I know a drone hobbyist who has flown over many of these restricted stadiums during nationally televised games. He boasts at least over 100 of these types of flights. I asked him how he never gets caught. Most importantly, if he posts a video, he posts it to dark web sites and uses VPN as well as public upload sites, such as libraries or coffee shops.
Next, he says, he has blacked out all of his drone lights. He also uses hacked drones that have no altitude limit. He says, at 4000ft no aircraft or ground units can seem to find him. He also will go one way, at a level where his drone can be seen, then climb to a height where it can't be seen and fly the opposite way to his home point.
He has this other trick. He flies into a restricted airport corridor. Goes to a zero-altitude flight operations area and lands the drone there, throws it in the trunk of his car and leaves the scene. Of course, he uses his car to constantly change his ground location.
There are more tricks, but I'll share a last one. He flies his drones behind the bright stadium lights. He hovers there, doesn't move and remains unseen.
Oh, I forgot, because he remains in VLOS and remains mobile in his car. If he has to, he will drive and fly the drone to a wooded forest area, land it and turn it off. Then he picks it up later.
I find it sad that a well-educated drone pilot can do these these things, but the uneducated are the ones being punished. The educated and skilled pilots know how to play the game and never get caught. The newbies get caught and are reprimanded too excessive levels.
