Can we stop all the drone hate?

[Steve Wells]

I’ve struggled here. Twice now I’ve almost threw my Mavic3 up for sale and got a 3 meter selfie stick instead of a drone. Or fly with cameras tethered to kites vs drones. I calm down. But truely I’m flying less than i would have been without the very real 1 in 5-10 chance of conflict each time I go out.

Part of my challenge is what feels very vulnerable where i need to keep a constant VLOS and have someone doing their best to distract me typically irate and/or accusatorial at the same time. I’ve told them that I’d be happy to talk to them but i need to get the drone safely down. Part of the reason why, like others, i tend to want to fly inside my vehicle to make myself less approachable. I’ve been tempted to get an orange vest with words on the back of “pilot in flight, do not distract” or something like that.

I think part of my frustration is everyone assumes the worst without even clarifying. I was flying recently over my property and a neighbor multiple houses down was convinced i was perking their 10 year old kids in their swimming pool. There was very little i could do to talk her out of it including showing her the footage I collected. I’m sure since then she’s told the entire neighborhood that I’m a pedophile. I went to talk to the again and you could just see on the mom’s face that she heard my words but wasn’t going to believe me. Sigh

There is some good advice here. thanks

 

[LongRifle]

I've never been harassed in 6 years of flying DJI drones and 4 years of Parrot drones before that. But if I'm ever accused of spying on anyone I would calmly point out that they are grossly overestimating their significance. I mean seriously, no one gives 2 bits about them in public.

 

[whazzup]

Never harassed in a year or so of flying. I approach people who are near me and ask if they are uncomfortable. I say I am not flying near them (actually not legal to fly over them anyway). I've joked with a few people that I'm not a pervert. I actually tried to look into my own house with my Mini and my Mini 3 and really can't see past the window. So I try to defuse the two or three things that most people are concerned about before it becomes contentious. I think if people know you are kind and considerate, they should not be as likely to get antagonistic.

 

[SpitFire]

I have been flying for 5 years now nine the US, and no negative feed back from people.
I fly in the stealth mode, I have 3 drones, 2 MP's 1 MM2. I try to be discerning where I fly, and what drone I use.
Stealth mode means, flying under the radar. I take off from behind trees, inside my car, never bring attention to my self or the drone. I use the MM2, to introduce people to drones, because its not as intimidating as the MP.
My MP, has strobes, reflectors, it has lights on it for night flying, makes a lot of noise on take off. I try very hard to be a ambassador for the drone industry. Helping people understand that drones are in the future, whether they like it or not.

 

[Reelman67]

I stopped flying in my neighborhood since there are 3 persons I know of who don't like drones. One of them approached me while I was in flight, asked me to please not fly over her house (I had not ever flown over her house.) And besides, I find flying in my neighborhood boring anyway. Am always contemplating new places to fly. There are two other drone owners in the neighborhood, and they rarely fly local.

 

[doncooke]

Last weekend I flew a Dronelink mapping mission over my son's house in the Vancouver (BC) area. Beforehand, my son briefed the next-door neighbors, and afterward gave them orthophotos of their properties. The were supportive and very pleased to get the images. Mini-II.

 

[Hermey]

Thanks for your post, @Yaros. It sounds like a very tricky situation you have there. It sounds like there is some validity in how you describe the origins of the public bias against drones in your region. Unfortunately, what appears in the news --- on all kinds of topics, not just drones --- is often going to be something negative as opposed to something positive, because sensationalism and exaggerating issues, seems to sell the news. Other than in travel journals or nature documentaries which focus on fun stories about travel adventure and photography, "happy stories" don't often seem to be the MO of the news media.

I see a big part of your difficulty in that some of the most attractive areas for you to fly, also attract many others, who then may be concerned about your drone flying. I like the suggestions others have made about exploring the possibility of going to those areas at times of day when there are fewer people.

What I noticed about my habits about flying drones, is that I dislike flying in areas where there are other people nearby.
Part of this is because I need a lot of concentration to fly well -- watching the drone, proceeding along a planned flight path, moving gimbal to obtain best views, keeping an eye out for objects to avoid, changing course as seems optimal -- and monitoring battery. When other people are in the area it just creates more to think about, in part because I'm putting myself in their shoes, and sensitive about disrupting other's enjoyment of nature. So I really don't want others to see or hear the drone if at all possible. Sometimes that isn't possible, but all things considered, I prefer going to locations with fewer people. If I want to fly in a spot which is popular, I would seek to go at an early morning hour -- eg 6 or 7am, when there is enough light to fly, but far fewer people. Also less wind early in the morning.

I had an interesting and helpful experience not long ago when I went out in my backyard, and noticed a drone in the immediate area. Even though I'm a drone pilot myself, my first response to a drone near my house, was to feel uncomfortable with a perceived "invasive" presence, because I know what it can see. The drone was partly over my house and partly over my neighbors, and didn't belong to either of us. I wasn't happy about it. That experience was determinative because it led to me deciding not to fly my drone in residential neighborhoods, over other's homes, (which I actually had never done, up to that point) because I didn't want others to feel intruded upon.

As far as what can help if people get angry at you....along the lines of what others are suggesting...it may help to ask them if they've flown a drone, if they would like to see how it's done, and basically try to say things that pull them somewhat into your world. This can change their view from "that person is doing something TO ME" to "this person is sharing something WITH ME" and that is a big change.

 

[Gareeee]

Try wearing a hi-viz vest. It makes you look official and repels Karens.

 

[whazzup]

I had an interesting and helpful experience not long ago when I went out in my backyard, and noticed a drone in the immediate area. Even though I'm a drone pilot myself, my first response to a drone near my house, was to feel uncomfortable with a perceived "invasive" presence, because I know what it can see. The drone was partly over my house and partly over my neighbors, and didn't belong to either of us. I wasn't happy about it. That experience was determinative because it led to me deciding not to fly my drone in residential neighborhoods, over other's homes, (which I actually had never done, up to that point) because I didn't want others to feel intruded upon.

This is helpful -- it always helps to put yourself in other's shoes to understand. I would feel the same, which is why I am respectful.

 

[SladeSteele07]

A bit of about me, relating to this topic:
I've been flying drones for nearly 2 years now. I love everything about it except the people that come arguing that I can't fly here, that they're disturbed by it, and them "threatening" me...
I guess most drone pilots here can relate, or had a drone confrontation at least once. However, people in the EU mostly can relate even more, because here it is more of a problem because the laws are more restrictive, and drones aren't as common as in the US.

I fly in Mallorca, it is a small island in Spain, here drones are very uncommon, you see maybe one drone per year at most, and most drones flown here are flown by tourists that come to the island with drones. There are a couple of local people and companies I know that use drones, but still, the image I'm trying to portray is that it is not common to see drones here.

What I'm tired of:
This really annoys me, but at least every 2 weeks I fly, before I know it, there is an angry person in front of me shouting that what I'm doing is illegal, that they don't want them to be filmed, that they are scared that I'm spying on them, or whatever other excuse they can think of. Okay, these kinds of situations happen all over the place, mostly near beaches and public parks. I don't know who expects privacy in a place like that... I've had 3 people approach me angrily while I'm flying the last 3 weeks.
Yes, most local Spanish people are against drones, if they don't own one they don't understand, and they don't care about the laws, they just make up stupid crap about why it is wrong to fly here or there. Now during it is even more annoying because tourists are also getting angry over drones, some of them try to talk to me in another language, so I can't reply anything back. Other people I know that fly drones here, also have this problem, not only here but all over the world, most common in the EU as I mentioned above.
I know 2 people from US that fly drones, and they don't have drone confrontations as often as I do. Here in Mallorca, when you takeoff in a public location, at least 5 people will look over the drone... all because of my next point:

The misconception of the public:
People that don't have drones think that it has a giant lens to spy on them, or that we - drone pilots, use the drone for bad things only, but they don't understand that the only reason I'm flying near that beach or park is to capture the amazing views.

The real reason this happens:
Most might not agree with me here, but I blame the media for this, because they are spreading only bad news of drones, like when they crash against an airplane, or the White House, or when someone gets fined for flying illegally. This sets a bad image of drones in normal people that don't know as much as we do about drones.
Think about this for a minute, how many times have you seen positive news about drones on media, like when a drone saved someone, I can probably count on the fingers of one hand, and now think about how many times you have seen negative news about drones, much, much more often, at least in Spain and the EU, I don't live in the US, and don't know how the situation is there, however I can say that here it is not great. Spanish media even went as far as faking a drone accident as a joke, but by many it was perceived like something serious that really happened.

We can still fix this!
When someone approaches me angrily about me flying the drone, I try to explain why he/she is wrong, the reason I'm flying, and what are the rules and regulations. Sometimes the person just doesn't want to cooperate, in this case I just leave, because there is no point in arguing with someone like that, really. If we - as a drone community try to spread good words about drones to people that hate them now, that try to blame you just for flying over their house, and try to form a positive mindset about the topic, maybe we can minimize drone hate!

So... what's YOUR opinion about this? Do you agree or disagree? I would be happy to hear your point of view!

A message to the mods: If you find this thread inappropriate, please contact me directly before deleting, I'm happy to resolve any issues and disagreements. Just don't delete this anonymously, please. Thanks!

I have been flying drones for almost 15 years. We built them before DJI came out with the original Phantom 1. And I can honestly say that I've never had a confrontation. Now, it may be that I don't fly as much or around people as much, but my experience has not been negative.

 

[Brojon]

It seems to me that cultures periodically go through "manic" phases where there is something - ANYTHING - that seems to get people's ire up.
When COVID started it was masks. The True Believers were confrontational with the In Denial crowd.
I dunno what happened but as of about 3 years ago Europe has been awash with Privacy Delusionals. These people perceive everything as infringing on their privacy.
I was staying at a remote Gasthause in the Schwartzwald and I asked the owner if I could fly my drone. He said sure and would I share the video and pics with him. His property was literally up against a mountain and the flying was fun.
Suddenly a little pencil neck geek was screaming at the top of his lungs and waving his arms around.
I brought the drone - a tiny Spark - back and my wife and the owner came down to mediate.
Nope this clown insisted that I get rid of all the footage because taking photos that included his property was infringing on his privacy rights.
Insane. Not one logical reasoning - such as I could look it up on Google Maps - would make this guy budge.
I ran into this several times when taking pictures of waterfalls and older buildings.

 

[Chaosrider]

"perverts at Bondi Beach"

I was just sort of scanning this thread, but when I saw this, I had to at least take a look. The video itself was mostly boring. The particular guy in question may well have been a perv.

On the other hand, I think it's seriously ridiculous that anyone in a public place would have any expectation of privacy at all. That's part of what "public" means.

I've been flying drones for a little over a year now, and I've never had anything dimly like a negative confrontation. One time the Walmart delivery guy arrived while I was out flying. I brought the bird home, and showed it to him. He said that it was awesome and he wanted one!

I generally fly where nobody is, so I'm sure that helps. Everybody in the neighborhood knows I'm the "Drone Guy". I rarely fly over houses, but when I do I stay high above them.

The root cause attitude problem is people who think they get to dictate the terms of the entire universe around them. Sadly, I don't think that attitude is going away anytime soon.

 

[GFields]

This thread has run its course.