So I was asked by the local Gov't to do some aerial video of the last 5k run of the year. It's called the Zombie-Thon. It is a road race, walk, with some Halloween dress up mixed in. The road race ends up as a block party, concert downtown. The police wasn't in on me showing up with the F550 so i was curious of their reaction.
I had a great time flying and I was probably the biggest thrill of the night for the crowd that showed up. I had dozens of people videoing my drone and asking a zillion questions. Close to the end when I was getting ready to pack up and leave two cops show up and one of them tells me they are going to have to confiscate my drone and all of my other gear. Then the other smiled and said just make sure the batteries are fully charged so we can fly it too. They both laughed and also asked the same zillion questions.
They told me there was no law they knew of to prevent me from flying anywhere in the downtown area I wanted. If there were it was an old obscure law buried in the books that was most likely never enforced like jay walking or something. Have fun, be careful and call us if you need us as I was told.
It's very strange to me with all of the paranoia going on that people in my hometown are so friendly about the whole drone thing. I would have bet it all the opposite would have been true. I guess I misjudged how nice the people in my hometown are.
I did use common sence though, I stayed away from powerlines, found a big launch site and never let the batteries get even close to to low. And I practiced a lot just prior to the whole event.
I had a great time flying and I was probably the biggest thrill of the night for the crowd that showed up. I had dozens of people videoing my drone and asking a zillion questions. Close to the end when I was getting ready to pack up and leave two cops show up and one of them tells me they are going to have to confiscate my drone and all of my other gear. Then the other smiled and said just make sure the batteries are fully charged so we can fly it too. They both laughed and also asked the same zillion questions.
They told me there was no law they knew of to prevent me from flying anywhere in the downtown area I wanted. If there were it was an old obscure law buried in the books that was most likely never enforced like jay walking or something. Have fun, be careful and call us if you need us as I was told.
It's very strange to me with all of the paranoia going on that people in my hometown are so friendly about the whole drone thing. I would have bet it all the opposite would have been true. I guess I misjudged how nice the people in my hometown are.
I did use common sence though, I stayed away from powerlines, found a big launch site and never let the batteries get even close to to low. And I practiced a lot just prior to the whole event.
