Flying from back garden and now have Drone Police on my back

[leebroath]

Sorry looking for some help here.

I took off from my back garden earlier tonight, and flew up straight to 400ft and flew directly to a graveyard, it’s a new housing scheme on the edge of town so not built up. As I was heading towards the graveyard I flew over the corner of someone’s house (more than 50m away from my house), while still maintaining 400ft, and they are now creating mayhem on the private housing scheme facebook page, stating I hovered above their house which is a blatant lie !

I even sent them my flight path which shows I didn’t hover, and I only covered a corner of their house, then they sent me the 150m rules etc but I feel like I haven‘t done anything wrong flying at that height, and at the moment shaking and raging.

I am flying a Mavic 3 Classic and a member of the UK FPV Club, and also have my A2CofC, and could mention flying under Article 16

Can anyone please help with this as I’m trying to find a document which helps my case, this was my first flight with the new drone to test.

Presumably being a member of FPV covers me, as per below

https://fpvuk.org/files/FPV-UK-Article-16-Operational-Authorisation-Infographic-v1.1.png

 

[GFields]

Sometimes one has to decide which fights are worth fighting. Although you may indeed be flying legally, you still have to decide if it's worth putting up with an angry neighbor who doesn't know or care to know what the rules of flight are.

 

[leebroath]

Sometimes one has to decide which fights are worth fighting. Although you may indeed be flying legally, you still have to decide if it's worth putting up with an angry neighbor who doesn't know or care to know what the rules of flight are.

I don’t speak with them, and she’s only creating this issue because my other half had to stand up for our daughter last summer, she had to ring her door bell.

The lady in question told my daughter to stop cycling past her door and the called her ‘chuckie’ this was from a grown adult, my daughter was 11 at the time and doing no harm, so this is why I’m fighting this one.

 

[thispilothere]

Don't do anything different. Angry Karens aren't going to be convinced they're wrong and normal people don't care one way or the other.

Enjoy yourself and let her rage into the void on Facebook.

If you're more devious like me, you might keep provoking her until everyone thinks she's a nutter. I had a similar incident with a local Karen that ended with a police officer coming to my house. I laughed at her complaint and, after he left, flew my drone over her house 20 times. The Facebook rage that night was hilarious. Now, the neighbors all think she's an unhinged crazy woman - which she is. No one takes her complaints seriously anymore.

 

[akdrone]

Agreed. Nothing to worry about other than the irritation. Find the sub reddit on Maliciouscompliance for tips on dealing with her .

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Hi @leebroath
Sorry to hear of your altercation(s) with this neighbour.

We have a fly 30m rule away from people here in Australia, not fly over populous areas (vague) etc, but it is laterally.
I always thought the people 50m rule was too over there in the UK.

I was also aware of the UK CAA 150m rule with various property, and again thought it was lateral.

So a quick Google brought up the CAA page points re property / people.

Where you can fly drones | UK Civil Aviation Authority

Find out about height limits and distances from people, buildings, crowds and vehicles. Restrictions on flying drones and model aircraft near airports.

register-drones.caa.co.uk

Based on that, I do think the FPVUK doc does show an incorrect assessment in both of their diagrams.

Point 4 says no closer than 30m lateral, to unlimited altitude.
Point 6 does say in relation to buildings that it is unlimited height above the circular, lateral 150m.

and . . . Residential sites include:

• individual residential buildings

Reading further down, you can fly sub 250g (minis etc) above in this circumstance.

I know, 150m rule seems very limiting, even 50m from people makes it hard to fly there a lot of the time I imagine.

Hopeful that I have made the correct assessment above, and the rules aren't different for your situation / pilot certification etc you hold.

 

[old man mavic]

@leebroath ,just a couple of questions with regards to your OP
how did they know it was your drone ,that allegedly hovered over their property
and another thing i find strange ,is when they mentioned the 150m rule ,which applies to legacy drones of which the Mavic 3 is one ,that rule means 150m from people or property
i agree that having the A2 C of C does reduce that to 50m ,but it still does not mean you can fly intentionally over people or property ,the only drone that is worth having in the UK now is a MIni 3 ,which has the ability to fly over most of the UK ,unless there is a TFR or it is critical infrastructure ,and certain places that have a permanent flight restriction in place,such as Windsor Castle,i am not in any way siding with the people concerned ,but what has happened to you is becoming more the norm these days ,

 

[leebroath]

@leebroath ,just a couple of questions with regards to your OP
how did they know it was your drone ,that allegedly hovered over their property
and another thing i find strange ,is when they mentioned the 150m rule ,which applies to legacy drones of which the Mavic 3 is one ,that rule means 150m from people or property
i agree that having the A2 C of C does reduce that to 50m ,but it still does not mean you can fly intentionally over people or property ,the only drone that is worth having in the UK now is a MIni 3 ,which has the ability to fly over most of the UK ,unless there is a TFR or it is critical infrastructure ,and certain places that have a permanent flight restriction in place,such as Windsor Castle,i am not in any way siding with the people concerned ,but what has happened to you is becoming more the norm these days ,

Hi bud

Yeh I’ve sort of succumbed to the idea it’s my fault and even though I’m flying with an A2CofC and under Section 16 (& member of FPV UK) I can’t fly a Mavic 3 Classic into a residential area even though it’s on the edge of town, I presume no matter if just a few houses it’s still classed as a ‘built up area’, even flying it at max 120m.

I can however fly in a park as recreational.

To answer you Q: They seen the drone land in my back garden as they know where we live.

And the flight wasn’t intentional as I flew partially over the corner of their house, and was unaware she was outside.

 

[leebroath]

This is how much I flew over her house, from the flight path, also shows how far off to edge of scheme

 

[Phantomrain.org]

You have the Entire sky why would you fly over Enemy Territory and How could they possibly know you were in the sky 400 Ft up.

Just sound like you wanted to Poke the Dragon just a bit , and you found out the Heat is Hot.

Here is the Thing, even if you do have all the laws in your favor you still loose on the big picture , nothing is going to stop them from sounding the Alarm bell or calling the Police , or lying about you peeping in the windows if they want.

Laws will never silence those that need to chew the Lamb.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain. Land on the Water and Stay Clear of Enemy forces.

 

[Walleye Hunter]

Would it be out of line to post a funny movie clip here?

 

[GFields]

Would it be out of line to post a funny movie clip here?

Yup

 

[Walleye Hunter]

Yup

Thanks for the quick reply and glad I asked.

 

[FLDave]

While you may have a legal right to fly over her house I assume she also has a legal right create mayhem on social media. It already seems the two parties have past issues.
So, you learn to live with the issues or you fly elsewhere to avoid future issues. Avoiding unnecessary confrontation is often a better route.

 

[old man mavic]

@leebroath ,thanks for your honesty ,and transparency in regards to what happened,,and perhaps it shows ,just how much hysteria ,and misinformation ,that is mostly the product of bad media coverage ,there still is in the publics perception of drones
i dont think for one minute that when you took off to do your flight ,that you had any reason to think that the person concerned was going to be outside observing you
in this world we live in, using social media to influence others ,is the in thing ,and its clear that from what you said in your OP, that the person concerned ,is not a very nice neighbour ,and just wants to stir up trouble for you with others living there

 

[Robert Prior]

Sounds a bit like she's looking for a fight, if she gets upset about a child riding a bicycle.

(Although if your daughter was riding back and forth in front of her house while screaming I take that back. I had a neighbour several houses away who used to send her kids to play beside my house when they got too loud for her. I swear the girl could scream while inhaling as well as exhaling.)

 

[lensimages]

Sorry looking for some help here.

I took off from my back garden earlier tonight, and flew up straight to 400ft and flew directly to a graveyard, it’s a new housing scheme on the edge of town so not built up. As I was heading towards the graveyard I flew over the corner of someone’s house (more than 50m away from my house), while still maintaining 400ft, and they are now creating mayhem on the private housing scheme facebook page, stating I hovered above their house which is a blatant lie !

I even sent them my flight path which shows I didn’t hover, and I only covered a corner of their house, then they sent me the 150m rules etc but I feel like I haven‘t done anything wrong flying at that height, and at the moment shaking and raging.

I am flying a Mavic 3 Classic and a member of the UK FPV Club, and also have my A2CofC, and could mention flying under Article 16

Can anyone please help with this as I’m trying to find a document which helps my case, this was my first flight with the new drone to test.

Presumably being a member of FPV covers me, as per below

https://fpvuk.org/files/FPV-UK-Article-16-Operational-Authorisation-Infographic-v1.1.png

If as you say there is a housing scheme Facebook site why don’t you post your flight into that then all and sundry on that site will find out that it was a blatant lie that you hovered over her garden, or , just ignore her and carry on as you were doing nothing wrong , also try getting your neighbours interested in your images and videos. Nothing like a great images of their house taken from 399 ft to impress them. Keep posting images onto that Facebook site of places you visit and fly for neighbours to enjoy. You will be surprised how many people will then want to join you in flying drones. Education is the best way to counteract these so called Karen’s , but my Sister in laws name is Karen and she is very nice, so talk to people around you about the pleasures of flying drones and the difference you get in photography from above , but of course always fly within the rules, keep flying , cheers Len

 

[leebroath]

I decided not to post in the the Facebook site, as my other half is part of the Admin Team

The rules are to stop messages being posted if one person is being singled out, which was obviosuly me.

The messages were then between my other half and the 'Karen'

I'm not posting anything on the site anyway, as I'd probably hear from all the other Karens and it's just opening a can of worms. I'll just not be taking off from the back of my garden again, and it will all blow over.

 

[Starz]

One consideration may be to eliminate the Facebook part of the equation. One of the better decisions I’ve made when I deleted that account.
Hope things get better for you! Fly on and be safe.

 

[Felix le Chat]

Sorry looking for some help here.

I took off from my back garden earlier tonight, and flew up straight to 400ft and flew directly to a graveyard, it’s a new housing scheme on the edge of town so not built up. As I was heading towards the graveyard I flew over the corner of someone’s house (more than 50m away from my house), while still maintaining 400ft, and they are now creating mayhem on the private housing scheme facebook page, stating I hovered above their house which is a blatant lie !

I even sent them my flight path which shows I didn’t hover, and I only covered a corner of their house, then they sent me the 150m rules etc but I feel like I haven‘t done anything wrong flying at that height, and at the moment shaking and raging.

I am flying a Mavic 3 Classic and a member of the UK FPV Club, and also have my A2CofC, and could mention flying under Article 16

Can anyone please help with this as I’m trying to find a document which helps my case, this was my first flight with the new drone to test.

Presumably being a member of FPV covers me, as per below

https://fpvuk.org/files/FPV-UK-Article-16-Operational-Authorisation-Infographic-v1.1.png

UK law states that overflight of property cannot be construed as trespass or invasion of privacy as long as the property flown over is a waypoint on a longer flight path. Similar rulings state that a property owner can only claim that the air above their home/place of occupation is part of their curtelage up to the height that they can reasonably use it - which for a two storey building is about 80 feet. You went over the edge of a property on a longer predetermined flight path at 120 metres (400 feet). Do they complain about police helicopters, light aircraft or air ambulance as well?

As far as overflight of property, two legal precedents have been set.

1) Pickering Vs. Rudd (1815 - 4 camp 216) where a court held it would not be trespass if a balloon flew over someone's property.

and probably more applicable to your circumstances...

2) Bernstein of Leigh Vs. Skyviews & general (1978 - QB 479) whereby an aircraft owned by the company was overflying Bernstein's property, taking photographs of it that were subsequently offered for sale to Bernstein. The court held that it was neither trespass nor nuisance because the overflight did not interfere with the property holders rights.

You're not in the wrong, you obeyed the legal requirements for safe flight. You also displayed reasonable due diligence if you made every effort to avoid flying directly over properties. What you've found is that social media forums are a place for knee-jerk responders who have a mob mentality.

Welcome to Salem (big wink here).