For the first time, I decided to lift off from my back patio. Within seconds, my neighbor came out on his patio, and asked..."What is THAT?" I calmly told him..."it's a quadcopter, let me come over and show you what I am looking at..." From an aggressive tone he instantly said "wow...WAY COOL!" - then I made it a point to stress "I respect your privacy, so if you feel uncomfortable with me flying across the open space here, let me know". He said "heck...I'd watch you fly it all the time, no worries, go for it, have fun!". This conversation took about a minute, and this was the footage I shot while dissipating the fear of the unknown.

That's the way to do it!  The more of us that can get out there and HELP the community understand what it is we can do and the limits that are in place the better understanding MOST will have.

good job.

My first response was to be as aggressive in my tone, but this isn't about who has the biggest pair...edumacate is the answer...music loop aptly chosen...has some weird dudes chanting in the background

Oh...and how I did it:

• ND16 Filter
• ISO 100
• 1080P 60fps
• Premiere Pro CC
• After Effects
• Badabing Badaboom
  

that's the way to do it well done

I Love it when people show an interest like that . I always call my phantom a quadcopter or quad as well when talking - i think the word "Drone" conjures up the wrong image .

Good job, but the video is VERY dark.  Why the ND16 under these conditions?

My neighbors are mostly cool about mine.  One even got concerned when he didn't see me flying it for a while (wondering if anything happened to it).  Then there's one that came over and complained i was flying over his house and threatened to call the cops the next time it happened.  I hadn't set up my account in the go app yet so I couldn't quickly pull up the flight log to show him that I was no where near his property (reviewing the logs, at the closest, I was about 150 feet away from the start of his property).  Not that I think that would have helped he seemed pretty set in his thoughts.  I admit, that after he kept insisting  I flew over him and gave me a look like he assumed I was lying that I didn't, and saying that he would call the cops the next time, I got a bit ticked off and told him to go ahead.  

Thank you. Thanks for the great video and for your polite and relaxed demeanor.
Goes along with being an ambassador for our hobby, sport, & enjoyable life style.

Hope you continue in this manor... With manors... ;-)
A good job, deserves a reward, so please give yourself a firm pat on the left shoulder.

RedHotPoker

One of the "local" news channels posted to Facebook yesterday that they now have a "drone" for filming the news and stuff.
First reply someone posted was that if they flew over his property he would shoot it down then beat up whoever came for the parts.
I think thoughts like that should lose you your guns for life.

ag0n Posted at 2015-9-23 23:16
Good job, but the video is VERY dark.  Why the ND16 under these conditions?

Good question: I was too lazy to take it off at sunset, and didn't post edit enough to liven it up - great observation!

venomx15301 Posted at 2015-9-24 05:55
One of the "local" news channels posted to Facebook yesterday that they now have a "drone" for filmi ...

Where I work, the building next door is a local news channel - I am trying to time a flight for when the weatherman is on the patio doing his spiel because it's in direct view of some of the flight paths I take at that time of the day...might get famous here for the wrong reasons, ha!

Thanks for taking the time to do this with him. We need more pilots like yourself.
I've had this happen a few times at the Park I fly in. The more inviting and open I am the more folks seem excited and live and let live about me buzzing about.

Yes, I had similar reaction from my neighbor albeit we live in rural subdivision.  But I took off from my driveway out over the corn and he came out of his garage and asked "you flying a drone?".  I told him about it and let him watch the screen as I flew out over the vast corn fields and barns.  His reply was "I got to get me one of those!"

Well done!  

I have not had anyone approach me angrily yet.... haha.   But I have had many many conversations with ones who see me begin flying!  People cant help but be curious.  The better we treat them, the more secure our flying freedom will be!

Great to hear it!   being nice to people is always a good idea.

DJI-Dave Posted at 2015-9-24 18:57
Great to hear it!   being nice to people is always a good idea.

We need a refer a friend coupon !!!! i made at least 4 people buy THE brand name DJI Phantom....   got nothing from it...  is there a solution for this ?

FWIW my neighbor saw me flying might from my driveway the other day. He tune, although did not seem too negative to begin, was very enthusiastic and impressed after I showed him some video.

Willie Wonka Posted at 2015-9-24 15:59
We need a refer a friend coupon !!!! i made at least 4 people buy THE brand name DJI Phantom....   ...

Well, that's actually a good idea. I will bring it up at my next team meeting. I have also personally been responsible for referring 4 guys to buy a Inspire and 1 guy buying a Phantom, all before I started working for DJI.
Unfortunately for you and me I do not think it would be a retroactive.