Hey guys... I was flying my Inspire in my neighboorhood last night and a young man with no shirt, no shoes and full of tatooes comes out of nowhere and asks me ''Hey!!! you are not looking into people's back yard right?'' I started my answer with a little laugh and then just like this ''first I am not sick... second I am not a pervert... third I dont care what you do in your back yard'' he said ''oh ok'' and left... now at this point I felt like my right to fly this drone was been chalenged but I kind of understand his concern... how can I deal with this type of poeple in a better way in the near future cuz I have a feeling this will not be the last time... I guess the way that he approched me kind of bothered me.

I carry a copy of the regulations and hand it to them and ask if they read anything I am doing wrong.  It ends it quickly.
It has gotten better in the last few months.

Depends.  How bigga boy are you?

Just tell them what Google did - driving every singel street i the whole world taking photos for the Google maps.
I can se myself and my wife sitting on our terrasse in streetwiev - so can the rest of the world.

I generally encourage people to come over and look at the video while I'm shooting. The conversation has always shifted to, "wow -- cool!" It becomes immediately obvious that "spying" with the cameras these UAVs currently have would require flying at such close distances that its impractical.

gds3d do you have a link where I can print these regulations?

Yeas, absolutely there is a culture of fear surrounding these aircraft, you can thank the US government for that. To add to that this quad has an imposing look to it. It looks like some kind of destroyer from HALO. And yep you would literally have to hover within a couple feet of someone's window to effectively capture good espionage, I dare say the element of surprise would be compromised. And yes again, invite people to see the monitor and their curiosity will be answered, you might say " save yourself a whole lot of money and walk away, if you look at the screen you will want one".

I'm not trying to tell anybody what to do - I'm not the "rule-maker". Please understand this.

But with above said, I guess what I would do.... is what I actually did in my neighborhood.
I went to my neighbors in advance and told them what I had... and what I wanted to do...and showed them the aircraft.

And if they had any concerns... I'd respect their wishes and do my very best to respect their privacy boundaries  and make it a "No-Flight-Zone" in my flying activities....and then invite them to fly with you and be an observer. Tell them you want to keep the lines of communications open, always.

One of my neighbors surprised me. I never expected permission and he said "Have-at-it...sounds like fun". I sent him a nice edited video (set to music) of his place and he bent over backwards to thank me. He said "that would have cost me a lot of money -thanks!"

Again, Not telling anybody what to do - Just conveying what I did.
"Good "fences" make good neighbors". "Befriend thy neighbor".

I am careful not to fly over neighborhood homes in order to respect the privacy of my neighbors or any homeowner in any neighborhood for that matter. I have no interest in spying on people but they do not know that. Pretty much wherever I fly I try to not do anything that would give drone hobbyists a bad name or image.

It seems like it’s a matter of individual personalities and relationships. This guy doesn't sound very reasonable but you never know. They say familiarity breeds contempt, but in this case it probably breeds something more useful.  Sounds like you are going to have to become a part time diplomat.   I fly high enough and in rural enough areas that it’s easier to get along. The worst thing I have to worry about is being shot at by some reckless kid, but doubt that is very likely. Fortunately, the folk in my area are a gentle sort.   The ones who I talk to about it seem either indifferent or very excited about the prospect of seeing their property from the air.  There are some who I detect do not like UAV at all…but they know me and are too polite to say anything.  I purposely avoid flying near their property.  If I’m flying in new areas I let people know ahead of time but that tact is going to be of less help to someone who lives in a densely populated area.

I hope you get this worked out with your neighbor.  I think the vast majority of us could not care less about other people's back yards, front yards or anything about them. We are too busy trying to enjoy flying and keep the thing in the air.  

Thanks guys for the advice... I guess I will be more "open minded", invite the curiosity and inform so the fear goes away... I think I just took that approach personally also I will limit my neighborhood flights, I have no interest in offending anybody or to make them feel uncomfortable, I also think that ignorance plays a big part here... we know what this bird can do but they don't.

Any question!

Let me give you an example that happened to my brother and his phantom one evening last summer. Wanting to video his downtown area he parked at the local bank after hours to have a empty landing open area. Took off on his filming adventure to just about complete the job he was doing for fun. Next thing two police crusers pulled up and got out. Seems bank cleaning staff thought he was casing out the back with his bird for future heist. He explained his project and they took his number and he packed and left. Next day a detective called and wanted to see his video which he went over to show him. After looking at his video, he was asked if he could do some work for them filming of backyards they can't get at growing certain plants and he declined with don't need to set yourself up for trouble doing that and the word gets out what your doing. Let them get their own bird and fly it for sure would be my response also.

gds3d@comporium Posted at 2015-3-12 22:13
I carry a copy of the regulations and hand it to them and ask if they read anything I am doing wrong ...

Dam that's a great idea. I think I'm gonna start doing that now!!! Just in case

Just let the curious view you screen. I get a kick out of peroplre that think you are peering into their bedrooms. I could care less and I would not invade someone's privacy. If they cannot hear my bird then they are not going to see it. In our Inspire and Phantom League our Bird's are very visible and audible. We are not voyeurs. Nor do I care to be.

In Australia it's simple, you can't do it.   

Can't fly within 90 feet of another building or person and it specifically says over someone's backyard.

Simple rules of thumb but unfortunately means very restricted shooting opportunities.  

I had a fat chick and her husband get all worried I was gonna peer into their private lives through a window. I said, not too likely porn is easy to get with a lot less hassle, plus she was uglier than a baboons rear end! he was no Adonis either. Anyhoo, another guy said he would pluck my bird from the sky with his 12 gauge, he changed his tune when he saw it fly by at 50 miles an hour! he realized that ducks are probably easier to shoot down. And yeah, Jim has a point, we and more than likely you are not even allowed to fly a 3 kilogram aircraft over someones house or their person anyway, and for good reason. That's why I tend too fly around people and circle the perimeter of the property. When they are naked it's even better because they normally get up quick and run like they are on fire, it's really funny! Happened 2 days ago! I laughed until I my guts hurt. Sad thing is I forgot to turn the camera on! Not like I go out of my way to film old fat people but dang it's funny to watch em run!

There are a lot of areas to shoot, I used to do it in my neighborhood and got bored. Understand the privacy issue. I tell everyone that looking thru the camera at 50+ feet is like looking for a flea on an elephants ass. Nothing to see. I also used to do it on the street which is legal as I pay taxes in that city as well and have the rights.........Understand the some don't adhere to simple rules and do things that make us all look bad....conversation not going to end with some.

I don't get much time to fly but when I have a few minutes I use to fire the Inspire up here at my house ( I live in Northern California where the houses are close together here in the cities). I stick to flying over the streets with the occasional pass over a house when it drifts or when I want to return home in a straight line. I keep the altitude at 150 -250 feet AGL at all times except within the few 50 ft at my house where I know all my neighbors. I keep all the flight plans in the Pilot app so I could prove my case if I ever i need to. However at 150ft AGL looking down from over the street you can see people growing marijuana plants in pots in their backyards plain as day with 720p res. They are all lined up like little soldiers. I stay clear of the grow houses. I had a old man (65 yrs) walking his dog say that he would shoot it out of the sky. I told him if he lets me know where he lives I would be glad to stay clear of that area. He just walked off. I don't fly to much anymore around my neighborhood because of yayhoos like that.

When I am asked, I tell that I'm not interested in peoples privacy (BTW it's true) and I'm flying just beacause I love It. No problems so far (knocking wood). Most people speak to me just to make some technical question about the bird.

I was at the beach part videoing and part not - mostly flying. A lady came up to me with her arms folded and started reading me the riot act. In other words in no uncertain terms She said it freaked her out to have a "Drone" flying near her home. I had to LET HER KNOW in no uncertain terms that I am flying only over the ocean not over property of homeowners and that I am not taking video (At that time nor do I care about houses) I tried to assuage her fears she still walked off in a huff. People are getting a bit paranoid when they see an ariel vehicle.