Drone Paranoia

[Bug Shredder]

Yesterday I was flying my Phanton 3 Advanced from my back yard with the intent to take a few pictures of my house power line over the property right-of-way. Seems my adjacent neighbor's tree has grown over the power line and is pulling so hard the wires are tilting my power pole and popping the guide wire strands. I managed a few shots and landed next to my feet at the back of my house when my other neighbor behind me stands on a step to look over my six foot parimeter fence and yells "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Yes," I answered him. "I was taking pictures of my power line in the tree"

Screeming loudly he tells me," If you ever go in my back yard again, you are in big, big trouble! You hear me? BIG TROUBLE!"

That flabbergasted me and I shouldn't have, but told him, "You really need to get a life!"

He has accused me of throwing trash over the fence into his yard before which is nonsense, too, but why do we have to have such ( Mod Removed ) for neighbors? I'm guessing we all have one... Well, that reminds me of last week:

I frequently fly my drone over the bay at my local county water-side park looking for schools of fish which is perfectly legal, when this guy grabs me by the shoulder and growels at me that I better not be taking pictures of his wife. WTF? I assured him I was not even aware his wife was around and that I was not filming or taking pictures of people. "Just be carefull," he snarled.

Is this paranoia growing? And it seems the news media is feeding into it. I'm afraid we hobbyists will soon have to give it up. I see where local municipalities are ignoring state and federal laws and enacting no-drone zones everywhere now.

 

[bhartwell]

People are just hypersensitive to drones, why leaves me scratching me head.

Part of the issue in my view is that people have become hypersensitive to most things they do not directly control. An off comment, is blown up into “person x ranted at me......”. An unexpected hug becomes “harassment....”. We live in a world in which micro-aggression is beloved to be a real thing. A person will literally shoot other people if they feel that person “cut them off” and as such disrespected a proud “name your class, race, orientation” person. It’s freakish how people have become so sensitive to minor things.

A drone is seen by people as somehow invading their personal space, a camera angled anywhere near a person, their house or their property is invading their privacy, a video of a random duck is terrorizing wildlife. Your neighbor is a reflection of a wider inability for people to be reasonably able to accommodate other people and our current seeming inability to live and let live. Sad really.

 

[MapMaker53]

It's good that you took photos of that tree leaning on the wire problem. You can show that to the power company and have them trim back that tree. Regarding the neighbor, just check to see what ordinances your town has in place regarding drones and, if you are in fact in the clear, just report the neighbor to the local police if he continues to harass or threaten you. You actually could preempt that by finding a good article regarding drones, property-owner rights, and FAA ownership of airspace and just drop a copy in is mailbox to educate him.

As far as the guy who tapped you on the shoulder and told you to make sure you do not take any pictures of his wife, I would have made a deal with him to not take any photos of his wife with your drone as long as he promises not to take any photos of YOUR wife with his smartphone.

 

[JeffreyS]

Don't know why you are telling us all this stuff. Everybody runs into morons every day. There are millions of them out there. People are generally afraid of what they are too ignorant to understand. Ignore them. Get over it. Move on. If someone's actions (or lack of) are creating a potential hazard on your property, call the utility company or the police.

 

[Phantom2USA]

It's good that you took photos of that tree leaning on the wire problem. You can show that to the power company and have them trim back that tree. Regarding the neighbor, just check to see what ordinances your town has in place regarding drones and, if you are in fact in the clear, just report the neighbor to the local police if he continues to harass or threaten you. You actually could preempt that by finding a good article regarding drones, property-owner rights, and FAA ownership of airspace and just drop a copy in is mailbox to educate him.

As far as the guy who tapped you on the shoulder and told you to make sure you do not take any pictures of his wife, I would have made a deal with him to not take any photos of his wife with your drone as long as he promises not to take any photos of YOUR wife with his smartphone.

Not too sure about putting anything in the mailbox though. I believe that's reserved for USPS only.

 

[MapMaker53]

You don't get people putting flyers in your mail box? Perfectly legal.

 

[dirkclod]

You don't get people putting flyers in your mail box? Perfectly legal.

Sorry MM but it’s not unless it has been metered.
Wife works for USPS as a city carrier and have seen them
Or heard her talk about it. They have issues during local elections with the candidates doing it. Pretty sure you be ok slipping something into a few . Guess it would depend on your carrier.

 

[Rodee34]

Yesterday I was flying my Phanton 3 Advanced from my back yard with the intent to take a few pictures of my house power line over the property right-of-way. Seems my adjacent neighbor's tree has grown over the power line and is pulling so hard the wires are tilting my power pole and popping the guide wire strands. I managed a few shots and landed next to my feet at the back of my house when my other neighbor behind me stands on a step to look over my six foot parimeter fence and yells "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Yes," I answered him. "I was taking pictures of my power line in the tree"

Screeming loudly he tells me," If you ever go in my back yard again, you are in big, big trouble! You hear me? BIG TROUBLE!"

That flabbergasted me and I shouldn't have, but told him, "You really need to get a life!"

He has accused me of throwing trash over the fence into his yard before which is nonsense, too, but why do we have to have such ( Mod Removed ) for neighbors? I'm guessing we all have one... Well, that reminds me of last week:

I frequently fly my drone over the bay at my local county water-side park looking for schools of fish which is perfectly legal, when this guy grabs me by the shoulder and growels at me that I better not be taking pictures of his wife. WTF? I assured him I was not even aware his wife was around and that I was not filming or taking pictures of people. "Just be carefull," he snarled.

Is this paranoia growing? And it seems the news media is feeding into it. I'm afraid we hobbyists will soon have to give it up. I see where local municipalities are ignoring state and federal laws and enacting no-drone zones everywhere now.View attachment 110286View attachment 110287View attachment 110304

I would have taken pics too. just sayin..

 

[2edgesword]

The Phantom looks like a camera drone and is relatively large and loud (compared to a Spark or Mavic) and might be more likely to be seen as a threat. I haven't had anyone say anything to me about me flying my drones. I usually take off and fly straight up to 100 feet before going in any direction. At that point you pretty much won't see it (half the size of a Phantom) unless you have been following it and you won't hear it. The drones I fly low level are seen as toy drones that most folks don't find threatening.

 

[xspwhite]

I would hate to live in a neighborhood where I had to hide/fly my drone, or not be able to just take a random flight at will. I guess in an area like that, a smaller drone might be more fit thow, but I guess you still might get harassed by someone.

 

[Vista de Condor]

You don't get people putting flyers in your mail box? Perfectly legal.

 

[Vista de Condor]

The federal rules for mail boxes said that the only piece that goes in the mail box need to have a stamp,NO STAMP IT IS ILLEGAL

 

[SWAT1]

Yesterday I was flying my Phanton 3 Advanced from my back yard with the intent to take a few pictures of my house power line over the property right-of-way. Seems my adjacent neighbor's tree has grown over the power line and is pulling so hard the wires are tilting my power pole and popping the guide wire strands. I managed a few shots and landed next to my feet at the back of my house when my other neighbor behind me stands on a step to look over my six foot parimeter fence and yells "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Yes," I answered him. "I was taking pictures of my power line in the tree"

Screeming loudly he tells me," If you ever go in my back yard again, you are in big, big trouble! You hear me? BIG TROUBLE!"

That flabbergasted me and I shouldn't have, but told him, "You really need to get a life!"

He has accused me of throwing trash over the fence into his yard before which is nonsense, too, but why do we have to have such ( Mod Removed ) for neighbors? I'm guessing we all have one... Well, that reminds me of last week:

I frequently fly my drone over the bay at my local county water-side park looking for schools of fish which is perfectly legal, when this guy grabs me by the shoulder and growels at me that I better not be taking pictures of his wife. WTF? I assured him I was not even aware his wife was around and that I was not filming or taking pictures of people. "Just be carefull," he snarled.

Is this paranoia growing? And it seems the news media is feeding into it. I'm afraid we hobbyists will soon have to give it up. I see where local municipalities are ignoring state and federal laws and enacting no-drone zones everywhere now.View attachment 110286View attachment 110287View attachment 110304

 

[Canyon Mike]

Yesterday I was flying my Phanton 3 Advanced from my back yard with the intent to take a few pictures of my house power line over the property right-of-way. Seems my adjacent neighbor's tree has grown over the power line and is pulling so hard the wires are tilting my power pole and popping the guide wire strands. I managed a few shots and landed next to my feet at the back of my house when my other neighbor behind me stands on a step to look over my six foot parimeter fence and yells "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Yes," I answered him. "I was taking pictures of my power line in the tree"

Screeming loudly he tells me," If you ever go in my back yard again, you are in big, big trouble! You hear me? BIG TROUBLE!"

That flabbergasted me and I shouldn't have, but told him, "You really need to get a life!"

He has accused me of throwing trash over the fence into his yard before which is nonsense, too, but why do we have to have such ( Mod Removed ) for neighbors? I'm guessing we all have one... Well, that reminds me of last week:

I frequently fly my drone over the bay at my local county water-side park looking for schools of fish which is perfectly legal, when this guy grabs me by the shoulder and growels at me that I better not be taking pictures of his wife. WTF? I assured him I was not even aware his wife was around and that I was not filming or taking pictures of people. "Just be carefull," he snarled.

Is this paranoia growing? And it seems the news media is feeding into it. I'm afraid we hobbyists will soon have to give it up. I see where local municipalities are ignoring state and federal laws and enacting no-drone zones everywhere now.View attachment 110286View attachment 110287View attachment 110304

Of course you're dealing with an unhinged personality. My suggestion would have been to tell him what you needed to do and why before you did it, and ask him if he'd like any shots while you were up there.

 

[Adamborz]

My perspective is people are looking for reasons to be offended all the time. Hence their apprehension about drones... and the mailman likes his unmetered Christmas money I put in the mailbox for him lol.

 

[Gregg Kielma]

I've had a neighbor who has done work at my home just yesterday freak out on me. He was screaming at me f you and i'll shoot that thing down.... and on and on he went. He never came on my property, just carried on from his home, very vulgarly, which is two home from mine, about 1 acre away.

I called law enforcement, told him what just happened. I invited him (sheriff) in to look at my flight logs which clearly indicate I was at 150 feet and flying in LOS the whole time, not above his home constantly at all as he thought.

He (sheriff) went to the gentlemen's home and told him I was in complete compliance with part 107 and was doing nothing nefarious or wrong. The neighbor informed him it was "scaring" his daughter and that he would take necessary actions against me if it continued. The officer told him to bring his daughter over to my home and check out the drone and would not in anyway hurt her. He also suggested my neighbor brush up on the rules of drone flying before making the allegations against me. I'm trusting he wont hurt us now the law enforcement is aware.

First and foremost I fly by the 107 rules. I don't fly early in the morning or during supper time. I don't fly on Sunday so neighbors don't have to see or hear the machine. I usually fly above 300 ft to eliminate noise and sound. I try to be a good neighbor. I've never had a cross word with him until a few days ago.

This has really impacted and bothered me and wife. I'm concerned if I go to speak to him he will want to get into a physical confrontation. I'm not about that. I just want to know how I can fly and not bother him or anyone else (never has any issues with anyone else)in my neighborhood and enjoy the sport that I love.

Any advice?

 

[Nick Mendocino]

I think a large part of the paranoia is the association of the drone word with military killer drones. Who hasn't seen on TV the detailed closeups of "terrorists" getting blown to shreds by drone-launched missiles. The general public doesn't realize that consumer drones have non-zoom cameras with wide-angle lenses. That's like someone trying to use binoculars to spy on someone and look through the backwards. Objects in our cameras are closer than they appear. Drone cameras are not suited to taking pictures of people; they are great for pictures of wide areas. But there have been countless news stories repeating the paranoid fantasies of people who shoot at drones or threaten their operators they think they are being spied on. It just isn't true, but the public isn't hearing the truth from the media. Instead these media reports spread the false premise of the paranoid.

 

[Adamborz]

Well if having the Sheriff speak with him didn’t set him right, then next time he goes off on you some fines might be in order. This is coming from me, a police officer and part 107 certified. If they shoot down your drone and you’re doing nothing wrong, the FAA will investigate. I fly from my house all the time, my neighbors don’t care. Maybe because they know I’m cop, but most likely because I try and get along with and know my neighbors. Seems today a lot of people are not too versed in communication if it doesn’t involve a keyboard. Good luck..,

 

[Paul2660]

If you are flying a phantom at 300 feet you won’t eliminate much noise. At 1500 out I can still hear my Vr2.0. Phantoms are loud. I had so hoped that DJI would work a MPP miracle with the P4vr2.0 but they did not. Safe to assume such a platform will always be loud.

Around my house I fly either MPP or MP2 both are much less noticeable. Would prefer to use P4 as I feel it has a better camera. But it’s big and loud.

As for the paranoia it’s jusr going to get worse as movies and other avenues keep referencing drones and how a drone can take a picture at 300 feet up and you can see a persons face. Total BS unless it’s a military model or an Inspire class with a very good telephoto lens which is rare. Plus the Phantom drone is the Icon used for all drones on TV, internet articles, movies. So everyone knows what a drone is, it’s the Phantom.

Just watch the movie “Eye in the Sky”. They have drones that totally fiction but a lot of people I am sure believe they exist when physics alone deem them impossible. A beetle drone with 4K that can run for over a hour?

Enjoy flying while you still can.

Paul C

 

[Phantom2USA]

Sorry MM but it’s not unless it has been metered.
Wife works for USPS as a city carrier and have seen them
Or heard her talk about it. They have issues during local elections with the candidates doing it. Pretty sure you be ok slipping something into a few . Guess it would depend on your carrier.

Sorry MM but it’s not unless it has been metered.
Wife works for USPS as a city carrier and have seen them
Or heard her talk about it. They have issues during local elections with the candidates doing it. Pretty sure you be ok slipping something into a few . Guess it would depend on your carrier.

Exactly, Thank you..