Drone - Above Neighborhood

[Steve Dallas]

Originally Posted by VTSummit

Out in the country, I can't think of a good reason they'd be over your property. In a more dense area- it's not just your house they are over, it's the neighborhood. Maybe they are just hobbyists flying their toy. Can't think of any instance where someone has ever used one of these to case out a place to rob etc. They're loud and obvious.

I'd say that some people might fly over property more to get a shot of a cool river or mountainside. I've had thoughts of travelling the U.S., finding property owners on very scenic property....and asking permission first just to get some good artistic shots of nearby rivers, streams, lakes or whatever.

Over the last 2 years, I've put on about 140,000 miles on 2 cars...across the entire U.S. There are so many places I wanted to set up to fly, and never did because it was private property or National Park.

[okbfd]

I wonder why they won't let you fly in a National Park when you can take all the photos/vids you want.

[Russell James]

I wouldn't hesitate for a second. Any punk ass kid flys a drone over my house it will be blasted to smitherenes with a 12 gauge. My lawyer can handle any legal mess it might create.

I was at a car show a few weeks ago a kid kept flying one around some very expensive cars and people hanging out with their families. One car owner went over to the kid flying it and lit him up with a tirade. It didn't fly again that day.

Here's the thing.... want to play with flying toys... go find a field with nobody around and have your jollys. Bother people at an event or their homes, don't be surprised when a shtstorm erupts.

[Low Saturn]

Originally Posted by Russell James

I wouldn't hesitate for a second. Any punk ass kid flys a drone over my house it will be blasted to smitherenes with a 12 gauge. My lawyer can handle any legal mess it might create.

HahaHaha. You'd most likely end up in jail and buying the kid a new quadcopter since there is nothing illegal about what he would be doing.

Originally Posted by Russell James

I was at a car show a few weeks ago a kid kept flying one around some very expensive cars and people hanging out with their families. One car owner went over to the kid flying it and lit him up with a tirade. It didn't fly again that day.

Kid shouldn't of been flying there if it was a toy and he was inexperienced. If it was an adult with a professional quad with permission to be there, that would be something else.

Originally Posted by Russell James

Here's the thing.... want to play with flying toys... go find a field with nobody around and have your jollys. Bother people at an event or their homes, don't be surprised when a shtstorm erupts.

No reason to get upset if someone is playing with one in your neighborhood. They're harmless. A kid flying a kite or throwing a football can do more damage. Instead of being mad, go out and talk to them about it. You'd probably learn something and your perspective about quadcopters would change. Also nothing wrong with someone using one to take professional pictures or video at an event as long as the owner is an experienced flyer and they have permission from the event organizers. Plus what happened at the event you went to had noting to do with quadcopters. It had everything to do with stupid parents letting their kid do something he shouldn't of been doing around people or expensive cars. Quadcopter, R/C car, football, frisbee or running around like an idiot. Doesn't matter. Shouldn't of been done under those circumstances.

[pickwithaustin]

Originally Posted by Low Saturn

HahaHaha. You'd most likely end up in jail and buying the kid a new quadcopter since there is nothing illegal about what he would be doing.

Yes, would almost definitely be hauled off to jail and then released on a bond until the court date. Charges might include the discharge of the firearm, if there are laws against that in the city, as well as destruction of property. The very least he would get is time served, a fine, cost of replacing the destroyed flying craft, and possibly some community service (this, if the offender's record is clean to begin with). Oh, and don't forget the cost of the lawyer, LOL.

[Steve Dallas]

Originally Posted by okbfd

I wonder why they won't let you fly in a National Park when you can take all the photos/vids you want.

The reasoning is the noise bothers some animals, and though I can see that....I'm not really sure it has more of an effect than driving through a state park, riding motorcycles, etc.

Because people are paranoid, you see this push against drones.

It's the same argument that people have regarding guns, and I'm willing to bet some people wouldn't want guns taken away because PEOPLE are the issue here, not the tool. Drones are a tool that can be used for good and bad (Mostly good).

Let's just say that if you are for responsible gun ownership and you take a stance that all drones should be banned because some people are idiots...then you're a hypocrite.

[Red2014SS]

Originally Posted by Steve Dallas

The reasoning is the noise bothers some animals, and though I can see that....I'm not really sure it has more of an effect than driving through a state park, riding motorcycles, etc.

It's because a lot of drone owners are jackasses and they used the drones to herd the animals.

I don't think it was intentional, but more like this - Flying a drone in the park? cool. See that herd of deer over there? Let's go get a shot! Deer see the drone and take off running. Cool, a shot of a herd of running deer! .. drone follows deer.

Now multiply that by about 100 times per day. Substitute deer with bear, horses, geese, or whatever animals the drone pilots find. Pretty soon, you got a bunch of exhausted, sick animals.

Now factor in that hunting is allowed in a lot of parks. How big of an advantage is it to have your buddy flying a drone and spotting, then driving the animal your way?

That's why drones are banned from parks.

[Steve Dallas]

Originally Posted by Red2014SS

It's because a lot of drone owners are jackasses and they used the drones to herd the animals.

I don't think it was intentional, but more like this - Flying a drone in the park? cool. See that herd of deer over there? Let's go get a shot! Deer see the drone and take off running. Cool, a shot of a herd of running deer! .. drone follows deer.

Now multiply that by about 100 times per day. Substitute deer with bear, horses, geese, or whatever animals the drone pilots find. Pretty soon, you got a bunch of exhausted, sick animals.

Now factor in that hunting is allowed in a lot of parks. How big of an advantage is it to have your buddy flying a drone and spotting, then driving the animal your way?

That's why drones are banned from parks.

I've been following the issue pretty closely before & after the ban, and really doubt this was a huge issue, nor the reason they did the ban. Has herd behavior been affected by drones? Probably on occasion. Was there thousands of drones doing this? No. I believe that has actually been pretty minimal. The ban is, as of now, temporary until they find a way to regulate this in parks, and the ability to fly may return to responsible drone owners.

In fact, I haven't seen any news stories where this was the issue. If you can find some articles on this, I'd love for you to point me to them.

Here's an article on why they did the ban.

http://www.livescience.com/46667-dro...nal-parks.html

[CamaroSkooter]

Isn't it true that almost all cameras are sensitive to infrared light?

If you don't want a "drone" (read: quadcopter) with a camera to be able to see into your backyard window, or to see anything specific on your property, wire up a handful of infrared LEDs around what you don't want them to see. The only photos/video the camera will get is a giant ball of white light obscuring the photo wherever the LEDs are.

It's actually a pretty cool trick

[VTSummit]

There are some lasers available that will permanently disable the camera.

[Steve Dallas]

Originally Posted by VTSummit

There are some lasers available that will permanently disable the camera.

That might be true, and if used and detected (ie: someone knew you were doing it), would likely be illegal to use against ANY aircraft, even unpiloted ones. Same penalties as flashing a plane or copter overhead, likely...

It's not illegal to photograph someones property from above. Otherwise, Google Maps (satellite), police, private pilots, etc. wouldn't be around. Even flying 500 feet overhead on your property (if the drone was on a course to somewhere else while flying overhead could be seen as legal. Most drone pilots don't do that, and stick to above their property, or in public lands.

It's the idiots that make the news trying to fly off balconies in New York.

Just like anyone can go buy a gun and star shooting people or waving it around...some people can buy a ready to fly copter and fly it. There are already laws against being a peeping tom, harming other peoples property, etc. We can use those laws to go after the irresponsible drone pilots.

[VTSummit]

I doubt it would be the same penalty nuking some toy quadcopter camera vs. lighting up an airplane. It would still be a complete dick move to do something like that.
I have a hard time believing that there are that many quads out there being used to stalk people.

[Steve Dallas]

Originally Posted by VTSummit

I doubt it would be the same penalty nuking some toy quadcopter camera vs. lighting up an airplane. It would still be a complete dick move to do something like that.
I have a hard time believing that there are that many quads out there being used to stalk people.

Actually, the same FAA laws apply until drones are placed in a seperate category, which they really aren't.

Point is, that a shoot first and ask questions later policy by people may not be the best idea. At the very least, if you did this while I was flying legally...would make you liable for about 3000 dollars of damage to replace the copter. And I would go after the person in court and press charges if such a thing happened. Shoot my copter down, and you won't have a very good day. I'll have logs and video showing EXACTLY what I was doing.

[TXsilvy]

until it happens, it's all guesses. In Texas, we had a man shoot a thief in his front yard that was robbing the house next door to him. supposedly shot him in the back while in his front yard. In my mind, I knew the legal system would make an example of him. he was cleared by a grand jury and walked free. it helped his case that the 2 guys he confronted were complete assholes with a record 2 miles long. google Joe Horn.

when I say i'll knock one out of the sky in my backyard, don't confuse it with me camping my back yard waiting for it to fly by. if someone is just cruising the hood playing around, I'm cool with that and would probably try to find the owner to check out the gadget. if one is hovering over my back yard and looks sketchy...then it could be an issue. like I said, I'd have to beat my cop neighbors to the trigger if something suspicious was going on LOL.

common sense goes a long way.