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Phone the cops next time, its just ignorance and you cant prevent people being retards! ... Darwin theory will hopefully take care of it in due course

Danny-B- Posted at 2017-2-24 11:49
Phone the cops next time, its just ignorance and you cant prevent people being retards! ... Darwin theory will hopefully take care of it in due course

It's so bad man I am observing this a lot people are unstable these days. Triggered for flying a drone having fun lol

You are always going to come across nutters, but in the main if you approach people who are concerned let them know what your about even show them some footage and try to give them a small understanding of why you are flying your AC in that particular area.

If you feel in anyway your drone might seem to be an intrusion on others do your best to inform and ask permission where you need it,

Most people if approached are fine, however there are bigots out there ignore these that really gets them worked up they then have to go home and self flagellate. Lol

100% of the time I've flown my phantoms/mavic near people? They wave and smile. 100%.  Whether its at a campsite on a remote "island" on a local river, rooftop of a pool party in South Beach, or top of an observation tower at an amusement park. All smile and wave

YES! On my very first flight with my brand new Mavic, I was approached by a woman. I was flying over a reef area in Hawaii. There are homes who's property lines end well before the reef and beaches. My wife grew up right across the street from where we were at and so she was familiar with the area and said I should go fly there while she goes to one of the small coves there too look for sea glass in the sand. The area is pretty void of people except for the rare fisherman. So I start flying and then after a few minutes I hear behind me a soft mumbling voice. I Turn around and I see this woman looking at me with sort of an irritated look. So i just asked, "What was that?". She replies but I couldn't hear her so I asked again "Sorry, what was that?' again. She just starts yelling at me, "You know, I'm not going to argue with you! This is private property you gotta leave! You cannot fly your drone over here!". I get kind of irritated by her tone and tell her "Whoa! I'm not being disrespectful! I couldn't hear you so i'm asking what did you say!". She repeated the part about private property and I'm not allowed to fly because there is a camera on my drone. She tried to lie to me about being on private property! I just ask her "Why?! I am not flying over your house, I'm over the water and at the edge of the cove to view my wife.". Again she repeats her argument about a camera but not stating why my camera was a problem. I just ended up telling her irritatingly, "You know what! You watch me. you tell me what i'm doing wrong." and turned back away from her and started flying again. She left after about 30 seconds. I was not breaking any laws. I was more than 5 miles away from the nearest airport. I was in a pretty empty place as far as people goes but still I managed to attract a drone hater. I still go there to fly my drone and have not been bothered again. My wife is a cop and told me that that's how it's going to be. They get a lot of calls about drones and that if the drone owner is in a public park then they have to chase them away but if they aren't in a park or breaking any laws then there is nothing they can do but people will call for ANYTHING thinking that they can just call about something that they don't like. Haters are everywhere.

I have only good experiences and would like to say that the people I have meet just show some interest and are asking a few questions about this "thing". Show them the screen and they are so impressed. I hope this trend will continue.

Yes, I had the local PD called on me for "filming children" which I wasn't.

See my thread, "Soccer mom calls the FUZZ" for the official record.

The lady, Kim, in her grey dodge caravan, was all triggered, according to the officer.
There are some great stories on the thread:
Soccer mom calls the FUZZ (US Drone Rights)

Both my friend and I have been approached and bothered.  In my friends case he had hike to the top of a local butte to fly his Phantom 4. He was flying away from people just photographing the views and someone came up and told him that they were bothered by the noise!  Crazy!

In my case, I was flying above and into a very narrow box Canyon at sunrise for photographs of the rugged area.  I was over 300 ft high and a scoutmaster came over and told me not to overfly his "boys" because they were still asleep!  I told him I would be sure not to do that.  Just a few minutes later, the assistant scoutmaster came over, gave my wife his email address and asked us to take overhead photos of the campsite and to please send them to him.  We told him about the scoutmaster and he apologized, telling us not to worry about him.   LOL.   We got that and many other great shots, sent them to him.  He was thrilled to get them.

I have been flying my P3P in California since summer 2015. When someone approached me, I always expected the worst.
One time a woman from some distance away, drove up to me in her SUV and asked me how much that thing costs.
It was Nov 2015 and I think she was thinking about a Christmas gift.   Back in those days, it was the most frequent question.
I started it up in a barren location in a campground.  Within a few minutes I had 6 people around me asking questions.
They thought it was the cooled damn thing!
  I've had two dirty looks, but everyone who has approached me has been very positive.

Just say it's not a drone it's a model airplane.

As long as you are at least 85' UP IN THE AIR there are no restrictions and the cops can't do anything about it. Second, you can tell them, this is AMERICA and I do what I please, as long as I am NOT breaking any laws which AM NOT!

When I first started flying drones a woman came up to me and asked me if my drone had a camera on it, and said you know people don't like spying.. I was like yes it has a camera and no im not spying. I generally just find spots that don't have many people.

Have problems in certain parks here with people trying to steal your stuff. No one really cares in the rich neighborhood, they are more curious than anything. I was using a park bench last week Sunday. I left my bag on the table and was flying the drone about 10 feet from it and this guy with a big pitt bull comes up and tries to steal my bag. Got up and he walked away like it's normal. Sometimes it's a mind f.

Yep. Have a buddy who was flying his P3 at about 200' back from filming a popular hilltop. An old neighbor shoots at it with his shotgun. Missed of course, but the discussion that followed almost didn't turn out well.

I live in a rural area so... 1) I rarely fly in areas where there is anyone present. 2) When I am in an area where there are a couple of people around I make sure to give them a wide berth so as not to make them nervous. 3) I rarely fly over private property and when I do I'm at least 300' AGL.

I've flown camera platform quads for a few years now, and for the most part, viewers have been friendly as I try to be respectful with their "space".  I have only one tragedy that destroyed my original 350qx, that was a disgruntled bird that took out one prop at 200ft.  Luckily the quad dropped into my court street, well away from any vehicles or people.  Other than that, curious people are more interested in the technology & how easy it looks to fly.  

Sad story man, I had a guy come up to me and said I am not allowed to fly in the park which is open ground and spacious enough for a distant drone flight. In the UK we have Drone Assist App which you can download. Its super useful and shows you where you can't fly. So I am lucky to live near a park which is out of the air-traffic zone. Every time I fly, I log my flights via the Drone Assist App. As long as you know the local drone flying laws and you have a guide to show you where you can fly. So I asked the guy if he knew the drone laws and if he had any knowledge on drones alone. He had nothing but to tell me that I can't fly at the park. I chose to ignore him. Honestly, unless you doing something stupid or just not adhering to the Law, just ignore them.

Many people are under the mis-impression that you need their permission to film in public. Wrong!

..that applies to a wire tap type situation where you must notify them first in order to record someone over a telephone line.

Surveillancecameraman is my favorite, check it out on YouTube or liveleak for hostile encounters galore,

Just one time when I was flying outside my smokin hot next door neighbor bedroom window, but other than that, no...

Some dude was recently arrested for peeping with a drone in Orem UT

drone peeping

Matman Posted at 2017-2-25 11:00
Some dude was recently arrested for peeping with a drone in Orem UT

drone peeping

I just got my new Mavic and I was talking about it with my co-worker. My manager walked by and overheard us. Her first reaction to the drone "creepy" ..

A saw a thread where the pilot started wearing those yellow vests like road workers, and the OP stated that harassments went to almost nil.

My first experience with a drone was about 2 years ago, as I saw one hovering a few feet outside my balcony on the 30th floor one night.   Freaked me out a bit because it was at night and I was inside, but saw the red lights moving around.   Inside at night with lights on, its hard to see outside, but people on outside can see you clearly.      

So I have a deep understanding what people feel if you are just hovering near them, so I always keep plenty of distance.  If I fly in areas with tall buildings, I keep moving and dont stop to stare.   

Almost every interaction i've had with people is a Q&A about drones because they're in awe. Many wives probably hate me now because I've convinced almost everyone to buy one. The only negative interaction was at a local park. I was shooting video at the basketball court, hovering above the backboard and park rangers asked me to land. They said environmentalists are the reason and drones are banned in the park as birds will attack them and be killed. He then asked a million questions and asked for info on where to purchase

I've only flown my Mavic once since I got it on Tuesday of this week. Had a hard time updating the firmware, and the weather has been up and down. But, before I flew, I called my local PD, and asked if I could fly it at my town's park. I let them know that it was registered and that it did have a camera and that I would be filming. They told me that it was okay, as long as I didn't harass people by chasing them or impeding their walks. (It has a small trail). They did tell me as long as I had my drone marked, and the paper that I had to print out with the drone registration #, and followed the FAA rules, there wasn't much they could do to me. I did ask how to handle a potential aggressor, and they told me to be kind, but that I didn't have to stop flying. If, nothing else, call them and they would sort it out. My local PD are pretty decent folks, so, I felt comfortable talking to them about flying.

I was lucky, no one seemed to even care. There are going to be at least one person in every crowd that feels the need to ruin your fun. I think if you aren't harassing people or at risk of injuring folks, that not much can be done.

On my very first flight I flew it in a park, looked for the most abandoned area and started flying around in beginner mode.

On my very first flight I flew it in a park, looked for the most abandoned area and started flying around in beginner mode. Just one person had a nap 40 meters away. After 10 minutes of flying it turned out the napping dude was a homeless on drugs going nuts. Screamed at me, why I'm taking videos of him and that the building next to the park is a school and that I'm a f*cking paedophile. I explained myself, trying to explain that I'm not taking videos of him but of the surrounding area. He wanted to grab my drone, escalated pretty quickly but luckily enough it ended with him walking away, still screaming at me and my girlfriend (she's also  paedophile btw.). In the meanwhile some other park visitors came along and wanted to offer help, very nice. After that experience my girlfriend wasn't any keen for a second round flying in the park.

I honestly try to avoid people around me as well as any close to the drone. Not feeling very comfortable, even a bit like a criminal. Sad story.        

Have many stories Generally I try to pick spots devoid of people, and early mornings.

Have had the cops called multiple times, though not while flying a DJI product- but my custom machines lol. Haven't gotten into any trouble yet... mostly just people that find the noise annoying... I fly a lot haha. Other day the cops were called by a women claiming I was breaking the law and spying on her... it was a bit ridiculous. I was flying in a designated sports field that I've flown at for years, nobody else on the fields.... she was the single person walking the path next to the field, had kept my distance the entire time flying the trees next to the field. Cop showed up and was a little bewildered as he could find the laws the women was citing- and ended up informing the person that called me in that I was a law-abiding citizen enjoying my hobby. Good times.

Have given multiple cops goggle rides while flying FPV. Park Rangers too. Have yet to have an encounter go too badly in the last couple years... the hundreds of interactions with the public have been fairly positive. Just gotta politely stand your ground to naysayers, and be kind about it all, as most people are just curious or misinformed.