Identifying clothing

[Mavic Mac]

General question
For those of you that wear a vest or shirt that indicates you are drone pilot have you found it keeps people away or does it generate more questions from the public ?

 

[BigAl07]

It seems to give the "operation" some type of "Official" status. I've found it doesn't stop the questions but it definitely makes people, at least to some degree, assume you may know what you're doing.

I did 3 different jobs yesterday (wearing appropriate gear) and the only person that approached me was an old friend who recognized my vehicle.

For transparency: Most of my jobs mandate the "Gear" I wear so it's not an option on those and we wear it on all jobs now.

 

[TampaTC]

I use a vest only if I feel it is needed. If so I will also use cones and a Landing pad. I hear people talking around me but most only say it's a nice day to fly huh. I am having two aframe boards made that have "Arial Mapping in progress. Stay clear of cones for safety." In smaller text it reads "I am a FAA license drone pilot, The aircraft is airborne for no more than 30 min, I have insurance and comply with local laws, i will answer questions upon completing my work. Safety is my main concern. Tips are welcome.

When I operate in remote locations or on roof tops, no vest required, no people around.

I don't mind talking to people, educating them, and getting them to be on the pro drone side.

 

[ChrisOutdoors]

IMO being discreet when flying for fun is your best course of action, allows you to concentrate on the task at hand by not drawing attention to yourself.

Some vest wearing person on this forum is going to get robbed!

 

[offtheback]

I use a vest only if I feel it is needed. If so I will also use cones and a Landing pad. I hear people talking around me but most only say it's a nice day to fly huh. I am having two aframe boards made that have "Arial Mapping in progress. Stay clear of cones for safety." In smaller text it reads "I am a FAA license drone pilot, The aircraft is airborne for no more than 30 min, I have insurance and comply with local laws, i will answer questions upon completing my work. Safety is my main concern. Tips are welcome.

When I operate in remote locations or on roof tops, no vest required, no people around.

I don't mind talking to people, educating them, and getting them to be on the pro drone side.

Ha! How's it going on the tips?

 

[old man mavic]

i have found that wearing the vest does give an air of authority to what you are doing ,and people tend to read it and then look for the drone in the air, i,think it is a good thing as it lets people know that you are being open about what you are doing ,as for getting robbed of my equipment then if someone is intent on doing that, then wearing a vest is not going to make much difference i fly a lot in the mountainous country around where i live, and the fact i have the high vis vest on helps me to be seen by low flying search and rescue, and would be beneficial if i found myself in a situation where i had fallen and needed help.

i always try to engage with the public if they wish to ask me about my drone and the most often asked question is are you filming my reply is yes, and if it is safe to do so, i let them see the screen and show them what i can see ,most of them are amazed at the view that the camera gets ,i also point out to them that at the height i am flying that people faces are unrecognisable and that seems to show them that i am not spying on them

 

[Herbie D]

I’ve never been accused of spying (yet) but I guess the time will come. I always try to drone where no one else is around so I can concentrate but people normally turn up half way through. I see it as nothing but helpful to talk to them ( as long as it’s safe) and spread the good word.
A vest gives us an air of professionalism.

 

[ChrisOutdoors]

A vest gives us an air of professionalism.

I can almost see the memes the general public will create once one of you goes viral on the web while wearing a vest.

100% knowledge in your UAS, the airspace it resides in, and the laws governing it are what give you an air of professionalism. The vest is nothing more than a veneer, much like people who buy "Support Dog" vests from Amazon.

 

[Stealthbomber]

Probably just me but it would be a cold day in hell before I wore anything that indicated I was a drone “pilot”!

 

[BigAl07]

Probably just me but it would be a cold day in hell before I wore anything that indicated I was a drone “pilot”!

That's personal opinion but some people like to look the part. While my professional gear doesn't say Drone Pilot it does have the word Pilot on the breast pocket and all of my VO's have Visual Observer on the breast pocket. I see no problem having the phrase Drone Pilot on the vest either. It's an accurate description.

I can almost see the memes the general public will create once one of you goes viral on the web while wearing a vest.

100% knowledge in your UAS, the airspace it resides in, and the laws governing it are what give you an air of professionalism. The vest is nothing more than a veneer, much like people who buy "Support Dog" vests from Amazon.

I'm calling total BS on that last statement. I usually try to keep my "feelings" off the forum but I take great offense to your condescending tone and that last remark comparing those who wear appropriate attire to the fake support dog vests..... is not going to cut it.

I'll have you know I am a professional operator and probably was before you knew what the word DRONE even was. Working "In the Industry" we have been required to wear "High Vis" vest long before anyone in the drone world even thought about it.

While I do admit merely wearing the vest/equipment does not guarantee you are legit, legal, or informed it does give the impression that you take your work a bit more seriously and you're not hiding behind and tree to avoid being noticed. There is a lot to be said in business for "Dressing the part".

Here's my question to you.... how would you rank someone who is 100% knowledge in your UAS, the airspace it resides in, and the laws governing it while also wearing the proper attire for the job?

 

[ChrisOutdoors]

Here's my question to you.... how would you rank someone who is 100% knowledge in your UAS, the airspace it resides in, and the laws governing it while also wearing the proper attire for the job?

Since we're comparing experience I've been wearing a green flight suit for 7 years now as a day job. As for the vest while operating a UAS, it's completely unnecessary and that's my point. I have yet to see a reasonable explanation for wearing a vest other than it "gives us legitimacy and authority" which it does not.

 

[BigAl07]

Since we're comparing experience I've been wearing a green flight suit for 7 years now as a day job. As for the vest while operating a UAS, it's completely unnecessary and that's my point. I have yet to see a reasonable explanation for wearing a vest other than it "gives us legitimacy and authority" which it does not.

Authority? That's quite a reach . . .

You say unnecessary in such a matter of fact way.. many of my projects require the vest, hard hat, and protective shoes. Without those items I don't get to do my job and I don't get a pay check if I don't deliver.

Well we will just have to agree to disagree and be done with it.

 

[ChrisOutdoors]

Authority? That's quite a reach . . .

many of my projects require the vest, hard hat, and protective shoes. Without those items I don't get to do my job and I don't get a pay check if I don't deliver.

Hold on now, I agree with you here. If it's required for your job I completely understand. My topic of focus was on the the hobbyist who optionally wears the vest, which creates unnecessary attention and can do more harm than good. Ultimately, do what you want and feels best. Im just providing a different opinion and something else for folks to consider when they ask about vests.

 

[BigAl07]

Hold on now, I agree with you here. If it's required for your job I completely understand. My topic of focus was on the the hobbyist who optionally wears the vest, which creates unnecessary attention and can do more harm than good. Ultimately, do what you want and feels best. Im just providing a different opinion and something else for folks to consider when they ask about vests.

I can totally see your point.... I was looking at it from a "Business" stand point not from hobby. I didn't think anyone was doing this as a hobbyist but I can totally see your point. I concede that I might have jumped the gun and "over spoke" my point. Apologies.

 

[ChrisOutdoors]

I didn't think anyone was doing this as a hobbyist but I can totally see your point.

Most of the posts I've seen here are purely from a hobbyist POV.

 

[old man mavic]

@ bigA107 and @ ChrisOutdoors i am a hobby pilot and one of the reasons i wear my vest, as i stated in my post #6 is because it makes me visible to low flying search and rescue helicopters when i am flying in mountainous country, because they fly in the 400ft airspace that i operate in ,it was an initchertive started by the RAF to encourage safe flying for those aircraft who are allowed to fly in the 400 ft band and that includes hang gliders and microlites and some agricultural operations using low flying aircraft, although it is myself who has to give way to such users, it has been shown to give them a better chance of seeing that a drone flyer is also in the airspace it does not matter to me if anyone chooses to wear or not wear the hi vis vest it is for us hobby fliers a personal choice, and one which i will continue to do, i have no interest in the commercial side of drone flying, but i respect the work they do and i try not to give the use of drones a negative aspect through my flying

 

[ChrisOutdoors]

@ bigA107 and @ ChrisOutdoors i am a hobby pilot and one of the reasons i wear my vest, as i stated in my post #6 is because it makes me visible to low flying search and rescue helicopters when i am flying in mountainous country, because they fly in the 400ft airspace that i operate in

Fair enough. Advice though based on experience coming from the other side of your scenario, have you ever talked to the pilots about what you're doing? Communication flow always sucks and id bet those pilots have no clue what your vest means.

*Edit: You are a prime candidate for someone who needs really bright flashing lights on their UAS. More effective than a hi vis vest, but still worth doing both.

 

[old man mavic]

Fair enough. Advice though based on experience coming from the other side of your scenario, have you ever talked to the pilots about what you're doing? Communication flow always sucks and id bet those pilots have no clue what your vest means.

*Edit: You are a prime candidate for someone who needs really bright flashing lights on their UAS. More effective than a hi vis vest, but still worth doing both.

actually as far as the RAF SAR pilots are concerned and the coast guard helis they have been trained to look for such things and just to let you know, i do have cree leds on the front arms of my mav to assist in being visible but as i said before it is my drone that has to get out of the way and respond to the needs of the rescue heli and not to occupy air space when they are operating in the area i may only be a hobby flier but i love my hobby and want to continue to be able to do it and i do take it seriously and encourage safe flying as i am sure you do as well

 

[ChrisOutdoors]

actually as far as the RAF SAR pilots are concerned and the coast guard helis they have been trained to look for such things

I work with a few here in the states as part of mil pilot exchange program, I'll have to ask them about this.

 

[old man mavic]

I work with a few here in the states as part of mil pilot exchange program, I'll have to ask them about this.

it is run by the RAF Safety Centre and is for pilots operating in low level operations in SAR where they regularly fly under the minimum AGL that other pilots have to maintain and is trying to prevent collisions between drones and SAR aircraft if you type in(RAF safety centre)it will take you to several web sites which explain all about it