Someone threatened me to call the cops on me today while flying my drone

over 50 it's an old close minded hermit who yell at kids "stay out of my lawn!"..
Clint headshake.gif
 
Too bad this thread showed a couple of attempts to veer towards race or age.
That's focusing on the wrong things.

This is not tangible and a debate on society is exactly what I am hoping for in this thread.

By the way, in my experience, a mature age does not equate a high propensity to dislike drones.

If anything I find people more mature and smarter the older they are.


Has anyone seen the OP?
It's pretty sad, he hasn't come around.
 
Shady area. But "private road" says a lot. I live on a private street, i.e., a street that was not built with taxpayer dollars, that is not maintained at taxpayer expense. You have no right to drive on my street unless you have been invited to do so.
It wasn't a privat road.
 
We really don't know if the road was private or not. The angry people on the balcony probably don't know if it is private either? Angry people say things just to get you to stop or do what they want you to do. Do they own it? Who owns it? Most roads are public. The OP only said it was a lonely road. Therefore, we really don't know. Many private roads are marked as private too.
Exactly. I don't think they the road was privat. If it were, they should have post a sign privat road. But there was no sign.
 
This was the epic sunset shoot that I was getting and got it.

I like what few people had to say.
Kill them with kindness.

The next day I flew PH4 in sunland, CA.
High up on a mountain was one house. I did hear people taking. I was alittle afraid to fly because what happen the other day.
I flew it and the people in the house were really nice.
They were commenting on the drone.
So, I wave over to them to come down and join me and see what I was doing.
Mom, Son and his girl friend came down.
They were so excited and couldn't believe the footage I was getting.
At the end I offer them to fly around their house and send them the footage.
They were so happy, grateful and excited.
The mom said when I was ready to go.
Mom: thank you so much for sharing this amazing experience with us. We really appreciate it.
That made my day.
We switch emails and I'm going to send him the footage.
Made some new friends.

So, lesson learn. Now when I fly. I include people and talk to them. ;)

Kill them with kindness.
 

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In my "drone career" started in April 2015 till now, 50h+ fly time I got 2 haters.

One in my home town Zurich. I was flying over a public place. Nearby there was a private property, someone yelled at me and threatened to call the cops. I said I am allowed to fly 5km away from the airport and also over public spots like this, and I said it's legal. Since the spot was a boring place I stopped flying to avoid further problems and wrote an email to the police of Zurich, which explained me I'm allowed to fly NEAR a private property, but not OVER a private property if the owner complains about it. Also if somebody yells at me privacy I can't film their precious private property...

The second happened in Lithuania a few weeks ago. I was with a Lithuanian friend in the middle of nowhere 50km west from Vilnius and we saw a nice sunset and rainbow. We stopped spontaneously to drone there and capture the sunset. There were fields and I didn't even notice some houses not too far away. Initially I did fly far away from the houses, but in the end of my battery I did fly the drone in the direction of the houses, since the sunset was in that direction.
It seems somebody yelled something, but because of the "bzzz" of the drone I didn't hear anything. Then after a little while a car came at full speed and parked near our car, in the grass.

1 guy came out and yelled at me:

GUY: "are you a journalist, have you got permission to fly a drone here.

ME: "no im a tourist and I don't think I need any permission here".

GUY: "it's forbidden, give me your passport number!"

[...]

I explained I was filming the sunset and I told him if I was flying over his private property I was SORRY and I explained him I didn't spy him or so. The guy insisted on this passport number.
I told him I could show him the videos I took. He said "OK".

Good thing to have with your ALL THE TIME: a OTG card reader (especially if you fly with a modern smartphone which doesn't have a slot for sd card. If you have a slot for sd card no need for it) so you can anytime take out your SD card and watch/delete videos on site. This saved my life there.

I showed the videos to the guys, eventually they calmed down and they liked them :) the last video I was a bit close to their house, but they saw it was very dark and could not see much but just the nice colors of the sunset.
In the end they asked me if I can send them the last videos. I gave them my word and I did it send the guy the video within 24h.

So in the end that was a good learning opportunity for me to:
  • be humble and be sorry if I annoyed some people
  • improve my negotiation/selling skills (I was ready even to pay something -like the price of a bottle of wine or so- to avoid calling cops etc. and wasting much more of my vacation time)
  • be careful where I fly next time(s) and have super listening skills to hear people yelling at me 100m away
I even joked I was lucky not to be flying near a farm in USA, else my drone could have been shot with a shotgun in such a circumstance :)

Cheers :)
I will publish a video about Lithuania, including the sunset. Not sure when but if you subscribe you'll see in a few weeks. Drone Zurich YouTube channel
 
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"I'm not planning on enter a debate about society, media and behavior..."

OK.

"On my definition racial and cultural intolerance, and any form of xenophobia fit perfect on the dangerous zone."

And then you entered the debate. o_O
 
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  • improve my negotiation/selling skills (I was ready even to pay something -like the price of a bottle of wine or so- to avoid calling cops etc. and wasting much more of my vacation time)
Ah, the fine art of bribery. As an American who lived abroad for ~30 years I was a Rembrandt in this art.
 
So, i just got a brand new PH4. Today was my 2nd. flight with it. I owned a PH1 and PH2V2 before. I'm an experience pilot and one of the first pilots since 2013.
I never encounter such hateful reaction before from people, being a drone operator.
Today, I drove up a nice rich community, up into the mountains in La Canada flintridge CA. There was a very amazing and beautiful sunset and a lonely road with just a flew townhouses, right next to the La Canada flintridge country club.
I was on my 2nd. battery. On the monitor i saw that my SD card was full. I brought my drone down and switch cards. The drone was on the floor when all of the sudden an older couple started yelling at me from their balcony. The conversation went like this.

HATERS: Hey you! You there, stop flying your drone! This is a private road, you are not allow to fly here.

I look to see from where the voices came and saw them an older male and female on the edge of the balcony.
I thought the best wasn't to respond and to ignore them. So i choose not to engage and continue with what i was doing.

HATERS: Are you not talking to us? Ok, fine, we will call the cops now.

They went on the phone, angrily. I was considering what to do. The sun will set in 10mins and I was waiting all day for this shot, if i leave now, i will miss it. So, I decided to start up the drone and fly again.

HATERS(Continues): Stop flying your stupid drone. The cops are on the way to arrest you.

By now I have already gained altitude. I didn't want any trouble with these people. They seam very mean.
So, I got into my car and flew my drone to 400ft. high, almost out of their sight. I pull my car away from their balcony and from their sight, around the corner, then from the new spot, i flew my drone over to where i was and got the beautiful sunset shot that i wanted.
During the whole time i was shaking, but I needed this shot. Once the sun was down, i brought it back down and took off.
I'm just really buff to encounter such hateful people against Drone operators. I wasn't interested in them, their house or anything. They seam like very boring people. I just wanted the sunset. I have never experience this kind of reaction before. Usually when i fly, people are curious and nice and want to talk and see my footage. The drone was always a ice-breaker and i could make new friends while flying.

Has anyone encounter something like this?
What are the rules for flying in CA, Los Angeles?
When I got my first drone back in 2013 flying was legal and there weren't any regulations.
Do, i need to get a license now?
Let's say, I would had an encounter with cops today, what were my rights?
What type of papers do I need to have? Any advice?
Was it really illegal to fly there?
Thanks a bunch

I was asked to fly my Phantom 4 at a 4th of July celebration at our Infantry Museum near Fort Benning by the director of the museum. I asked that security be notified since we would be bring our rolling case and the rule was no backpacks or bags were allowed. My partner and I went through security fine with the assistance of a staff member. Later that day we were hovering about 40 feet in the air taking some stills when another security officer approached and said we couldn't fly there as there was an air field 5 miles away. We politely informed him that the head of security and the director of the facility had both asked and approved our flight, and that at 40 feet height we were not interfering with aircraft (We were even below the roof line of the building we were photographing.). He disputed what we said, but then called on his radio to the head of security. After that he didn't bother us again.
 
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In my "drone career" started in April 2015 till now, 50h+ fly time I got 2 haters.


I will publish a video about Lithuania, including the sunset. Not sure when but if you subscribe you'll see in a few weeks. Drone Zurich YouTube channel

I am of Lithuanian descent, but never have been there...yet. Would love to see the video, will be following your channel. Thanks!
 
Glad you found time to let us know Your opinion on Mr Eastwood .
Now ,Lets get this back on topic shall we :)
 
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I'm sorry to hear about your experience with the media. I have seen the rare reports of people violating laws (usually airport restrictions) with their drones, but I have never seen a report labeling us as perverts or criminals. Of course, I live in a state (Maryland) that will not have drone regulations other than those imposed by the FAA before 2018 at the earliest, but that does have a law forbidding counties and municipalities from regulating drones. Much of the most heavily populated part of the state is within the DCA and BWI no-fly zones, however.
For months on the major news networks it was almost a nightly or weekly broadcast about drones outside of condos and a woman walking around her high-rise with one outside her window....even though the drone was filming a construction job she was sure it was looking in her window. I just wish and that is all I can do is hope people try to avoid unfavorable attention and fly safe. The FAA has established guidelines and they are starting to fine people. Have a great day...safe flying.
 
So far I have had nothing but pleasant experiences with people who have encountered me and my drone. That includes neighbors. I hope my luck holds out.
 
So far I have had nothing but pleasant experiences with people who have encountered me and my drone. That includes neighbors. I hope my luck holds out.
The neighbors are the most important ones. That's likely where 90% of your flying will originate from. Keep them happy! :cool:
 
A few have even asked me to take a pic of their home for them. One family even had me take a pic while they stood outside and waved.
 

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