Ever see a drone flying while traveling around?

[Tommytucka]

Not seen any other drones while flying in the uk, a friend has a spark and never even seen him flying that, got a lot of interest last year when I went to a wedding in Kos and took my mav with me!

 

[frankiez]

I took my Mavic with me to Germany and I was staying at this little farmhouse way out in the country. I was outside one evening and off in the distance I heard that familiar buzz of the Mavic. It grew louder and low and behold there was another Mavic flying by. I quickly got my Mavic and put it up to try to fly with it but by the time I got it set up the other Mavic was gone.

 

[Colorado_scott]

I'm in Westminster, CO. There are two things (maybe more) I can take from this data; 1) not many have >$500 drones to fly around or 2) the limited legal flying areas are few and far between so we don't see many in our daily travels. I'll assume drone sales (at least the DJI kind - somewhat expensive) are not great IN COMPARISON to the <$100 drones - the kind kids get for Christmas. Based on price alone, I have to think 75% of the drones sold are <$100, the other 25% are similar to DJI's products. Those that have the money are attracted to DJI, Yuneec, Autel, and other higher end products. Data I have seen (perhaps by drone manufacturers) indicate drone sales are booming - so where are they all? I'd think we'd see many flying around in our daily travels - yet, no, we don't. Why?

 

[joejaxvic123]

I saw a Phantom flying over an office park area I was doing service at, in the middle of the day, he was about 200' up, flew slowly by and was gone.

 

[FickleMistress]

Last fourth of July, I saw at least two sets of blinking LEDs flying around capturing fireworks. I've also seen a couple instances of both drones and RC planes tootin' around. I've never seen any drones flying while I'm driving around though.

 

[Wantobeflyer]

I have only been flying beginner drones $ 100 - 150 range while I consider jumping in with a quality Mavic or other high end drone. I agree with this post that drones are rarely seen. Travelling extensively around the US and Europe. I am near obsessed with looking for drones being flown by others. Understanding that drones are limited with where they can fly, including over people, I understand these limitations. However I NEVER see drones being flown. Is the drone community that well behaved? Or is it combination of factors ( flight time, battery life, visibility ) that makes drones seem non existent.

 

[Derek_M]

Yea a dji spark in Dominican Republic

 

[bushie]

Only one I have seen was a couple of years ago when one was flying around the hotel we were staying in on Phuket, Thailand.

 

[laurens23]

I see them every now and then here in China. Pretty much any internationally recognised tourist spot that is not a NFZ will have some drone activity (temples, mountains, lakes, famous parks, city skylines). Besides that I see some in local parks when I go out in the weekends.

They are not 'all over the place', but spotting one is not rare either.

Most are Mavic pro's some phantoms and xiaomi mi, and recently a bunch of mavic air drones. Other models are rare, and I've never seen anything bigger than a P4.

 

[Jonny_Pain]

I saw one at a ski resort last summer while downhill mountain biking. Actually, it was after I was done and drinking a beer...

 

[Skiergd011013]

other than my friend who has one and flying together, I have only seen one once, and it was the fire dept's inspire looking for a missing person.

 

[Marples]

I've never seen a drone either here where I live, or while traveling. There is a large RC plane community locally, but they only seem to fly fixed wing and helicopters. When insuring my drone last week the agent did say they had talked to one person that had expressed interest in doing the same, but didn't come back to follow through. Living in a rural area, with a small middle class, I suppose there are not going to be many people spending the money on a drone beyond the toy level.

 

[Mossiback]

I'll bet there are a lot up but not seen, given the small size and distance.

 

[gjmphoto]

I think there are a lot more than you realize. You just may not be seeing them. Even at 200' alt., the Mavic is pretty silent, even if you're walking under it. If you're in a car, you're not going to see one unless you're staring at the skies...which, btw, would be good for the drone operator, because they'll get great footage of the pile up you create!

 

[microlinux]

I've never seen another drone in the Twin Cities, and I fly quite often in various different places.

I suspect the average drone owner doesn't really take it out all that often. This people in this forum tend to be very active in the hobby, I think that can distort our perception of the "typical" drone owner.

 

[genesimmons]

im pretty lucky i can fly walking distance in any direction and a quick drive takes u to some amazing places, i haveonly heard one drone in all my time hiking mountain biking snomobiling and quading. i believe he/she was camping at a local site we hike at. only time i have seen or heard one and it kinda blows me away as we havesome amazing areas in our backyard and when i post pics on our local fb page people seem shocked at the scenery, but its been there the whole time the drone just adds a different dimension to it

 

[frankiez]

Down here in SW Florida in my little town on the Gulf of Mexico, I thought I wouldn’t hear of a lot of drones. But my friends have seen Mavics and thought it was me. Another forum member from NYC comes down a few times a year and once he told me he went to fly near the beach and there were 2 other guys with Mavics flying already there. Now that you can buy a Mavic at Costco and Sams Club, everybody and their mother will be flying them.

 

[Wrinkle249]

. Now that you can buy a Mavic at Costco and Sams Club, everybody and their mother will be flying them.

That is what I thought as well, but the Phantoms were at Costco for a few years, last year the Mavic Pro was there, and last week they started carrying the Mavic Pro Platinum Combo with the DGI Goggles ($1299) - Not a bad deal, but I still do not see a huge upswing around me and I am in South Orange County where people seem to have money to burn...

 

[FlyGuy8675309]

Kind of a strange post, but I'll bite. I live in a pretty populated suburban area and I'm an obsessive sky-watcher even when I'm not flying; I look for aircraft of any kind. In the last 2 years, I've seen about 3 other drones in the area. I've also only seen about 3 alligators, even though there are hundreds if not thousands around me. I'll let you connect the dots.

 

[Banned]

Ive spotted only one while flying around Sacramento. It looked like they were landing and lost sight of them as they decended. It was pretty exciting but not as exciting to anyone around you at the time.

"Whoa!! Awww. Guys!!!" - while wearing goggles
"He is fine he's playing a game or something" - friend
"NOO! IT WAS ANOTHER! DRONE!!"
"It's a drone game I think" - ex-friend

Reviewing your footage you spot all sorts of things that could be someone but after the fact doesn't help much.