how often are drones shot at / shot down?

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from front porches?
from backyards?
from bedroom windows?
during hunting season?
by old guys or juvenile delinquents?
by paranoids defending their privacy?
by those itching for some target practice?
in urban areas vs suburban areas vs rural areas?
overall is it a rare event, weekly event, daily event...?
(my strategy: up quick, take photo, down quick)
call me a paranoid pilot, but...
 
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It happens on occasions but highly illegal to do so unless you got a badge or drone gun operator


?
 
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Yeh some of those clips related to "Google search " deserve to be shot down,someone spy on me I bring it down with something too but I'm not a female and ugly to look at so I'm safe lol..
This question almost same as asking is my drone going to crash,,multiple speculation of answers..sounds like you need a new area to fly if that paranoid about it,,
 
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Rare? Occasional? Oh crap, narrowed Google search:
(even if 1% verified, that's 4650!!)
465000 reports
I fly everywhere legal, urban, suburban, rural...
? Your funny bro and I’m out. It’s very rare.
And yes I will go ahead and call you paranoid. ?‍♂️
No offense but really, paranoid ?
 
Um I spose that is a lot for 1% ,that's lot of spying going on,I guessing these have been not legitimate flights and most for the wrong purposes, just goes to show,,always get permission from land owners when possible, if this happens in urban area I'd be worried, here in NZ we got very strict gun laws so probably varys around the globe,,gezz @ribjig be careful ay what ever country your in,Australia??
 
No Ian here in the US but he’s just mistaken on his #’s.
It does happen but is rare I don’t care what nobody says and believe @Meta4 will agree with me.
 
from front porches?
from backyards?
from bedroom windows?
during hunting season?
by old guys or juvenile delinquents?
by paranoids defending their privacy?
by those itching for some target practice?
in urban areas vs suburban areas vs rural areas?
overall is it a rare event, weekly event, daily event...?
(my strategy: up quick, take photo, down quick)
call me a paranoid pilot, but...
Never if you respect other peoples' space
 
Rare? Occasional? Oh crap, narrowed Google search:
(even if 1% verified, that's 4650!!)
465000 reports
I fly everywhere legal, urban, suburban, rural...
You didn't read many of those "reports" did you?
There are some in the first few pages, many are talking about the same incidents.
But after that it's articles like these:

Fortem's DroneHunter is now available to shoot down rogue ...
FAA shoots down Amazon's drone delivery plans
A Federal Court in Kentucky Shoots Down Drone Airspace ...
JAHAN NAMA: Israel Shoots Down Iranian Drone In Its Air ...
Don't Shoot! That Drone Overhead Probably Isn't Invading ...
Colorado Town Shoots Down Drone Hunting Proposal | The ...
Can you shoot down a drone on your land? New incident ...
Drone Intrusion Part 1: What are my rights? | Fletcher Law
Pakistan shoots down Indian drone as Kashmir tensions rise ...
USAF shoots down drones with lasers
Q&A: Can I shoot down a drone that flies over my house?
OK Bill Allows Shooting Of Drones Without Civil Penalty
Drone Intrusion Part 1: What are my rights? | Fletcher Law
Pakistan shoots down Indian drone as Kashmir tensions rise ...
USAF shoots down drones with lasers
Q&A: Can I shoot down a drone that flies over my house?
Drones and Your Right to Privacy | Robinson & Henry, P.C.
 
As a spanking new 2nd Lt in the Army in 1967, I attended Rotary Wing Flight School in Texas.

During my time in Texas was the first time that I was shot at in anger while flying a helicopter during a solo cross-country flight.

I overflew a restricted area (unintentionally - I was a student pilot after all) which contained a turkey farm. Apparently, turkeys are prone to being frightened and when penned up in an enclosed area and frightened, they can panic, sometimes resulting self injury or death. I don't know if it was a warning shot or a true attempt to hit the helicopter, but I got the message.

Lesson learned: Don't overfly a turkey farm with a drone at low altitude!!
 
I’ve done several hundred real estate photography jobs where there is a mix of close up, and far away shots of houses. Sometimes, to compose the shot I require of a client’s house, I’m actually flying over someone else’s property.

I always am close by to talk with concerned people. I find that once I explain what I’m doing and where my camera is pointed, people relax. Unfortunately, I usually have to photoshop myself out of pictures due to this.

I did have a very irate women scream at me because my drone was in the air over her backyard (200’ high). Some people don’t want to hear that they don’t own the national airspace.

In those instances, I hand my business card and offer to send a free pic of their house and apologize for the inconvenience. They realize I’m a legit business, and free is good


I’ve had the police called once… it probably helped that I am a police officer…. But also helped that I know state and local laws and what I was doing was legal.

I’ve never been shot at yet…. While flying the drone anyway.
 
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There are other retaliation methods employed by drone haters. My incident is speculative as I cannot confirm but is coincidental.

A couple years ago I was vacationing in Sanibel Island for a week. About three weeks before my departure I had my tires rotated on my SUV. During my stay I flew my drone over the Gulf of Mexico and never over or close to people. I did not noticed anyone bothered by my drone and my flights were all incident free.

The day of my departure as I was driving off at less than 30 mph I noticed my SUV was not driving right. I had heard a noise coming from my front end driver side so I pulled over and got off to check what was going on but didn’t notice anything. I drove slowly to one of the island’s markets parking lot got off and had my wife drive by me slowly to see if I could see what the problem was. I noticed my driver side wheel had a little wobble so I jacked up my car and noticed that all my lug nuts were all loose.

I couldn’t explain how this had happened and couldn’t believe it was after my tire rotation as this had been three weeks prior to my trip and I had driven over 600 miles incident free. A couple of months later I came to realize that this could of been done by someone who didn’t like me flying my drone during my stay.
 
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People are simply afraid of things they don't understand. Then they lash out like frightened animals. By people, I mean idiots.
 
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I’ve done several hundred real estate photography jobs where there is a mix of close up, and far away shots of houses. Sometimes, to compose the shot I require of a client’s house, I’m actually flying over someone else’s property.

I always am close by to talk with concerned people. I find that once I explain what I’m doing and where my camera is pointed, people relax. Unfortunately, I usually have to photoshop myself out of pictures due to this.

I did have a very irate women scream at me because my drone was in the air over her backyard (200’ high). Some people don’t want to hear that they don’t own the national airspace.

In those instances, I hand my business card and offer to send a free pic of their house and apologize for the inconvenience. They realize I’m a legit business, and free is good


I’ve had the police called once… it probably helped that I am a police officer…. But also helped that I know state and local laws and what I was doing was legal.

I’ve never been shot at yet…. While flying the drone anyway.
ribjig,
Have to agree with Adam- talking to people when you can is the best practice. For development and real estate missions, I make myself really conspicuous. I don't have any advertisements on my truck yet, but I have my business name on a brightly colored shirt and usually have some tough khaki Carharts, trying to look professional. If working a construction site, I have on a helmet. I always try to answer questions when I can, or tell the curious onlooker that my V.O. or I will answer questions as soon as we get safely on the ground. ( often, the curious onlooker is another pilot or hobbyist who is wondering how I received authorization to fly in restricted airspace ).
I can't say what happens when hobbyists fly their drones well beyond VLOS, but breaking the rules often has adverse effects. If I can't see my drone because its 2,000M away from me, onlookers cannot see its pilot. Take what you read in some search engine results and give it only the regard it deserves. I would be curious to know how many times a day LAANC permissions are sought, in addition to the blanket and limited COA's granted through the FAA. If anyone knows those stats, please post, but would hazard a conservative guess that lawful flights number near 500/day in USA. Drone flights aren't out of the ordinary anymore., The more commonplace they become, the less mysterious each flight is to everyone.
 
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