Please read. Threatened while flying my drone!

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I've had a neighbor who has done work at my home just yesterday get very angry and threaten me. He was screaming at me f you, i'll shoot that thing down.... and on and on he went. He never came on my property, just carried on from his home, very vulgarly, which is two home from mine, about 1 acre away.

I called law enforcement, told him what just happened. I invited him (sheriff) in to look at my flight logs which clearly indicate I was at 150 feet and flying in LOS the whole time, and not above his home constantly as he thought.

He (sheriff) went to the gentlemen's home and told him I was in complete compliance with part 107 and was doing nothing nefarious or wrong. The neighbor informed him it was "scaring" his daughter and that he would take necessary actions against me if it continued. The officer told him to bring his daughter over to my home and check out the drone and would not in anyway hurt her. He also suggested my neighbor brush up on the rules of drone flying before making allegations against me. I'm trusting he wont hurt us now the law enforcement is aware.

First and foremost I fly by the 107 rules. I don't fly early in the morning or during supper time. I don't fly on Sunday so neighbors don't have to see or hear the machine. I usually fly above 300 ft to eliminate noise and sound. I try to be a good neighbor. I've never had a cross word with him until a few days ago.

This has really impacted and bothered me and wife. I'm concerned if I go to speak to him he will want to get into a physical confrontation. I'm not about that. I just want to know how I can fly and not bother him or anyone else (never has any issues with anyone else) in my neighborhood and enjoy the sport that I love.

Any advice?
 
I just want to know how I can fly and not bother him or anyone else (never has any issues with anyone else) in my neighborhood and enjoy the sport that I love.
If you're bothering people in your neighborhood, then the easy answer is to fly elsewhere (away from people).
 
In my opinion there is something more going on than just he doesn't like drones. Is it possible he felt he was treated unfairly with respect some work he did in your home. I don't imagine this is the first time you've flown the drone in your neighborhood or the first time he has noticed it. I can see a stranger over reacting like this but someone you've had a prior relationship with and has been in your home, this reaction sounds like more than just an issue with the drone.
 
I've had a neighbor who has done work at my home just yesterday get very angry and threaten me. He was screaming at me f you, i'll shoot that thing down.... and on and on he went. He never came on my property, just carried on from his home, very vulgarly, which is two home from mine, about 1 acre away.

I called law enforcement, told him what just happened. I invited him (sheriff) in to look at my flight logs which clearly indicate I was at 150 feet and flying in LOS the whole time, and not above his home constantly as he thought.

He (sheriff) went to the gentlemen's home and told him I was in complete compliance with part 107 and was doing nothing nefarious or wrong. The neighbor informed him it was "scaring" his daughter and that he would take necessary actions against me if it continued. The officer told him to bring his daughter over to my home and check out the drone and would not in anyway hurt her. He also suggested my neighbor brush up on the rules of drone flying before making allegations against me. I'm trusting he wont hurt us now the law enforcement is aware.

First and foremost I fly by the 107 rules. I don't fly early in the morning or during supper time. I don't fly on Sunday so neighbors don't have to see or hear the machine. I usually fly above 300 ft to eliminate noise and sound. I try to be a good neighbor. I've never had a cross word with him until a few days ago.

This has really impacted and bothered me and wife. I'm concerned if I go to speak to him he will want to get into a physical confrontation. I'm not about that. I just want to know how I can fly and not bother him or anyone else (never has any issues with anyone else) in my neighborhood and enjoy the sport that I love.

Any advice?
Yip if your neighbor take beer and have chat,,fill him in that you enjoy flying and not a spy,good you called law and show flight log,,me had to do same when police knock on my door,,but these are good outcomes , shows you not a Rouge pilot causing trouble,it does sux and hits the old bad feeling button inside and that's hard to shake,,stay positive and keep your head high and don't dwell on it ,,enough going on in our lives without drone complaints or upset neighbor,,,teach him to fly or step better get him a cheap syma to fly for present,,,take care and shake it off
Ian
 
In my opinion there is something more going on than just he doesn't like drones. Is it possible he felt he was treated unfairly with respect some work he did in your home. I don't imagine this is the first time you've flown the drone in your neighborhood or the first time he has noticed it. I can see a stranger over reacting like this but someone you've had a prior relationship with and has been in your home, this reaction sounds like more than just an issue with the drone.
nothing more sir. I don't know him other than a wave saying hello...
 
He is very fortunate to have you for a neighbor and not me. Sorry that can't really help you. Personalities play a big role. Sometimes neighbors push you because they know they can.
I live in the country and I tend to fly certain corridors to be respectful to people. I stay away from certain neighbors to avoid confrontations. I build bonds with neighbors who don't mind my flying. I give away photographs of their farms to help win bonds. They also see I can't spy in their houses. By doing so they get use to my flying.
 
He is very fortunate to have you for a neighbor and not me. Sorry that can't really help you. Personalities play a big role. Sometimes neighbors push you because they know they can.
I live in the country and I tend to fly certain corridors to be respectful to people. I stay away from certain neighbors to avoid confrontations. I build bonds with neighbors who don't mind my flying. I give away photographs of their farms to help win bonds. They also see I can't spy in their houses. By doing so they get use to my flying.
yes sir, I don't harm anyone. I'm just fortunate law enforcement understood the logistics of my flight that day....
 
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Ratter than wasting law enforcement time and resources [Language Removed by Moderator] around looking a your flight records you should have just spoken to the neighbour directly. If it’s really that much of an issue fly somewhere else. All you have managed to do is annoy him more.
 
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Ratter than wasting law enforcement time and resources [Language Removed by Moderator] around looking a your flight records you should have just spoken to the neighbour directly. If it’s really that much of an issue fly somewhere else. All you have managed to do is annoy him more.
Brutal and on point as always....
 
Please read? Why?

You don't fly early in the morning? That's the best time for light. Don't fly at supper time? Don't get that one. Don't fly on Sunday? Don't get that one either. Do you only fly right in your neighborhood? Do you actually think a cop is going to understand a flight log?
 
It sounds to me like the guy might be a bit on the unstable side. I think calling police was probably appropriate. If he was threatening harm to you, then avoidance would probably be the best form of action. I would probably try to avoid flying over his property as well. If your drone had to make an emergency landing there, you might have a rough time retrieving it.
 
I have the same problem with one of my neighbors. He's all but threatened me, too. Haven't called the cops yet. There's just too much unclarity of the laws by everyone, including the police. You don't know what the outcome will be even if you're in the right. I just fly in the opposite direction of his house or go up at least a hundred feet right off before coming back down to what I want to capture on camera. So far keeping my drone away from his vision and property has seemed to work.
 
Ratter than wasting law enforcement time and resources [Language Removed by Moderator] around looking a your flight records you should have just spoken to the neighbour directly. If it’s really that much of an issue fly somewhere else. All you have managed to do is annoy him more.
10 bucks says if he went over there it would get worse with neighbor like that. So calling law enforcementv was the right thing to do in this case.
 
Ratter than wasting law enforcement time and resources [Language Removed by Moderator] around looking a your flight records you should have just spoken to the neighbour directly. If it’s really that much of an issue fly somewhere else. All you have managed to do is annoy him more.
Please read? Why?

You don't fly early in the morning? That's the best time for light. Don't fly at supper time? Don't get that one. Don't fly on Sunday? Don't get that one either. Do you only fly right in your neighborhood? Do you actually think a cop is going to understand a flight log?
I'm respectful of the times I fly. I fly during the day.11:00 am-5:00 pm. The Sheffif's office here use p-4 for search and rescue. the gentlemen knew exactly what to ask me and verified it. He went straight to my flight records and saw that I was flying in LOS and was at the correct altitude for 12 minutes. This guy was very violent so I felt the need to call the police. I needed a record of this incident incase something happens to myself or property.
 
One relevant comment, and one experience.

Usually when people are concerned about drones it is because they fear something. Perhaps in this case the daughter feared something, and the neighbor was protecting the interests of his daughter. Typical fears are around privacy (including snooping), having physical harm from a drone out of control, the irritation of noise (compared to what, a lawn mower or chainsaw?). So if not in this case, you might want to find a way to address any concerns.

While engaging law enforcement when there is an extreme response may be prudent, I had a different experience with law enforcement. I was doing a practice run for taking pictures, and standing on the pedestrian portion of a bridge. It was a weekday morning, and there were not people around. While the aircraft was near the end of my practice run, a sheriff deputy stopped his patrol car and came out of it shouting at me. He came up very close to me (less than 6 inches) and shouted at me that I should look at him when he was talking with me. I told him I was unable, but if he would standby, I could talk with him and answer any questions after I recovered the aircraft. This wasn't good enough for him, and I was unable to figure out why he was so agitated. His shouting continued, and he ordered me to look at him, which I did momentarily. Now I was getting aggravated. Again I told him give me just a couple of minutes and the aircraft will land. At that point he put his hands on my left arm. I wanted to continue to fly the aircraft, but I also didn't want to be considered as resisting arrest. I asked him if he was arresting me, and what the charge was. He said he wanted me to stop flying and look at him. I said I could not and that if he continued without good cause he was violating 14 CFR 91, by interfering with crew of an aircraft. He let go, walked 50 feet away and made a cellphone call.

I landed the aircraft, and shut down my equipment, and walked over to him as he was finishing his phone call. His tone was a little different, and he started in on my being disrespectful. I tried to explain that I needed to pay attention to what I was doing, and if it wasn't an emergency, and he could wait two minutes, the flight would have been over. We parted after he told me that he didn't want to see me there again, and if he did there would be consequences.

When he left, I started charging the batteries, and made a call to the zone station and talked with the commanding officer on duty. Turns out that he was somewhat familiar with drone operation, and he later revealed that he was studying for a 107 certificate. He was familiar with the deputy who talked with me, and said that he would be addressing this "internally" which almost sounded official.

I have avoided that location, and in the two years since then have not had any such similar encounter. I have been unable to determine the deputy's concern.
 

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