Afraid to fly my fc40

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I've owned my fc40 for about 2 to 3 months now and recently someone called the cops on me for flying it around the neighborhood. The cops questioned me, took my memory card, threatened to seize the drone, kept trying to trick me in to saying I was flying outside peoples windows, yada yada yada. Ever since I haven't flew my drone in fear of the cops harassing me again. Has anyone else encountered this?
 
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StRawBeRRyMiLk said:
I've owned my fc40 for about 2 to 3 months now and recently someone called the cops on me for flying it around the neighborhood. The cops questioned me, took my memory card, threatened to seize the drone, kept trying to trick me in to saying I was flying outside peoples windows, yada yada yada. Ever since I haven't flew my drone in fear of the cops harassing me again. Has anyone else encountered this?
In the news, there was a fellow in Michigan recently that had his Phantom land in someone's backyard. The news reported that the police held the Phantom waiting for someone to claim it. They also reported that it was illegal to view what was on the sd card, or view the video because it would have been an invasion of the owner's privacy. Something you might want to look into.
 
I'm new to drone flying but, it would seem, not to activities that seem to upset a certain portion of the population.

While in the UK I did a lot of off road riding. There it is perfectly legal in areas marked as "green lanes" but most people have no idea about the laws and just assume that it is illegal.

I spent a weekend taking course to learn all about the legality of it and managed to successfully fend off the public and police on several occasions by just knowing my rights and standing my ground. Even had one cop who repeatedly told me that he was going to give me a ticket but refused to do so each time I told him that he should because he was going to look foolish when we ended up in court.

Seems there might be a need for similar research and a central place to share this for flying drones. Anyone have a good place to start with that?
 
StRawBeRRyMiLk said:
I've owned my fc40 for about 2 to 3 months now and recently someone called the cops on me for flying it around the neighborhood. The cops questioned me, took my memory card, threatened to seize the drone, kept trying to trick me in to saying I was flying outside peoples windows, yada yada yada. Ever since I haven't flew my drone in fear of the cops harassing me again. Has anyone else encountered this?

Where did this happen at?
 
Simple answer is
1. Don't fly in towns with a camera.
2. Don't fly where it might cause annoyance.
3. If you do fly in town with a camera don't fly close to buildings.
 
Since the police took your memory card, I would try to talk to the police chief as well. Ask him what they found on the memory card, if anything you did was illegal. Find out what he suggests that you do.

Are there parks or open fields near you?

And yes, where did it happen?
 
darwin-t said:
Since the police took your memory card, I would try to talk to the police chief as well. Ask him what they found on the memory card, if anything you did was illegal. Find out what he suggests that you do.

Are there parks or open fields near you?

And yes, where did it happen?
Unless he gives prior permission, it's illegal for them to view what's on the sd card because it would be an invasion of his privacy. For all it's worth, ask an attorney first for the correct law. Then if they did view it and were found to have invaded his privacy he's got a case against them.
 
For clarification, here's the actual URL for the original story on the topic. Goto: http://www.wxyz.com/news/mystery-drone- ... s-backyard

Note: The statement below is from the actual news report and would need to be verified/substantiated by a lawyer to confirm it's accuracy of any such law.

(Quote from the news report: "Police say flying a drone on a public street is legal, and due to privacy laws they can't watch what was recorded." End of quote). (Refer to the actual URL provided in this post above for verification of this statement by the news).
 
i am an american living in thailand in a condo and there are 2 buildings in the complex. my building welcomes me and everyone seems happy to see me with my fc40 in the parking lot in front of the building. I was asked to video a friends balcony next building because that buildings committee told my friend, he could not have plants on his 8th floor balcony. My poor friend is 80 and plants is his only hobby. He takes cuttings and replants them and gives the new potted plan to his friends, but the committee said no. So they cut off his water and electricity to make him comply( very illegal) . I was in the parking lot for a New York second and out came 2 security guards and 2 building managers and 2 committee ( condo comandos) members and they called the police on me and threatened me with throwing me off the 18th floor if i dont go away.

I did go but i found out if i launched from public land like a public access road ( 10 feet from where i stood) i can fly where i want. They dont own the air space above the parking lot or above the condo for that matter.

I say all this because there are some very paranoid people in the world, mostly americans and they dont like their space invaded. the problem s that they dont know what their space is. I suggest you find an open field to fly in not becuase of the crazies in your neighborhood but because u can fly better and dont have to worry about not all satellites being blocked out, less damage to your unit and less chance of ur unit falling into the yard for a pit bull to eat or your neighbors biting ur balls off then feeding the unit to their dog or putting it on ebay to resell.
 

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