Crazy Neighbor and my Drone

[Mr Mint]

I was recently approached by one of my neighbors that lives about 1000 feet away from me just down the road. He came to my front door and told me to stop flying over the top of his house. I don't know this person so I am dealing with a perfect stranger. I just want to mention that we live in the country and there are open fields both in front and back of my house. I usually fly in the front field with no problems. He informs me that I was looking at his kids in their back yard swimming pool at his house. If I don't stop flying over his house he will call the police.
I told him that I have not been do such thing but I would check my flight logs to be sure. I did check my logs and sure enough I had not even once come near his property. I told him that I am flying legally and then asked him to leave. He was quite an aggressive neighbor. My wife says to me that I should go and see him at his door and inform him that I have not flown over the top of his house but I think that I just don't want to get into another war. He never did call the police but I was ready with my flight logs if need be What would you do. Go see the neighbor with the flight logs or leave things alone. Any advice or opinion would be appreciated. Thank You Mr Mint

 

[KaiservonPoopChute]

I'd let it go. You weren't doing anything wrong so your neighbor can complain all he wants. Going to his door to prove a point will just inflame the situation and you can never tell where someone's head is at these days. It could quickly turn from him being vocal to him being physical. Steer clear of his property and document any future encounters in case you need to get the law involved.

 

[JackL]

I would have told him to get off my property. If he gave me one bit of lip I would have called the cops.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

I was recently approached by one of my neighbors that lives about 1000 feet away from me just down the road. He came to

This is not about if you were over his property. This is about his kids and there fore you have to bow out .

You got 3 other directions and 400 ft to play with , what he cannot see cannot hurt him.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain

 

[JackL]

I'd let it go. You weren't doing anything wrong so your neighbor can complain all he wants. Going to his door to prove a point will just inflame the situation and you can never tell where someone's head is at these days. It could quickly turn from him being vocal to him being physical. Steer clear of his property and document any future encounters in case you need to get the law involved.

Absolutely. I might even make a report over this depending on the dudes level of aggressiveness. Some Ring camera footage of his behavior would really help in this thread. I would put up some CCTV ASAP if there is none now.

 

[JackL]

This is not about if you were over his property. This is about his kids and there fore you have to bow out .

You got 3 other directions and 400 ft to play with , what he cannot see cannot hurt him.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain

I don't like helicopters over my house but I cant do anything about it. Neither can this dude. The guy sounds like a nutjob that is going to whine whenever he hears a drone. The sooner the cops tell him to shut up the better it will be for everyone, IMO.

 

[Mr Mint]

I really appreciate the fast replies that I have received so far. Just based on what I have read, my wife and I agree to stay clear of the neighbor and document anything that is happening. If he shows up at my door again I will tell him to get off the property and don't come back I may consider calling the police at that time. Yes I all ready do have a CCTV installed and it works very well Any further comments would be greatly appreciated. Thank You Mr Mint

 

[vindibona1]

Some people are nuts and over-reactive. Just this past week we were visiting the kids and grandkids in a "suburb" of Burlington Vermont, with Mt. Philo about 10,000 feet away. On three occassions I flew over wide open land, did some arials of their current and future homes, both sitting on 9 acres of property, never flying over anyone or anything. I don't think I got below 200ft AGL after launching because of the tall trees.

Today I hear (2nd hand) that my stepson gets a call from his neighor saying "We have to be on the lookout. There are drones flying around here". I don't think I came within 500 ft of any residences at any time. I'll have to find out what his response was, but I think he just played dumb. What can you possibly say to someone who like that. Reminds me of an anecdote (which I may have told in another thread).

A woman is sitting in a bar, early enough in the evening that the band is just setting up for their first set. The woman walks over the the band leader and asks, "Can you please turn down the volume?". Bewildered, the band leader replies, "Lady, we haven't even started playing yet", to which she replies "But is LOOKS loud".

Without getting into a discussion that would cause the moderators to PM me, there are so many activities (and things) that people want to ban without knowing a thing about them.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

If you can avoid the airspace over his place, then just do so for future peace of mind . . . or fly only at 400', which should make your drone almost indiscernible in both sight and sound.
If you fly over their place at that height, don't stop / hover etc over there at all for a good few hundred feet around his boundary.
All this is very legal, whether to avoid his place or fly over without stopping depends on your preference to deal with him.

 

[Pappy]

In addition to the flight logs, I would also use a screen recorder to create a continuous recording from take off to landing. This would provide good visual evidence to show you have no intent to spy on his family or to show LEO if they become involved.

 

[RGallant]

Well you have taken the right approach, @Phantomrain.org may have the right of it, could be paranoid of his kids. Which begs the question as to why, but you are best off avoiding him. The advice about screen capture is likely a good one, my bet his he will be back. As well attend the next few town or district council meetings these types try to ban everything.

But protect yourself, my concern would be that he goes to police with very slanted story.

Although others disagree it would not hurt to go to your local detachment. The way you present what happened, I think you are going to have further issues. Present it to them as you are concerned that your neighbor was quite aggressive in his behaviour.

Here in BC I would just assume he has an illegal grow up in his yard.

 

[muchuckwagon]

Is it possible the drone your neighbor saw was flown by someone else? What made him connect the dots back to you? At the end of the day, your flight logs mean very little because you could’ve deleted the logs of flights over his property.

I would tell him or law enforcement simply - I’m not sure what he (neighbor) observed but I didn’t operate a drone over his property.

You can one step further with law enforcement and let them know any airspace you entered over private property would‘ve been incidental to your flight and not done so with the intent to record individuals on private property.

At the end of the day, it is next to impossible for anyone to show definitely you operated the drone in question. Plus, you have the right (I assume it is not restricted airspace) to fly in the airspace. With all that being said, just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should do it. While he might not be a “good” neighbor, I would simply avoid flying near his property out of respect for his privacy and to avoid the related headaches.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Is it possible the drone your neighbor saw was flown by someone else? What made him connect the dots back to you? At the end of the day, your flight logs mean very little because you could’ve deleted the logs of flights over his property.

I would tell him or law enforcement simply - I’m not sure what he (neighbor) observed but I didn’t operate a drone over his property.

That's a strong possibility, as the OP did write in post #1 "I did check my logs and sure enough I had not even once come near his property."

The resident concerned somehow managed to find the OP though, maybe another neighbour told him about the OP having a drone.

 

[Mr Mint]

After reading all of these wonderful postings, I see that some people feel that my problems may not be over with. I see from some people that it might be suggested to attend future town meetings as well as maybe seeking ,as I see it, some advice from the local police force Any further comments ? Thank you very much Mr Mint

 

[Mr Mint]

Just one more thing that I forgot to mention and that is I am somewhat nervous about this crazy neighbor and I am sure he will be spreading a lot of bad fake stories about me to a lot of people in the village. I suspect I will be known as the Man with the Drone. I really don't feel comfortable about this aspect. Any further comments? Thanks Mr Mint

 

[FASTFJR]

Just one more thing that I forgot to mention and that is I am somewhat nervous about this crazy neighbor and I am sure he will be spreading a lot of bad fake stories about me to a lot of people in the village. I suspect I will be known as the Man with the Drone. I really don't feel comfortable about this aspect. Any further comments? Thanks Mr Mint

Life is too short to worry about stupid **** like that. If he comes to you again show him your fly path and how your not flying over his house. If that does not satisfy him tell him to go F himself and YOU call the police

 

[A.O.]

I would carry on as usual, you did nothing wrong and you DO NOT have to prove it by coming up with flight logs which basically do nothing anyway. If he shows up at your door again, call the cops if you want, or just do what is necessary to get him off your property.

 

[GFields]

I was recently approached by one of my neighbors that lives about 1000 feet away from me just down the road. He came to my front door and told me to stop flying over the top of his house. I don't know this person so I am dealing with a perfect stranger. I just want to mention that we live in the country and there are open fields both in front and back of my house. I usually fly in the front field with no problems. He informs me that I was looking at his kids in their back yard swimming pool at his house. If I don't stop flying over his house he will call the police.
I told him that I have not been do such thing but I would check my flight logs to be sure. I did check my logs and sure enough I had not even once come near his property. I told him that I am flying legally and then asked him to leave. He was quite an aggressive neighbor. My wife says to me that I should go and see him at his door and inform him that I have not flown over the top of his house but I think that I just don't want to get into another war. He never did call the police but I was ready with my flight logs if need be What would you do. Go see the neighbor with the flight logs or leave things alone. Any advice or opinion would be appreciated. Thank You Mr Mint

I'm sorry this is happening with your neighbor. That could be stressful but as you told him, you're flying legally. I recently had a confrontation with an individual that was very aggressive. I was doing a aerial survey of a property and he came out of nowhere and told me to stop flying over his house. I told him the FAA is in control of the airspace over his house and I was flying legally. He said if he saw my drone over his house again he would shoot it down. When I told him that would be a felony charge (as drones are aircraft) he cussed some and got back into his car and left.

 

[lilewis]

I think if it was me flying and a neighbor came over to complain like that, I'd offer to playback the whole flight - both video and photos, If he still thought the drone was too intrusive, but I was sure it was legal AND NOT intrusive I might either take a ride to the local police station to confirm they will side with you in the future, or just fly somewhere else in the interest of keeping the peace with neighbor.

 

[muchuckwagon]

Just one more thing that I forgot to mention and that is I am somewhat nervous about this crazy neighbor and I am sure he will be spreading a lot of bad fake stories about me to a lot of people in the village. I suspect I will be known as the Man with the Drone. I really don't feel comfortable about this aspect. Any further comments? Thanks Mr Mint

If it was me, I would not approach the police as some have suggested. I would just let it go. I do understand that rumors can spread quickly in small towns. If you want to combat the idea of being know as the "Man with the Drone", I suggest you lean into it. By that I mean, post some high level drone photos on social media of your town and local points of interest. That way if you get approached, you can share the social media posts of your photographs and that will probably clam the waters and maybe even win over some sceptics.