Dealing with people

[gsreinke]

No wonder the Drone world is leading the RC hobby into regulation and limitations !!

For decades RC has been a sport that had little limitation other than Insurance and Public Liability ... usually looked after by joining a Club or Association. Then along came Multi-Rotors and ability to fly in small areas - areas that traditional RC literally cannot. The idiots appeared then - wanting to video everything they could ... even flying in streets and over crowded beaches ... amongst houses and apartment buildings.
Getting that shot of a forest fire and in so doing causing Fire Fighters to not fly till Drone downed.
It got really ridiculous when a Multi-Rotor was shown to have a GUN fitted and actually firing .... video up on Youtube if anyone doesn't believe.

Is it any wonder that now we have a problem ? For the sake of the idiots we now have general Anti-Drone spirit in the public. It does not matter why or how it comes about. It is there.

This brings on us as i said earlier - the job of being 'nice' and informative to those who ask / pester us when flying. If you are nervous about talking while flying - then politely advise them - you need to concentrate on the flying but will answer once landed. Never say - its unsafe to talk and fly - that implies unsafe actions and can lead to more misunderstanding.

We need to educate / inform / demonstrate to the public that we are no threat to them. Without provative vests and paraphernalia that implies something else.

You want to be able to fly in public places, you want to be respected as a pilot and not hassled. You don't want unnecessary legislation and restrictions on your hobby. THEN it is incumbent upon you to act and be of such that public appreciate what you do. Some of the posts here are for me what we really do not need. Especially when various posts here illustrate what I have said all along ... that being nice and demonstrating actually pays dividends and helps public understand.

Please ... for those who are anti ... Please lose the anti stance and try to be more accommodating to the public ! It only comes back on us all.

Nigel

"Anyone" can buy a Phantom 4 at Best Buy and go fly without any clue to safety or regulations. Sad

 

[betabilly]

Rg155 That happened to me only once.
Last winter a woman walked 200 feet away from a play area where she had left her toddler alone in a stroller and began to hassle me when I was test-flying a refurb'd Standard over a fenced-in football ball field in a vacant public recreation area. She stated that drones have cameras and I was probably spying on her. I just pointed at my hat cam and mentioned that I also post videos on FB and my YouTube channel. I always wear my hat cam when I'm flying in a public area. Cheap insurance for this kind of aggravation.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Sorry, but you are wrong, at least for California. A dispatcher has the obligation to collect enough information to properly classify the call. If the information leads the dispatcher to believe that a criminal violation has not occurred, it is well within their authority to say "Sorry Charlie", we aren't coming. If I heard my dispatcher giving out a call to one of my deputies, I would be calling dispatch to see why on earth that call was going out, especially without talking it over with me first! If it was because the caller was a jerk and insisted that we respond, I would be the one going out to talk to the caller - and it wouldn't be to take a report! If our dispatchers didn't screen the calls, we wouldn't have time to do anything.

No local law enforcement in my area (including myself) care a bit enforcing FAA regulations. We have local and state laws to enforce, and none of our city or county codes have anything to do with FAA regulations, so don't make any blanket assumptions about what law enforcement will or will not do. Speaking for the portions of California that I have contact with, unless it is a VERY boring day (which almost never happens) you can call and complain about a drone all you want, but unless it actually runs into somebody, I'm not coming.

Perhaps you didn't read the part about a caller alleging invasion of privacy or alleging being careless and reckless, both of which are criminal violations, even in California, independent of the FAA. If a girl calls up and alleges she was raped, is your dispatcher going interrogate her first to decide whether the dispatcher believes it was consensual, and then say, "Sorry Charlie", we aren't coming? The dispatcher is in no position to be a cop. Assume the caller is not being a jerk and not insisting that you respond, but reporting what they describe an ongoing crime, and asking for help. Isn't that your job? If you get a noise complaint after hours, is your dispatcher going to decide it isn't loud enough to respond? I understand your point, but local municipalities, even in CA, have passed muni codes relating to drone use that obligate local LEO to investigate reported violations, even if they are the last call you get to.

 

[macoman]

If a girl calls up and alleges she was raped, is your dispatcher going interrogate her first to decide whether the dispatcher believes it was consensual, and then say, "Sorry Charlie", we aren't coming?

What that statement has to do with drones? He is pointing out that calling because a drone is flying is a pointless call and stated that unless the drone hit someone directly, a police is in no obligation to investigate. Unless a physical contacted happened that ended in injury with a drone. That's the main point.

 

[GadgetGuy]

What that statement has to do with drones? He is pointing out that calling because a drone is flying is a pointless call and stated that unless the drone hit someone directly, a police is in no obligation to investigate. Unless a physical contacted happened that ended in injury with a drone. That's the main point.

He's suggesting that the dispatchers get to decide what criminal allegations are valid, and which are not, which is equally absurd. If criminal conduct is being reported, it must be investigated. The fact that a drone is involved in the criminal act does not reduce the decision of whether or not to investigate to the dispatcher. You apparently also missed the part about a claim of invasion of privacy or careless and recklessness associated with the flying drone. That's all it takes to make it a criminal offense. Needn't be true. Just needs to be alleged by anyone unhappy with your flying.

 

[Rg155]

No state law in Illinois forbidding drone flying. (I live in Illinois as well). There might be a local ordinance or something. Don't let people intimidate you. If they ask stupid questions then try to educate them in a polite way. However, if they are dickweeds then do what I do, just ignore them. When I get a tool interfering with my flying I just advise them to "Please Step Away at least 50 feet, for your safety". (from me, not the drone, LOL) .........

I don't have any ordinances that I know of I've asked a cop before when I was flying.

 

[solentlife]

I don't have any ordinances that I know of I've asked a cop before when I was flying.

The average Cop is not actually aware of all rules and regs despite being the Law Enforcement guy. Its impossible for him / her to know all the rules.
That's why when they 'invite' you to the Station - its usually a generalised request. Somebody else then decides what rule you broke !! Unless of course its an obvious one !!

Nigel