I came here to post this. I absolutely blame the media for spreading misinformation and lies about "drones". I hate that **** term the media popularized because it is synonymous with bad things and "spying". They have created this climate of fear and these idiots with no common sense immediate think someone is spying or up to no good when one is flying anywhere. What absolutely shocks me is that no charges are being filed. The drone operator was flying completely legally for legit purposes, he had his property violently destroyed, a gun was discharged in a neighborhood up in the air. How many bullets fired into the air every year kill random people? It happens all the time. The idiot woman and the guy who shot down the inspire should be charged to the fullest extent, along with civil charges. They should be sued into oblivion and put into jail. Society is so backwards it makes me sick.
This attitude is all too common with people. I posted this before the other day but I was flying last week on a large public canal bank here in Florida. Flying up and down the canal range testing my new DBS panel. At no point did I fly over any houses or people and I was always around 300-390ft expect to take off and land. Just after I landed to pack it up and go home, some idiot pulled up next to me in a pickup truck in a very aggressive belligerent manner. He shouted at me, "What are YOU DOING?". I told him I am enjoying flying my quadcopter. He scream back, "That's no quadcopter, THAT IS A DRONE!". He then told me he saw it fly past his property and accused me of spying on him in a plot to steal his horses. I could not believe what I was hearing. I spent 10 mins explaining to him I am a hobbyist out for enjoyment, that I've lived down the street for 8 years and I am a responsible citizen. I would be happy to show him my flight logs and footage so he would not need to take my word for it. Finally got him to calm down and realize what I am saying is true. He left me saying that he is retired and is looking out for his neighbors and that I better be careful because people "around here" don't take kindly to drones and someone will shoot it down eventually. I felt like saying that would make them criminals for discharging firearms in a neighborhood and endangering people, while I am legal, but I held my tongue.
What absolutely amazed me about this encounter is that his property was about 300ft from where I was sitting bordered on 2 sides by public roads. I was just sitting out in the open in the middle of the canal bank not hiding anything. You could see his whole place better from the public road than in the air especially at 400ft where I can see less than a google earth view. What was this guy thinking? I told him that I can't see much that high and he said "don't tell me that because my nephew has one and it can zoom in real good on horses." In reality it would be the worst possible way to "spy" on someone because it's immediately apparent. It's obvious he has been completely brainwashed by the media. How do you deal with these fools? More and more of them around.
