Good Idea For Not Being Harrassed???

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So I will have my 107 Certificate Test this upcoming Thursday.

I know PICs often get "harassed" by people, whether law enforcement or not, and since I look Middle Eastern, I expect I will probably be "harassed" more than others. (I often get stopped by police when I am just walking down the street taking photos with my pro Nikon gear.)

Anyway, does anybody have any good ideas about avoiding harassment when you are flying legal?

I am thinking of getting a bright yellow vest and a white hard hat and printing on the back of my vest my 107 certificate number so it would say in big letters, something like:

Federal Aviation Authority Permitted #12345678

Because it isn't a lie, it would be my permit # issued by the FAA

Basically, what can I do when I am on a job (and flying legal) to make it LOOK LIKE I BELONG THERE so I don't have to deal with neighbors and bored local law enforcement?

Sorry if this sounds paranoid, but I am a real estate photographer and I have had neighbors call the cops on me when I am photographing a house from the ground. So I expect once I am putting a UAS in the air I am going to have to deal with it a lot more.

Thanks in advance.
 
I use my Mavic Pro, because it is small and stealthy. I take off out of sight of people, I am distant from what I want to capture on video or photograph, and I bring it back and land out of sight of people. It's sad that I have to take these measures. But maybe your idea of being completely out in the open and clearly marked will work better.
 
Maybe add a magnetic decal on side of your vehicle, i.e., company name or name of realtors you work for. Easily removable and free advertisement to-boot.
 
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So I will have my 107 Certificate Test this upcoming Thursday.

I know PICs often get "harassed" by people, whether law enforcement or not, and since I look Middle Eastern, I expect I will probably be "harassed" more than others. (I often get stopped by police when I am just walking down the street taking photos with my pro Nikon gear.)

Anyway, does anybody have any good ideas about avoiding harassment when you are flying legal?

I am thinking of getting a bright yellow vest and a white hard hat and printing on the back of my vest my 107 certificate number so it would say in big letters, something like:

Federal Aviation Authority Permitted #12345678

Because it isn't a lie, it would be my permit # issued by the FAA

Basically, what can I do when I am on a job (and flying legal) to make it LOOK LIKE I BELONG THERE so I don't have to deal with neighbors and bored local law enforcement?

Sorry if this sounds paranoid, but I am a real estate photographer and I have had neighbors call the cops on me when I am photographing a house from the ground. So I expect once I am putting a UAS in the air I am going to have to deal with it a lot more.

Thanks in advance.
I wear a Bright Yellow vest from my Grandpa's construction company when I'm flying in publicly visible places. I have figured out that people leave you alone when you look "Official" :) . Once I'm in the air; it just looks like I'm a surveyor or something. Just staring at some instrument or something. Brilliant! It has been working for me. I used to have a problem with lookyloos.

Lots of Cannibis farmers in my area. I think they all know that I'm not trying to spy on them now. I actually got to talk to a few of my local farmers and they are actually pretty cool. It IS legal in my state for recreational use so that cuts a lot of suspicions down i guess.
 
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Maybe add a magnetic decal on side of your vehicle, i.e., company name or name of realtors you work for. Easily removable and free advertisement to-boot.
I was thinking of that, but then someone said that makes your vehicle even MORE of a target for thieves to break into it.

But if I just put the decals up on site, that might be a good idea.
 
I wear a Bright Yellow vest from my Grandpa's construction company when I'm flying in publicly visible places. I have figured out that people leave you alone when you look "Official" :) . Once I'm in the air; it just looks like I'm a surveyor or something. Just staring at some instrument or something. Brilliant! It has been working for me. I used to have a problem with lookyloos.

Lots of Cannibis farmers in my area. I think they all know that I'm not trying to spy on them now. I actually got to talk to a few of my local farmers and they are actually pretty cool. It IS legal in my state for recreational use so that cuts a lot of suspicions down i guess.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I never thought about the growers. I am in Northern California and while I don't know the legal status offhand, I realize now that COULD be an issue.

For the most part though, where I am at, I would probably have to deal with people who you might refer to as "overly affluent" and who are concerned about privacy / safety.
 
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Move to Arizona, a no permit open and concealed weapons state. People tend to not harass one another over anything down here.
 
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Salute returned, Aye! I got to know and love the SeaBees when I was stationed with them in Port Huneme, Ca. As an EO; you were probably in Hawaii right? Cool. Peace.
 
Write TNT on some road flares and attach them to that vest, you will be left alone for sure.
 
I am paranoid so would definitely have the VHF scanner to monitor traffic.

That's not paranoid -- it's smart. I also monitor local police and fire/rescue -- If there's a chase, search, medivac, large fire, etc there will be a helicopter in that area.

I also monitor FlightRadar24.com to become familiar with local air traffic. You can tap and plane on the map to see their altitude and other info.

You can't be too careful!
 

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