First flight - very negative experience with person on the ground.

[Ben01]

P.S. Ben01 You weren't up near Broome were you ? That would be awesome footage.

No mate not quite that far - actually in Kalbarri which is on the Murchison River a couple of hours north of Geraldton.
The inland gorges there are simply stunning and so is the coast line - cliffs, beaches etc.

I spent a fair bit of time in Broome in my late teens and early twenties and know just how stunning that place is as well. Hopefully one day I'll make it back up with a drone and capture some of it [emoji106]

P.s I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiments. I think it's really sad and pathetic how regulated it is - not so much with regard to "no fly zones" near airports etc as I fully appreciate and support that but national parks etc is ridiculous!!!

There is a tiny little island off the Perth coast called Rottnest Island - you're probably familiar with that too. Well when I bought my drone I had every intention of taking it over on a family holiday and filming some of the best beaches in the country but no - the island authority prohibits recreational UAV usage. It's a joke - the rules are in place I.e stay away from people, boats, etc etc but then they go and ban usage altogether. I've spent quite a bit of time travelling around WA in the last few years and I can honestly say I've seen a drone flown ONCE. Yes it is a growing "hobby" but it certainly is not yet what I would call popular. Not here anyway.

 

[Darkydave]

Hi Ben, unfortunely there are a great many people in Aussie that think they have the unalienable right that their way is the only way. I travell a lot and have run into the so called grey nomad brigade who are experts at it. I have been hooked on drones recently so I am looking forward to some discussion about the drones and usual other issues (ie using generators) on my next trip.

 

[Gary Baker]

What a positive response you guys have posted, this is my first post on this site and what I have read here is brilliant guys, just the sort of encouragement a guy likes to read. Keep up the great work (and well done Ben, you did great)

 

[Ben01]

What a positive response you guys have posted, this is my first post on this site and what I have read here is brilliant guys, just the sort of encouragement a guy likes to read. Keep up the great work (and well done Ben, you did great)

I agree Gary and welcome to the site [emoji106]

This was one of my first posts as I'm still very new myself and have been really surprised by the support and comments in here!

 

[weedoman]

FWIW - here's a link to the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) "Drones in parks policy":

Drones in Parks Policy | NSW Environment & Heritage

It's not a yes, but it's not a no either. Basically, ask permission from the "park manager" first.

I live in an area of NSW surrounded by National Parks and have flown recreationally in a few of them. Through my day job I’ve have had to liaise with the local parks “management”. From my experience of them, I wouldn’t be overly optimistic of getting permission. More likely to not be able to find anyone willing to make a decision so they’d be more inclined to take the safer option of just saying no!

 

[Roger Somazzi]

I've read about it a bit on here but today I took my p4p out for its first proper serious flight in a fairly remote location and had a really bad experience with a foreign tourist.

I was the only one there and had my bird up for about 10 minutes just after sunrise when this hippy looking tourist pops up and comes up to me and says "oh that's such a noisy thing isn't it, it's so peaceful here and you've got that thing flying around"

I knew straight away by his tone and attitude he was being passive aggressive and was annoyed by the drone. I straight away replied "yeah it's nice here isn't it, lucky I'm not gonna be long and I'm not hurting anyone". (This is while I'm flying and filming).

He then circles around me, I look at him and know he wants more to say, like he just couldn't let it go. He then says "oh you do know this is a nature reserve don't you?, it's just a shame to lose that peaceful effect" ... (it's not a nature reserve it's a national park - here in Australia there is a difference).

I looked at him and could see he was annoyed. I could see by his face and throat his heart was racing 100miles an hour and he was pi$$ed off.
I looked him straight in the eye and said "are we going to have a problem mate?". He then says "oh no no, no there is no problem, just people like to have peace and quiet" and starts walking away.

I was furious, I couldn't think straight and subsequently I'm pretty sure my footage is going to be rubbish. The more he spoke the angrier I was getting and I think he definitely sensed it was time to walk away which was probably best for him.

This might sound a little arrogant but for someone to come into my country and question me flying a drone in a national park that MY taxes help maintain, create the roads to these amazing places as well as promote them I find straight up disgusting.

If not for people like us - photographers, film makers etc who provide images for the beautiful brochures etc and the advertisements on tv these hippy tourists wouldn't even know these places exist.

And this was only my first flight ..... [emoji35]

I know guns are pretty restricted in Australia, but in 'Murica, my response would have been, "Yea but my Glock is even noisier than my drone, especially as I empty the clip in a few short seconds. Now **** off."

 

[GVDD scout]

I've read about it a bit on here but today I took my p4p out for its first proper serious flight in a fairly remote location and had a really bad experience with a foreign tourist.

I was the only one there and had my bird up for about 10 minutes just after sunrise when this hippy looking tourist pops up and comes up to me and says "oh that's such a noisy thing isn't it, it's so peaceful here and you've got that thing flying around"

I knew straight away by his tone and attitude he was being passive aggressive and was annoyed by the drone. I straight away replied "yeah it's nice here isn't it, lucky I'm not gonna be long and I'm not hurting anyone". (This is while I'm flying and filming).

He then circles around me, I look at him and know he wants more to say, like he just couldn't let it go. He then says "oh you do know this is a nature reserve don't you?, it's just a shame to lose that peaceful effect" ... (it's not a nature reserve it's a national park - here in Australia there is a difference).

I looked at him and could see he was annoyed. I could see by his face and throat his heart was racing 100miles an hour and he was pi$$ed off.
I looked him straight in the eye and said "are we going to have a problem mate?". He then says "oh no no, no there is no problem, just people like to have peace and quiet" and starts walking away.

I was furious, I couldn't think straight and subsequently I'm pretty sure my footage is going to be rubbish. The more he spoke the angrier I was getting and I think he definitely sensed it was time to walk away which was probably best for him.

This might sound a little arrogant but for someone to come into my country and question me flying a drone in a national park that MY taxes help maintain, create the roads to these amazing places as well as promote them I find straight up disgusting.

If not for people like us - photographers, film makers etc who provide images for the beautiful brochures etc and the advertisements on tv these hippy tourists wouldn't even know these places exist.

And this was only my first flight ..... [emoji35]

Glad you are seeing this in a balanced light, and not letting the person on the ground elicit a negative reaction. I similarly have had people on the ground, and one that chased me back to the office demand to know what I'm doing flying a drone near them. In my case I fly for survey data of facilities and structures we own or in areas where we have access easements to. Usually people are just curious about the drone and after a short conversation, all is well, but on the rarer occasion of the guy that followed me back, i needed to explain to him that I had no interest whatsoever in the stuff he had behind the fence, but was only interested in flying an area that would result in good coverage of the facility off his property, and some of our facilities that are on his property, and that we do not publish the raw data or the resulting mosaic, but only use them in house.
You will also no doubt continue to find that people will hear your drone usually way before spotting it, and their processing the strange buzzing sound that may or may not be significantly loud into the recognition that there is drone flying nearby or 'overhead' naturally triggers the Fight aspect of fight-or-flight reactions.
Good flying!

 

[Gary Baker]

I agree Gary and welcome to the site [emoji106]

This was one of my first posts as I'm still very new myself and have been really surprised by the support and comments in here!

Hi Ben, thanks for your reply, it was very much appreciated.
I myself started with the Phantom 2 Vision, then two years later I decided to try the "Yuneec q500 Typhoon. Now another two and half years have pasted and now I've upgraded to the "Phantom 4 Pro" it arrived on the 18th April 2017.
WOW! What an upgrade it is too! So many settings on it. (Not what I'm used too) I dare'nt fly it at the moment because there's an alarm or beeping sound keeps coming from my remote every time I start the motor, so I won't fly it in case it flys away or something it took over a year to get the money together and it cost £5-00 short of £1600.00 pound. I haven't got a clue what it can be.

I'm sure it's something to do with the settings, but not 100%.

I'm praying someone is going to get back to me with an answer!

Best regards

Gary

 

[erlik-khan]

There are a couple places I'd love to fly the drone but it's not legal (National Park). And I could get that in some places it would/could disturb the tranquility of those places.

I've been watching drone/RC Airplane footage which is really cool because they can fly for hours and they don't produce a huge prop wash etc. They are not nearly as loud as quad copters and they don't disturb as much.
Also it's cool to watch a continuous hour long + HD flight over the world.

 

[Vzr1]

I've read about it a bit on here but today I took my p4p out for its first proper serious flight in a fairly remote location and had a really bad experience with a foreign tourist.

I was the only one there and had my bird up for about 10 minutes just after sunrise when this hippy looking tourist pops up and comes up to me and says "oh that's such a noisy thing isn't it, it's so peaceful here and you've got that thing flying around"

I knew straight away by his tone and attitude he was being passive aggressive and was annoyed by the drone. I straight away replied "yeah it's nice here isn't it, lucky I'm not gonna be long and I'm not hurting anyone". (This is while I'm flying and filming).

He then circles around me, I look at him and know he wants more to say, like he just couldn't let it go. He then says "oh you do know this is a nature reserve don't you?, it's just a shame to lose that peaceful effect" ... (it's not a nature reserve it's a national park - here in Australia there is a difference).

I looked at him and could see he was annoyed. I could see by his face and throat his heart was racing 100miles an hour and he was pi$$ed off.
I looked him straight in the eye and said "are we going to have a problem mate?". He then says "oh no no, no there is no problem, just people like to have peace and quiet" and starts walking away.

I was furious, I couldn't think straight and subsequently I'm pretty sure my footage is going to be rubbish. The more he spoke the angrier I was getting and I think he definitely sensed it was time to walk away which was probably best for him.

This might sound a little arrogant but for someone to come into my country and question me flying a drone in a national park that MY taxes help maintain, create the roads to these amazing places as well as promote them I find straight up disgusting.

If not for people like us - photographers, film makers etc who provide images for the beautiful brochures etc and the advertisements on tv these hippy tourists wouldn't even know these places exist.

And this was only my first flight ..... [emoji35]

Should have said the 30 metre rule and get out of my space ya feral and go back to nimbin.

 

[Fester]

Hi Ben, thanks for your reply, it was very much appreciated.
I myself started with the Phantom 2 Vision, then two years later I decided to try the "Yuneec q500 Typhoon. Now another two and half years have pasted and now I've upgraded to the "Phantom 4 Pro" it arrived on the 18th April 2017.
WOW! What an upgrade it is too! So many settings on it. (Not what I'm used too) I dare'nt fly it at the moment because there's an alarm or beeping sound keeps coming from my remote every time I start the motor, so I won't fly it in case it flys away or something it took over a year to get the money together and it cost £5-00 short of £1600.00 pound. I haven't got a clue what it can be.

I'm sure it's something to do with the settings, but not 100%.

I'm praying someone is going to get back to me with an answer!

Best regards

Gary

Found a link to an earlier forum article that may help you out there...
RC rapid beeping when motors start

 

[Mackie]

What you may not realise is, in accordance with current Dept of the Enviriment and Heritage policy, permission is required from the park manager prior to operating a UAV in a National Park. I have offered you a suggestion to avoid future incidents and I have, unfortunately, first hand experience of his some of these drongos behave.

Australian states all have differing rules when it comes to flying drones in National parks, in Queensland at least here is the current situation....

Queensland – the most open and deregulated of the lot.
“For recreational purposes you do not need a permit to use a drone in Queensland’s National Parks as long as it weighs under 2kg, there are less than 10 people involved in the film shoot (i.e. the crew) and no buildings or structures are being filmed”

In short – No pre-arrangement required. Be safe, be sensible and have fun.

 

[stones]

....

Be safe, be sensible and have fun.

Great advice!

 

[AlanTheBeast]

I've been watching drone/RC Airplane footage which is really cool because they can fly for hours and they don't produce a huge prop wash etc. They are not nearly as loud as quad copters and they don't disturb as much.
Also it's cool to watch a continuous hour long + HD flight over the world.

Along the way I've been considering the Parrot Disco drone - but the "low end" build has turned me off somewhat along with Canadian VLOS rules.

 

[ryantrax]

I've also found that you get less enquiries from by bystanders when you are wearing a safety vest like THIS a hard hat doesn't hurt either LOL.

 

[DRR]

I've read about it a bit on here but today I took my p4p out for its first proper serious flight in a fairly remote location and had a really bad experience with a foreign tourist.

I was the only one there and had my bird up for about 10 minutes just after sunrise when this hippy looking tourist pops up and comes up to me and says "oh that's such a noisy thing isn't it, it's so peaceful here and you've got that thing flying around"

I knew straight away by his tone and attitude he was being passive aggressive and was annoyed by the drone. I straight away replied "yeah it's nice here isn't it, lucky I'm not gonna be long and I'm not hurting anyone". (This is while I'm flying and filming).

He then circles around me, I look at him and know he wants more to say, like he just couldn't let it go. He then says "oh you do know this is a nature reserve don't you?, it's just a shame to lose that peaceful effect" ... (it's not a nature reserve it's a national park - here in Australia there is a difference).

I looked at him and could see he was annoyed. I could see by his face and throat his heart was racing 100miles an hour and he was pi$$ed off.
I looked him straight in the eye and said "are we going to have a problem mate?". He then says "oh no no, no there is no problem, just people like to have peace and quiet" and starts walking away.

I was furious, I couldn't think straight and subsequently I'm pretty sure my footage is going to be rubbish. The more he spoke the angrier I was getting and I think he definitely sensed it was time to walk away which was probably best for him.

This might sound a little arrogant but for someone to come into my country and question me flying a drone in a national park that MY taxes help maintain, create the roads to these amazing places as well as promote them I find straight up disgusting.

If not for people like us - photographers, film makers etc who provide images for the beautiful brochures etc and the advertisements on tv these hippy tourists wouldn't even know these places exist.

And this was only my first flight ..... [emoji35]

I cop that just about overtime I fly and Im a licensed commercial operator. It really upsets me. I often this k about learn g to fight because i really feel like smashing their bloody teeth in. Im over 60 so Im not an idiot. Once a bloke came up to me when i was over water going bonkers. I didn't fly for 2 weeks after that. It happens often. I fly an M600 so they can see Im not just flying for fun.

 

[Lakelegobot]

I've read about it a bit on here but today I took my p4p out for its first proper serious flight in a fairly remote location and had a really bad experience with a foreign tourist.

I was the only one there and had my bird up for about 10 minutes just after sunrise when this hippy looking tourist pops up and comes up to me and says "oh that's such a noisy thing isn't it, it's so peaceful here and you've got that thing flying around"

I knew straight away by his tone and attitude he was being passive aggressive and was annoyed by the drone. I straight away replied "yeah it's nice here isn't it, lucky I'm not gonna be long and I'm not hurting anyone". (This is while I'm flying and filming).

He then circles around me, I look at him and know he wants more to say, like he just couldn't let it go. He then says "oh you do know this is a nature reserve don't you?, it's just a shame to lose that peaceful effect" ... (it's not a nature reserve it's a national park - here in Australia there is a difference).

I looked at him and could see he was annoyed. I could see by his face and throat his heart was racing 100miles an hour and he was pi$$ed off.
I looked him straight in the eye and said "are we going to have a problem mate?". He then says "oh no no, no there is no problem, just people like to have peace and quiet" and starts walking away.

I was furious, I couldn't think straight and subsequently I'm pretty sure my footage is going to be rubbish. The more he spoke the angrier I was getting and I think he definitely sensed it was time to walk away which was probably best for him.

This might sound a little arrogant but for someone to come into my country and question me flying a drone in a national park that MY taxes help maintain, create the roads to these amazing places as well as promote them I find straight up disgusting.

If not for people like us - photographers, film makers etc who provide images for the beautiful brochures etc and the advertisements on tv these hippy tourists wouldn't even know these places exist.

And this was only my first flight ..... [emoji35]

Had munch first today at a school trip to a pool something about young girls in bikinis.i was like are you kidding me I am one of the students I have no desire to invade classmates privacy.