How do people react to your Phantom?

Most people are in aww and think it is the coolest thing in the world. I had one guy who was a little nervous and asked if I was spying. I brought it down to about 100 feet and showed him the video feed and he realized it was hard to see what anyone actually looked like from that distance and how loud is around that distance. He was sold on one before he left.

I had another incident where a group of thugs came up and threatened to rob me of it. When they saw my Ruger they quickly changed their mind and hauled ***.
 
Positive interfacing with the public...

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I have not had the bottle to fly in a public place yet because the distraction would probably cause me to loose concentration and end up with a pile of broken plastic on the road, this would make myself feel a right tit.
The few friends that I have shown are blown away by the technology and the quality of the images or video once downloaded.
 
I fly naked quite often. Don't knock it till you try it.

Hey TJ
I know sdtrojan can go to Blacks Beach to fly neked.

Where do you go, so I never stumble upon that spot?
 
My experiences so far have all been positive, both when around others, or when I have intentionally demonstrated it. I almost always hear, "Oh, I want one of those," or similar. The other comment I almost always hear is, "It isn't as big as I thought they would be," for which I follow up by asking, "Could and airline pilot see one of these at 3,000 feet doing 300 mph?" They agree not, allowing me to point out some of these malicious drone reports are not likely from the "hobby drones." In short, my experiences with others has always ended up being very positive PR for the hobby, and we need all of that we can get to change popular opinion.

Paul
 
Had positive experiences when flying in local park. Sometimes I'd fly over my house to get some video of the sunsets. One neighbor joked I should get a recliner so I don't tweak my neck. Usually at 250' or so, you can't really hear or see it if you're not looking.

The other day I took it lower to check out the flood basin behind my house to see if the city was making progress on cleanup. When I was packing up after the flight a neighbor walked up and asked me not to overfly his house (I actually didn't). He said his wife freaked out when she saw the blinking lights and camera. Told him "no worries" and what I was doing. He believed me and said he thought about getting one himself.

So I think I will eliminate flights by my house, unless maybe a launch directly to 200+ feet first.
 
I have never had a bad response,only good. I always fly in areas away from people and houses, but often dog walkers or others arrive mid flight.
As others have commented they like the FPV view on my Nexus tablet,they are surprised how fast it climbs,and how far out it goes.
I also use a Flytrex live which is great fun back home to analyse your flight,and answers the question "How would you find it if it flew away?"
I am very lucky to live on the coast, with endless miles of sand when the tide is out,and nearby we have mountains and moorland, and places no-one ever goes, apart from me.
So yes all positive.
 
This morning, I logged about a half hour of flight time at a park. There were a few joggers, but it was a very large grass area where I was flying. None of the joggers said anything, but a few stopped and watched it for a minute. Then a little boy (I would say maybe five years old) came up and asked if he could fly it.
When I was first learning to fly my Phantom, I used to go to this soccer complex quite near my house. Lots of wide open space and no obstacles. Perfect. And I used to flight train there pretty early in the morning or in the evenings. Never during the day because Phantoms attract a crowd. Then, the people become a distraction, and then someone asks if they can fly it.
Then, if you say 'no', then you come off as some jerk.
I find the easiest thing ( particularly when you are learning to fly ) it's best to avoid people when you can.
 
I know two people who've walked away intent on purchasing one after seeing the FPV screen. No hassles yet, but I do live in a relatively unpopulated part of the UK and (in my experience) the less densely populated an area is the lower the percentage of idiots.
 
Until a person gets quite comfortable with flying their Phantom, it's best to avoid any distractions.....like people.
Dealing with people asking you questions as they attempt to hold on to their dogs, as you come in to land with a low battery, isn't the best combination.
Phantoms are expensive and it only takes something missed on the preflight checklist to doom a flight.

Whenever I'm flying and people show up, most times, I will hover the Phantom and answer whatever questions they have.
Then, if I'm going to land, I will let them know I have to pay attention to what I'm doing.
Once I have landed and powered off, I'm quite willing to answer any other questions they may have.
 
Had positive experiences when flying in local park. Sometimes I'd fly over my house to get some video of the sunsets. One neighbor joked I should get a recliner so I don't tweak my neck. Usually at 250' or so, you can't really hear or see it if you're not looking.

The other day I took it lower to check out the flood basin behind my house to see if the city was making progress on cleanup. When I was packing up after the flight a neighbor walked up and asked me not to overfly his house (I actually didn't). He said his wife freaked out when she saw the blinking lights and camera. Told him "no worries" and what I was doing. He believed me and said he thought about getting one himself.

So I think I will eliminate flights by my house, unless maybe a launch directly to 200+ feet first.
That's absolutely right. Once you get to 200 feet altitude, no one is going to see or hear your Phantom even if it was overflying your neighborhood. Some people get concerned about privacy issues(largely because of what some other stupid drone owners have done) but, for the most part, I think most people are OK.
I find that when people actually come over and have a look at your Phantom, they go away wanting to buy one themselves!!:)
 
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Then, the people become a distraction, and then someone asks if they can fly it.
Then, if you say 'no', then you come off as some jerk.

I think I would ask if I can hold $3,000 of their money while they control that much of mine. ;)
 
Everyone has been kind to me when out flying but one neighbor had the classic paranoid "you could spy on me" attitude and kept saying how creepy it was. In fact in every group there is always that one guy who says "oh i bet you can spy on people with that" It happened so often i posted this on my face book page.



Ok, so everyone and their brother keeps telling me how my RC helicopter "drone" is creepy because you can spy on people. They don't realize how ridiculous that sounds.

This picture shows my phantom, its price and what I can see with it. It also shows a pair of binoculars, its price and what you can see with it. Now you tell me if your privacy is threatened by these flying toys!
10696326_10153250105036549_4983502398331017764_n-2.jpg


got a lot of replies with that post and I think I put a lot of people at ease.
 
I live right by the Natchez Trace and like an area called the Overlook because it has a nice view of the reservoir. I was recently told by the park ranger on duty though that use of a UAV was not allowed in a national park. He was not mean or abusive and was even apologetic. He was also quite interested in the Phantom. What really drives me bonkers is the use of the term "toy" as in "hey. Looks like you got a new toy," or "how much did that toy set you back?" Something about that just really irritates me.

So now I guess I need to find some place else to fly.
 
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I live right by the Natchez Trace and like an area called the Overlook because it has a nice view of the reservoir. I was recently told by the park ranger on duty though that use of a UAV was not allowed in a national park. He was not mean or abusive and was even apologetic. He was also quite interested in the Phantom. What really drives me bonkers is the use of the term "toy" as in "hey. Looks like you got a new toy," or "how much did that toy set you back?" Something about that just really irritates me.

So now I guess I need to find some place else to fly.

Here's the way I understand it, PROBABLY WRONG but start out flying outside the park. Park your butt on the other side of the fence and have at it. I would try to make a point of not pissing folks off but from what I understand, you can be chatting with your friendly ranger while you are flying, him on one side of the line and you on the other. I'll send a buddy your way to offer other places to fly in Ole Miss.
 
I live right by the Natchez Trace and like an area called the Overlook because it has a nice view of the reservoir. I was recently told by the park ranger on duty though that use of a UAV was not allowed in a national park. He was not mean or abusive and was even apologetic. He was also quite interested in the Phantom. What really drives me bonkers is the use of the term "toy" as in "hey. Looks like you got a new toy," or "how much did that toy set you back?" Something about that just really irritates me.

So now I guess I need to find some place else to fly.
Whats up nauzerlvr :) Me one of them guy's in N/E MS The Natchez Trace is Federal and never checked their reg's on the parkway as I work for the state but I will if ya need me too :)
 
Thanks Dirk, lets see if he's still awake at this hour.

Nice Avatar too.
 

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