Mini 3 Aber Falls in Winter - and an attempted AVATA takedown

[AlbionDrones]

Casting off the lethargy of the betwixt Xmas and NY times, we took a trip out to Aber Falls, to stretch the legs and fly the drones, on Saturday the 28th of December...

A pleasant cool day for the walk, and a busy day at the falls, we were there just before 11am, and it was getting busier as the day wore on.

I opted to try the AVATA2 on the falls, mainly as I wanted to try and get some better 'diving' footage of the falls - which the AVATA2 will do as it can look straight down without obstruction - descending along the falls from above. There were however a lot of people around, so care had to be taken not to overly anyone - although one thuggish idiot decided he didn't like the drone and rather than come and tell me so or ask me to stop flying while he was there he chose instead to attempt to bring it down with a stone - you can see the guy (on the left of the screen) bend down and pick up a stone at 1.42ish, start his throw at about 1.46 and whizzes past the drone at 1.48.

Also, watch out for the DJI MINI coming down the falls as I was flying up...

The other drone and the thrown stones - which a member of the public told us about - meant it was not a time for an extended flight, so after flying one battery we packed up and came home, still we captured enough footage for a short video...

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[LandWaterSky]

Absolutely gorgeous footage....

"The other drone and the thrown stones - which a member of the public told us about - meant it was not a time for an extended flight, so after flying one battery we packed up and came home, still we captured enough footage for a short video..."

However....this.

Good for you for being sensitive to the experiences of the other people around you.

I'm honestly on the fence about the rights of drone pilots to fly vs. the rights of people out in nature to have peace and tranquility without the constant noise pollution of modern times.

I think the simplest answer is to respect the majority in the situation like this. Find another time or day to take multiple passes over a creek or falls where people may be present.

Good on you for doing the right thing.

 

[AlbionDrones]

Absolutely gorgeous footage....

"The other drone and the thrown stones - which a member of the public told us about - meant it was not a time for an extended flight, so after flying one battery we packed up and came home, still we captured enough footage for a short video..."

However....this.

Good for you for being sensitive to the experiences of the other people around you.

I'm honestly on the fence about the rights of drone pilots to fly vs. the rights of people out in nature to have peace and tranquility without the constant noise pollution of modern times.

I think the simplest answer is to respect the majority in the situation like this. Find another time or day to take multiple passes over a creek or falls where people may be present.

Good on you for doing the right thing.

Thanks... tbh the waterfall is spectacular but most folks stay 10-20 mins and then make the walk back, if the other person had actually just come and asked then I would have brought the drone down and waited until they had left, but they felt attempted violence was the smarter and easier option... Sad really that conflict is their first choice rather than just asking...

 

[GFields]

Nice video! Loved the falls. I don't know the rules there, but here in the USA, the FAA considers drones as an aircraft and if someone shoots it down or brings it down with a stone, if is considered a Federal Crime.

 

[AlbionDrones]

Thanks, not the same in the UK, but I am investigating the options for reporting it...