Hi all,
I was flying my P3 in the countryside (where I usually go to fly) the other day. I was taking some shots of the sunset and experimenting with the camera settings, when a police car pulled up behind me. I brought the Phantom a little closer to me to make it clear what I was doing and to be ready in case they asked me to land. They sat in the car for a few minutes, and I apprehensively resumed capturing the nice sunset by flying a little distance away. I decided to see if they were checking the distances I was flying at, so I flew it to the maximum legal distance (where I could still see the orientation of the aircraft) at nearly the maximum legal height. I knew I was flying far away from controlled airspaces, so that couldn't have been why they were watching. Still, no response, they just watched.
Eventually one of them stepped out of the car. "Here we go", I thought to myself, and I began to bring the Phantom home. I thought he'd tell me to go and fly elsewhere, but instead he just asked for a photo of it as he thought it was "really cool"! Of course, I obliged, and hovered it right next to us. He took some photos and thanked me, explaining that it was not for police purposes but just personal interest. I didn't think to take a photo of us from the Phantom, as I was a bit preoccupied with making sure I was flying safely. We got talking about "drones", and he explained that we was fascinated at how widespread they had become, particularly at how similar machines were first employed in war zones and have now made their way to consumers. I attempted to dispel the stigma of military applications by demonstrating the fantastic images you can get with these machines. We finished talking, and he got in his car and drove off
I was pleasantly surprised. Anyone else have any experiences with the police in the UK when flying?
I was flying my P3 in the countryside (where I usually go to fly) the other day. I was taking some shots of the sunset and experimenting with the camera settings, when a police car pulled up behind me. I brought the Phantom a little closer to me to make it clear what I was doing and to be ready in case they asked me to land. They sat in the car for a few minutes, and I apprehensively resumed capturing the nice sunset by flying a little distance away. I decided to see if they were checking the distances I was flying at, so I flew it to the maximum legal distance (where I could still see the orientation of the aircraft) at nearly the maximum legal height. I knew I was flying far away from controlled airspaces, so that couldn't have been why they were watching. Still, no response, they just watched.
Eventually one of them stepped out of the car. "Here we go", I thought to myself, and I began to bring the Phantom home. I thought he'd tell me to go and fly elsewhere, but instead he just asked for a photo of it as he thought it was "really cool"! Of course, I obliged, and hovered it right next to us. He took some photos and thanked me, explaining that it was not for police purposes but just personal interest. I didn't think to take a photo of us from the Phantom, as I was a bit preoccupied with making sure I was flying safely. We got talking about "drones", and he explained that we was fascinated at how widespread they had become, particularly at how similar machines were first employed in war zones and have now made their way to consumers. I attempted to dispel the stigma of military applications by demonstrating the fantastic images you can get with these machines. We finished talking, and he got in his car and drove off
I was pleasantly surprised. Anyone else have any experiences with the police in the UK when flying?
