought the video was "amazing" and "how pretty the neighborhood looks from above", etc. Well, the video is actually quite boring, but it has opened up a positive dialog that's all been good so far.Djrichone said:
If you want to waste 6 minutes of your life, here it is: http://youtu.be/5VqB4xGyzWc
I've had some interesting run with my neighbors. Instead of coming out and complaining in my face, they got police to come to me. I've been using Google Glass and other unusual hardware so I just follow these rules.
1) be friendly. You're ambassador of this hobby/hardware.
2) any questions they have are interesting and explain in simple language.
3) ask if they like to have a try. People will usually turn down the offer.
4) keep notepad on hand to write down notes or write down info that they came take home.
5) what we fly is sUAV, quadcoptor or quad. Keep the term"drone" out
I can't stress enough of being friendly part. People have hard time being pissed off at you if you're super helpful. I always carry AMA card just to show some sort of card that shows I'll take responsibility of any damage I may cause in case of an accident.
1) be friendly. You're ambassador of this hobby/hardware.
2) any questions they have are interesting and explain in simple language.
3) ask if they like to have a try. People will usually turn down the offer.
4) keep notepad on hand to write down notes or write down info that they came take home.
5) what we fly is sUAV, quadcoptor or quad. Keep the term"drone" out
I can't stress enough of being friendly part. People have hard time being pissed off at you if you're super helpful. I always carry AMA card just to show some sort of card that shows I'll take responsibility of any damage I may cause in case of an accident.
Onezerosix141 said:
100% agree with this. I wish everyone thought this way. We'd see a lot less stupid incidents.
Clipper707 said:
Of course they define it. It is legislation.
As used in sections 305.635 to 305.641, the following terms shall mean:
(1) "Drone", any powered aerial vehicle that:
(a) Does not carry a human operator;
(b) Uses aerodynamic forces to provide vehicle lift;
(c) Can fly autonomously or be piloted remotely;
(d) Can be expendable or recoverable; and
(e) Can carry a lethal or non-lethal payload;
(2) "Manned aircraft", an aircraft that is operated by a human on board the aircraft;
(3) "Model aircraft", an unmanned aircraft that is:
(a) Capable of sustained flight in the atmosphere;
(b) Flown within visual line of sight of the person remotely operating the aircraft; and
(c) Flown for hobby or recreational purposes;
2. This act does not prohibit the use of a model aircraft.
moto phantom said:
(1)(c) and (1)(e) define the Phantom. Or perhaps to be more clear, those criteria move the Phantom out of the "model aircraft" category and into the "drone" category.
All this chatter just gave me a great idea. I have a nosey lady that lives down the street. I am almost sure, she will one day approach me and ask about my Vision plus. She is such an idiot, that when and if she ever does, I am going to hover it, while facing her, about 10 ft. in the air and away from her. Then I will do a quick back and forth movement so that she sees the camera in it's still position. I will ask her if she sees how the camera stays in a fixed position? Then I will flip into gps mode and tell her that when the lights turn yellow, it means that it is now capable of seeing right through concrete walls. The look on her face = PRICELESS :mrgreen:
I call my quads "drones." They are what they are. UAS/UAV sounds vague and nondescript to me. And model aircraft are what I call my fixed wings. When people ask me if I'm flying a drone, I answer yes, but explain that "drone" is one term, and I offer the alternative names for multirotors.
I've been approached several times when flying in public, and I never fly over crowds, parking lots, buildings, etc. I'll fly at schoolyards during off hours, or parks early in the morning when the only other people are fellow dog walkers or joggers, and I've had some interesting encounters. Now I carry a laminated copy of AMA rules (along with my AMA card), and the newest FAA Guidelines in my drone case. If anyone questions me, I politely and calmly explain what I'm flying, show them the paperwork, and explain that I'd also have a copy of my state laws, 'If there were any." This has worked well for me.
I've been approached several times when flying in public, and I never fly over crowds, parking lots, buildings, etc. I'll fly at schoolyards during off hours, or parks early in the morning when the only other people are fellow dog walkers or joggers, and I've had some interesting encounters. Now I carry a laminated copy of AMA rules (along with my AMA card), and the newest FAA Guidelines in my drone case. If anyone questions me, I politely and calmly explain what I'm flying, show them the paperwork, and explain that I'd also have a copy of my state laws, 'If there were any." This has worked well for me.
Djrichone said:
Yes as a matter of fact my neighbor called the police on me last Sunday and did so again Today. I could hear her telling them the second time she called that i was invading her privacy and scaring her. Meanwhile ive never flown over her house and she lives like 4 houses down separated by power lines. I brought my Phantom down and put it away as i don't want to have to explain myself again. The first time the cops came out they kinda yelled at her and really didnt say much to me but asked what happened and have a nice day. So far they havent come out to our street so im suspecting they arent going to waste their time. The cops never told me i couldnt fly the phantom.
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