Heart Broken

[Jake 61]

Welcome to the forum @jato, I agree with your above comment that you should maybe have come to the hover over your mom's property, the nut job would have probably still shot your drone down, but at least he has no defence that you were over his property.
Also glad to hear that the Police have your back over this, the guy sounds like he was on their radar anyway.

I hope you get things sorted out and that your mom is safe from this idiot.

 

[Motorcycle Rider]

I live out in the country side, not in a city, and just assume that everyone in the area owns a rifle, or many rifles. My gut feeling is this, where I live. Shoot down someone's drone, they are likely going to be shooting at you, so conduct yourself accordingly. This is a very peaceful community, with an extremely low crime rate, largely due to this theory. These people are not as likely to call 911, and wait for police, as they are to take the matter into their own hands. So shooting someone else, or their property, is probably going to result in the shooter, being shot. Armed with this knowledge, nobody goes shooting up others stuff. I don't even consider myself heavily armed, with a measly 7 rifles, and 2 shot guns, most of my neighbors would probably laugh at how few I own. Obviously where the OP is talking about, nobody feels this way. One psycho thinks that he has immunity to everything he does, or he wouldn't have been playing with his gun, and illegally shot down a drone.

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

My gut feeling is this, where I live. Shoot down someone's drone, they are likely going to be shooting at you, so conduct yourself accordingly.

You need to move. Shooting at people over a thing is not sane.

If you don't believe people should be shooting at your drone, you should especially not want them to not be shooting at people.

This is a very peaceful community

Sounds really peaceful. Yup, the kind of place I would want to raise kids. </satire>

... with an extremely low crime rate, largely due to this theory.

Thanks, but I prefer more civilized theories, supported by law and due process, not fear of your neighbors ending your life. This is the 21st century, not the 17th.

Chris

 

[Motorcycle Rider]

You need to move. Shooting at people over a thing is not sane.

If you don't believe people should be shooting at your drone, you should especially not want them to not be shooting at people.



Sounds really peaceful. Yup, the kind of place I would want to raise kids. </satire>



Thanks, but I prefer more civilized theories, supported by law and due process, not fear of your neighbors ending your life. This is the 21st century, not the 17th.

Chris

You,and I, have a much different thought process. Lived here for 18 years, bought the land, bulldozed the old house, and built a new place. Plan to grow old here, love this area, and my neighbors. We get together for community functions, and visit with each other. I raised my daughter here, and the neighbors would do anything for her. But we have enough respect for each other to not be shooting up each other's property. But if some psycho moved into the area, and started shooting stuff up, then it would not be long, before they met a bullet, of that I am sure. There are lots of old timers around, who are second or third generation to this area, and they have been very clear, they will defend themselves and their property with force. Personally I think that I live in one of the greatest places on earth! You go ahead and call 911, and wait a few hours for the police to show up though...

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

Motorcycle Rider, our conversation has now left the domain of drone discussions. Expect a personal message with a civil reply, but I'll do the rest (and the mods) the favor of not putting it here.

 

[dirkclod]

This is the 21st century, not the 17th.

Chris

Hadn’t been watching the news lately huh

Motorcycle Rider, our conversation has now left the domain of drone discussions. Expect a personal message with a civil reply, but I'll do the rest (and the mods) the favor of not putting it here.

Thank you an excellent idea .
Let’s try and get this if possible back to where it should be
from here out guys.
Thanks.

 

[jsflyrv]

I am not see or maybe missed it where you reported to the FAA. Shooting a drone out of the sky is a felony as it is classified as an aircraft. If a property owner feel his privacy is being violated he should call the police. Shooting at a drone is no different than if was i was flying my aircraft and you shot at me.

Before You Pull the Trigger: The Legal Implications of Shooting Down a Drone

It’s a scenario that isn’t hard for security professionals to imagine: Someone spots a drone hovering inside your secure facility’s perimeter, over your event, or during your emergency response operation. The drone’s presence is at best a nuisance, and at worst, might damage people or property...

www.securitymagazine.com

 

[TxArch DroneGuy]

I am not see or maybe missed it where you reported to the FAA. Shooting a drone out of the sky is a felony as it is classified as an aircraft. If a property owner feel his privacy is being violated he should call the police. Shooting at a drone is no different than if was i was flying my aircraft and you shot at me.

Before You Pull the Trigger: The Legal Implications of Shooting Down a Drone

It’s a scenario that isn’t hard for security professionals to imagine: Someone spots a drone hovering inside your secure facility’s perimeter, over your event, or during your emergency response operation. The drone’s presence is at best a nuisance, and at worst, might damage people or property...

www.securitymagazine.com

I do understand the pilots reluctance to reporting due to his grandmother living next door to the supposed person involved, but if he is a certified Part 107 pilot, then he is well aware that he does have the legal obligation to report the occurrence to the FAA.

 

[hhung516]

After watching the video, I bet a lot of people would shoot it down simply because it’s hovering over their property low enough and they don’t know the laws.

Follow through and get him to pay for a new drone. Just be glad that your family won’t be living next door to him no more.

 

[filgerm]

So sorry to hear about it and thanks for sharing the little footage. I sold my Mavic Air last April and saving up to get the MA2. Hope you'll be back flying soon. Cheers! God Bless.

 

[KB9Radio]

Sorry to hear of your plight.

I understand your reluctance with your mother living nextdoor. The federal charges are the ones that really need to be addressed and that is the downing of an aircraft while it was legally using the NAS. Does he go out and shoot at the police chopper when it is involved in a low level mission? I suspect not, and this carries no less a penalty because it is unmanned.

There was another reply in the thread where they suggested his firearms be confiscated. It is probably a very good avenue to pursue.

Any kind of penalties (including confiscation) would be up to the authorities, all he could do is sue civil court for the damages (replacement drone and anything else you can prove). It would seem to be a pretty easy case to prove damages.

 

[KS-6]

Wow, I would never fly that low over someone's property unless I asked them first, regardless of the laws, it's just not courteous. I second reporting it to the FAA but man, that was just asking for some kind of protest and it looks like you got that.

Sorry it happened but I hope hindsight will guide you better next time.

 

[Activate]

Until KS-6, I haven't seen anyone mention prevention and forethought.

Given that I know some people just don't like/trust drones, I took the time to visit all my neighbors prior to flying my MA from my house (some of them I had never met or spoken to before). I explained that I had a new drone and that it was registered and legal. I explained that I was keen to take some aerial photos of my property and just wanted to check with them first, as I would like to fly over their property to get the best angles for photos, but at no time would I be taking photos of their place (although I also offered to take some free photos of their house if they would like me to).

Everyone said they appreciated me asking and had no problem with it and I now regularly fly from my house, stress-free, and have never had any complaints (or ground-to-air missiles).

Given the OP was flying so close to the neighbor, a quick knock on the door may have avoided this messy situation. I have found the phrase 'would it be ok with you if ....' works like a dream If they said "No, and if you do, I'll shoot it down with my double-barrelled shotgun" I might think twice about flying there!!

 

[jato]

Don’t think I’d be saying I was taking pictures for a house selling listing if I didn’t have a 107 ether .?

True, but it is a home my mother lives in whose deed is in my name. I’m not doing it commercially. I do have my uav cert & my number was applied to the drone.

 

[jato]

I thought he said he posted the video of the attack , I don't see it anywhere. or did I miss it?

It’s at my original post.

 

[jato]

Never posted it.

It’s with my original post now, being new to this forum It took a few to figure how to post a video.

 

[jato]

At times like these, I know you are interested in being reasonable, given that your 88 year old grandmother lives next door, but this person is very much in need of some comeuppance. It is possible that a friendly lawyer letter would get your money back out of court, or else it could be mentioned that the fright that both you and she endured (the sleeplessness, etc) could be worth something in a court of law. Pain and suffering, I think they call it. That could be worth a call to someone. Just sayin. I own weapons, and this kind of loose cannon just gives us all a bad name.

I’m sure most people will understand that my biggest concern is for her two Toy Fox Terriers. In fact , two days after this altercation the female dog fell mysteriously ill & was hospitalized. I must admit we all thought the worst, that he was responsible. As it turns out the pooch had pancreatitis. After two days of iv liquids & antibiotics she’s doing much much better. That’s a 100ft fence with two totally innocent dogs on one side and what appears to be a very unstable vengeful person on the other. I’d like nothing more than to put the screws to him every conceivable way possible but I also don’t want to provoke a response.

 

[jato]

How were you able to salvage the video? Was the sd card undamaged? Were you screen recording?

Yes, I burned the video onto disks & provided it to the authorities. I posted the last 47 seconds back with my original post.

 

[jato]

I'd think it a pretty high chance that (assuming he was using one) a microSD card would have survived. Extracting it from a broken drone might be problematic, but it's small enough and encased within the drone that I would not be at all surprised to see the microSD card still intact.

The authorities have a copy of the original video. I’ve since posted the video and pics of the damage. Incredibly the drone was still operational except for some minor gimbal glitching.

 

[jato]

In your first post I got the impression that you just flew straight up over your mother’s property and not out over your neighbor’s back yards. While it is illegal for the neighbor to take the action he did, yours was not exactly considerate of your neighbor’s privacy either. Especially when you brought it down to a lower altitude within what I would guess to be thirty feet away from where he was standing. Just saying there is a fine line of being legally right and being socially wrong.

Actually he was in his house. He ran out of his house, down the stairs from his deck and across his yard. If he or anyone else had been outside I’d probably taken more care not to decrease altitude but I admit I was distracted by trying to explain things to my mother. I’m 60 and have to flip my eyeglasses up to see up close, that is distracting. My mom has severe hearing and vision issues so while I gave my complete and undivided attention to most of the flight I did unfortunately take a few seconds at the end to attempt to capture a picture of the two of us. Even though I’ve been flying RC fixed wing & variable pitch rotor for decades this was only my second drone flight. The controls weren’t natural yet. Further more, I actually didn’t think this guy was even home. He has a reputation in the neighborhood for causing trouble and had I been aware he was lurking in his home peering out the window waiting for an opportunity, I would have done it differently. Honestly I could see him being upset if I’d had this for sometime and been repeatedly overflying his place. He would absolutely have a reason to come knock on our door like a rational person and tell me it’s irritating & knock it off. And if it continued I’d expect him to call the police. And after all that if I was still doing something wrong I could in some way justify him taking action. But that’s not the case. This was the first and only time this craft or anything of mine ever crossed the corner of his lot.