Drone hate.

[RC5728]

TripAdvisor has a lot of great info, but the forum people are some of the rudest and most impatient I have ever seen on any forum.

Like someone else said in this thread, the forum regulars there are mostly older women in their 50s and 60s.

 

[stratos]

I have a printed copy of google and facebook privacy policy. I told them well you phone and big corporations spy on you, you contacts, you messages, you photos and everything you do. Drones are just used for wide angle pictures. You cannot see anyones face from more than 4 meters away .

 

[Roo]

This is such an interesting topic, and in fact I am a little paranoid about flying in areas where people may be around just because I don't want any negative attention. I think there's some folk who just want to be a part of a cause, and being disapproving of drones does indeed seem to be a trendy one at the moment.

Some of it I understand, for example I wouldn't want a drone buzzing around me when I'd gone to a destination for some peace and quiet or some family time. I get that. The paranoia of being photographed is the most common fear I hear about... thing is, the same thing happened when mobile phones all started coming out with cameras, many jumped on that hate bandwagon too... and now probably own their very own smart phone with a camera.

There are certainly some idiots who blatantly disregard their local laws and lack commonsense. They really do ruin the reputation of the hobby for others who take piloting seriously, follow the rules, and want to have fun responsibly.

The kind of fear-based public reaction that results from idiots being idiots-with-drones seems to end up influencing subsequent rules in some areas. But tightening the rules doesn't help... those who were idiots are still going to disregard the tighter regulations! This will eventually leave the ones who want to do the right thing with nowhere to fly legally, and appearing to be part of a hobby that's almost taboo!

To continue the exhilaration of flying and the freedom associated with photographing landscapes not reachable by terrestrial means, I find it simpler to stay right away from anywhere people might be around. I hope that if I do encounter someone when I'm flying, they enquire out of genuine interest or intrigue rather than paranoia or fear.

 

[Oingo Boingo]

Drone newbie here, long time photographer. Loving my Mavic.

I've been researching the net regarding traveling with drones via different airlines in different countries. It would appear that Lithium batteries present something of a problem with certain airlines.

But nothing compared to the poisonous bile from non-drone users on sites such as Trip Adviser. Sheesh, these people are murderous.

I'm very sensitive to other peoples peace and probably over-sensitive to infringing on the general right to privacy and to read some of these comments makes me feel like some kind of criminal. This is not a loved community.

Quite simple answer for the hate.... !
Its because everyone thinks they know the rules and are hell bend on going as fast as they can, as high as they can, flying 3 miles away because they can.....

 

[erkme73]

You cant argue with crazy.

And yet, we still get married. Go figure.

 

[TxTroy]

You cant argue with crazy.

On the contrary, you can argue with crazy for a lifetime. You can't, however, reason with crazy.

 

[Former Member]

On the contrary, you can argue with crazy for a lifetime. You can't, however, reason with crazy.

You lose either way.

 

[SRJ_Mavic_PRO]

Some people dont like getting their picture taken at all. I was demoing a DSLR cam in a big box store a few weeks ago, and benignly just pointed around and starting shooting to test the focus. No SD card in the cam. A woman and her 2 friends walks up to me and says, "you better not be taking my picture. I dont like people taking my picture." Then she asks me to delete the picture I took. I assured her that she was not the subject of my focus, but she insisted that I delete the photo. I told her that I couldnt delete it... because there was no SD card in the camera. She just hmffed and stormed away. Maybe she was a fugitive, maybe she was of a religion that believes that pictures steal your soul ‘Thou shalt not make unto thyself a graven image.’

In any case, there are whackos out there, and best just to pacify them than to argue with them. You cant argue with crazy.

If it were me in that big box store I would have pointed it at her again and yelled "SMILE".......

 

[Dw911]

And yet, we still get married. Go figure.

Yet another good reason to own a Mavic, can use it to film your wedding

Then in the future you'll always be able to watch the footage backwards for a happy ending; -)

 

[Former Member]

If it were me in that big box store I would have pointed it at her again and yelled "SMILE".......

I thought about it, but she was alot bigger than me, and wider too!

 

[ReadyKilowatt]

There are people who are just "nervous livers." They live constantly afraid. Afraid of everything. Especially if it is new.

When handheld GPS units were a new thing most airlines would let you use them "at the captain's discretion." This meant asking an attendant to ask the captain if it was OK. It was never a problem with any of the flight crew, in fact one time my dad got a note from the cockpit asking if his GPS agreed with the one up front, and I've had attendants gather 'round and marvel at how well mine worked, even inside the metal tube.

One time I asked and there was a woman behind me (woman not being relevant, just trying to set the scene) who overheard my request. I'm guessing she was a nervous flyer, or worried about terrorists (this was in 2002), or just a nervous liver. She proceeded to loudly complain about me and how I was "taking up the pilot's time" and "what possible use could I have with a GPS," and I would crash the plane, etc. I tried to explain that there was no danger, just that the rules required me to ask first, but clearly she was not going to let this go. I got the attendant's attention and told her to forget about it. Just because this person was causing a scene.

Humans are very conservative creatures. Very few of us enjoy new things, the majority find comfort in consistency and routine. Any time there's a change to that routine many of us react badly. It is a byproduct of our past, when a rustling bush could be a gentle breeze or a mountain lion. And if that noisy bush is in a place you've never been to before, well, that's pretty scary. These nervous livers are living life in the limbic brain, never getting out of that comfort zone. For me (and I imagine most drone enthusiasts) this is no way to live. But they do a useful service in that they seem to be quite happy to do all the mundane stuff we don't like.

Of course these days they seem to be taking over. There are a lot of them, and the media of all types seems to encourage switching off upper brain functions because it's easier to sell stuff and keep viewers by turning up the the lizard brain instead of an appeal to the intellect.

I'm not saying I'm immune to this thinking either. I've been there, like when walking down an unfamiliar street even though I'm 5' 11", in pretty good shape and usually carrying a multitool. Or hearing the wolves and coyotes howling just before I fall asleep in the tent. Or when I don't do that new thing I've wanted to try just because...

 

[roadkilt]

The nightly news showing a picture of a volleyball court over a nuclear missile site in North Korea from a spy satellite 200 miles in the sky (last week) or that movie "Eye in the Sky" where a fly sized drone captured the ISIS meeting makes people think your frisbee sized machine is capable of x-rays and laser beams. Its natural for people to freak out thinking these sophisticated toys are like the ones they see in the media. And it doesnt help that in these forums, where people are enlightened and usually experienced flyers that every second forum is something like "and then it flew away!??!" I mean really, we know these devices arent perfect and we sure arent either. Don't fly near people or over anything where dropping out of the sky unannounced is a problem.

 

[mplacona]

I wouldn't say it's anything new, these sort of people always seem to be around and just pick on whatever the current fashionable target is. I've seen similar comments and responses to DSLRs for years particularly at one point in London when there was growing hysteria that terrorists where scouting London so therefore anyone with a DSLR was immediately suspicious even though using such an obvious tool would be stupid.

Yes, completely agree with you. I remember a few years ago I was stopped by police officers while taking photos with my DSLR inside Canary Wharf tube station with my girlfriend. I had to show them the photos I took and once they were satisfied there nothing "wrong" with my pics they just told me not to take any more inside the station. We were into urban photography and our main focus was architecture. However, often we were approached by people complaining that we took photos of them, when we actually used wide angle lenses for urban landscapes.
Now drones are the new spying object.

 

[DSGDSG]

Yes, completely agree with you. I remember a few years ago I was stopped by police officers while taking photos with my DSLR inside Canary Wharf tube station with my girlfriend. I had to show them the photos I took and once they were satisfied there nothing "wrong" with my pics they just told me not to take any more inside the station. We were into urban photography and our main focus was architecture. However, often we were approached by people complaining that we took photos of them, when we actually used wide angle lenses for urban landscapes.
Now drones are the new spying object.

Are you serious? Isn't London one of the most surveilled/watched cities in the world? And these people are complaining to the government that watches their every move about OTHER people on the street taking their picture??? This cannot be.

 

[AgentOrange2015]

Have gotten multiple threats from neighbor's, mothers and the normal dim witted idiot. However, when I told them that if they were to shoot down my drone, the Federal Government (FAA) might be wanting to talk to them because it is against the law to shoot at any aircraft in the air. I made it sound very official and more often than not, they backed down and began backing up. What helps even more is to show them your UAS membership/registration card, it is very official looking and therefore gives more credence to what you have been telling them concerning drones. After coming across as a bad ***, then I become much more understandable and explain that their fears are understandable and this seems to do the trick for the most part.

 

[MPPilot]

That's absolutely natural. Drones are new and easy to get these day, which means that any prick can get one and do what da f he wants including being a prick with a drone. What we can do is trying to make a positive impact on these views everytime we fly. Bad word always travels faster, it's the same thing as with bad reviews about pretty much anything, people are more likely to share bad experience than good

The regular photographic (and modeling) community had to deal with GWC (Guy with camera). I guess we get to deal with PWD (Prick with drone).

 

[MPPilot]

You have nothing to be ashamed of if you are complying with the rules, acting like it is natural and looking as though you know what you are doing and why. Keep a printed laminated copy of the rules, any specific registrations ready to show if anyone questions you. An official looking piece of paper has a lot of power.
Same as walking down a street, body language conveys a lot.
If you start out with a sort of plan of what you want to achieve on the flight then it looks more efficient than aimlessly "droning" around.

A laminated card hanging around the neck on an orange lanyard helps too. May not be official, but it LOOKS official.

 

[Michael Ainsworth]

Fluoro jacket and hard hat and a few hazard cones with hi vis tape.

 

[roflyer]

Drone hate is more often than not drone ignorance. People are afraid they are being spied on mostly. They have no idea how small things are on wide angle shots

MAVIC camera lenses are not widw angle... just being informative...

 

[tcope]

MAVIC camera lenses are not widw angle... just being informative...

Wide angle shots, not lens, is what was mentioned. Post was spot on... a shot from the air is usually hundreds of feet wide.