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'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!