Just read this report in the Guardian... many people hate our drone

[nicoloks]

I think recreational drone users are faced with a few challenges;

• There are a lot of nobs out there who fly without regard of common sense let alone rules already in place in the area they might be flying.
• Click bait media (such as in this article) pander to the lowest common denominator of anti drone sentiment.

As already stated, a common theme in a lot of anti drone sentiment (aside from the noise) is people think they are the intended subject of the operator. Particularly in a wilderness setting this assumption is especially absurd and defies basic logic. I also think the argument in this article loses a lot of cred when he states his first reaction is to try and throw a rock at it. It is hypocritical to try and take the moral high ground while at the same time openly stating he would have tried to destroy another persons property if he thought he could have gotten away with it. What if he had thrown the rock? What of the safety of the "casts of climbers" around him?

I used to do a lot of hiking myself and have seen first hand the destruction of pristine environments human traffic has at places like Mt Everest base camp in Nepal and Inca Trail in Peru. Even back home here in Aus I often see people in enormously delicate ecosystems who jump over fences with clearly marked signs saying "stick to the paths" to get a photo. Among hikers and drone operators alike, there are idiots who taint the experience for others. The answer is not a complete ban on one to appease the perceived irritations experienced from another. I would totally support a registration/quota system however (even with a nominal fee attached), for both hikers and drone operators. If your true motivation is to preserve these wild environments, the only way to do this is to reduce human activity overall.

Ultimately though I think the time is coming for the drone community to toughen up and start lobbying for our hobby. All the drone users I know personally are very conscious of safety and other peoples space, though it is obvious there are those who do not operate in such a manner. Until we start pushing back as a united group with solutions to the common problems, the future of our hobby is going to be dictated by these rouge operators and the vocal knee jerk reaction of those who just want to see our hobby gone so they can enjoy public spaces on their terms.

 

[gnirtS]

Its the Guardian whose entire readership are lentil munching ultra left lunatics.

However, drones ARE annoying, the noise they make is annoying so two sides for this. If you're flying low, close to others and staying there for a period of time i can quite see why people would be irritated by the buzzing noise so a bit of common sense is required, keep it away from people so its not disturbing them or if you must go in closer then get what you need and fly it off. Keep it high, keep it downwind etc.

Yes people need to be considerate to drone users but the opposite also applies - drone users need to realise not everyone wants to see and especially hear the things for large periods of time on a trip.

There is a percentage of drone users who fly dangerously or at least with absolutely no consideration to others and that is a problem that needs addressing. Ranting "ive got the right to fly here if i want and you cant stop me" achieves nothing except generating more mistrust and potentially localised bans.

Guardian being what it is they'd like new regs to ban from National Parks no doubt.

Well the "national trust" being the despicable organisation it is has already effectively done just that to many UK national parks and vast stretches of natural coastline.

 

[dewster]

That journalist was just sowing seeds of hate. The author probably has a drone and is just writing an article to get some attention.

 

[Lil' DronePilot]

Stop drones spoiling our wilderness

Andrew Ghilchrist states at the end of his commentary
Here’s what I should have said: “I take real exception to you flying that here. How dare you inflict this on climbers out to enjoy this fabulous place. How can you possibly justify turning these hills into an airstrip?”

In my opinion, Andrew has a sense of grandourism as who is he to feel any type of exceptions on anyone doing anything on a public place. A place afforded to everyone's enjoyment. Who gave him the absolute right to enfringe on my hobby. I'm not enfringing on him stepping all over nature to take photographs. Other than the noise distraction emmited by our equipment, what difference is a drone from an individual filming exactly what Andrew described with a portable video camera? What the difference between his photographs and ours? Oh wait... I'd say, ours looks much more interesting! I guarantee you that while he climbed with his buddies, he was laughing carrying on being "dudes" I too as many other park goers don't care to listen to their dudeness while on a trail, but the difference is, I don't complain about it. His comment "Turning hills into an airstrip" just shows how ignorant he is. He has his mind made up as to what a drone is and how it deprives him of enjoyment. Nothing is going to change that. With people with that type of mentality it is best to fly right, ignore engaging their stupid comments to avoid confrontations and keep it moving.

 

[MAVA4]

N

Yes, the entire world including professional Airline Transport Pilots and Commercial Pilots are in a coordinated conspiracy against drones for what reason? Jealousy?
How about that, given years of training and hundreds of thousands of dollars spent building flight time in a real aircraft, we may not like some unqualified yahoo risking our lives, the lives of our passengers and damage to million dollar aircraft because they think a $1,000 toy makes them an expert aviator.

it all of us hav

Yes, the entire world including professional Airline Transport Pilots and Commercial Pilots are in a coordinated conspiracy against drones for what reason? Jealousy?
How about that, given years of training and hundreds of thousands of dollars spent building flight time in a real aircraft, we may not like some unqualified yahoo risking our lives, the lives of our passengers and damage to million dollar aircraft because they think a $1,000 toy makes them an expert aviator.

Not all of us are reckless and have a hard on to fly near airports.

 

[gnirtS]

N

it all of us hav

Not all of us are reckless and have a hard on to fly near airports.

Correct. Bad sadly some people do. They enjoy flying anywhere they're not supposed to.

 

[Estaban]

Yes, the entire world including professional Airline Transport Pilots and Commercial Pilots are in a coordinated conspiracy against drones for what reason? Jealousy?
How about that, given years of training and hundreds of thousands of dollars spent building flight time in a real aircraft, we may not like some unqualified yahoo risking our lives, the lives of our passengers and damage to million dollar aircraft because they think a $1,000 toy makes them an expert aviator.

Every time you take off you are risking lives, your crews, passengers and people on the ground. Planes sometimes crash. Sometimes through technical problems, sometimes through pilot errors. It's a fact of life. Statistically, I am guessing that there is a much higher risk or people being killed or injured by a real pilots error rather than that of a drone pilot. So lets ban real aeroplanes and leave the skies to the drone pilots who so far at least have not killed anybody.

 

[Abbo69]

Typical media scare/hate mongering and unfortunately those with no experience of drones cannot rationalise that it is the few idiots that fly without consideration of others or regard of the rules.
The vast majority see reports of pet dogs attacking people but can rationalise that this is down to the few owners that rear their dogs to be aggressive and therefore do not hate all dog owners.
They will see idiots driving their cars with no consideration for other road users but will also see a huge number of drivers that drive sensibly and will therefore not hate all drivers.
Sadly the vast majority will only get to read about the few idiots flying drones dangerously and will never have seen anything to the contrary.
This article is just the personal opinion of one person but will be read by many without any data or knowledge to oppose this view and just adds fuel to the trending fire.

 

[Domagoj]

Yes, the entire world including professional Airline Transport Pilots and Commercial Pilots are in a coordinated conspiracy against drones for what reason? Jealousy?
How about that, given years of training and hundreds of thousands of dollars spent building flight time in a real aircraft, we may not like some unqualified yahoo risking our lives, the lives of our passengers and damage to million dollar aircraft because they think a $1,000 toy makes them an expert aviator.

How about you stop with your pretentious bs? What makes you think that sky belongs to pilots? You think pilots are some high level beings or what? If all of them are like you, then they are just simple minded yahoos.

 

[Infidel90]

The Guardian, ha! What don't they complain about?

 

[BikerBuster]

That 'journalist' was just demonstrating how infantile and mealy minded he really is, if his entire life was ruined by someone flying a drone in his vicinity for a few minutes, then really, he has no place voicing his opinion in public.
I hate modded cars, but I don't whine on is some daily rag how they are ruining my day because in reality they are not, they burble around for a few minutes and are gone - annoyance over.

Andrew Gilchrist needs to grow up or shut up.

 

[SlackBladder]

Shame he didnt try to connect with the drone pilot in a positive way, I bet he could have ended up with some fantastic footage of himself on that peak..

 

[4wd]

The Guardian, ha! What don't they complain about?

Muesli, so long as it's organic.

 

[Zoro]

Despite been a mavic owner and i love flying, i can definitely see both sides to the argument. Ive been out having a surf enjoying some peace and tranquility, and then i hear this buzzing sound that gets louder and louder, but I feel the same way about jetskis sometimes. Both drone and ski are meant to be 30 m away from people in AUS. Sometimes i give the drone a wave sometimes the middle finger

And also a side thought about stock photography, which you always need release forms signed to sell if a person is recognisable from the image. Imagine if you were required to get release forms for every person inadvertently captured in a mavic video! We all should have some expectation of privacy maybe?

Why would you have an expectation of privacy in public? If I'm walking downtown on the plaza I see tourists everywhere taking video and photos. If you are surfing at a public beach I'm sure people are taking photos and video everywhere. Why single out drones? I do agree that drones should stay high and out of sight and hearing. In other words not in your face.

There seems to be a subtle propaganda in the media against drones. That's how it starts with manipulated public perception. When you read negative coverage day after day with no good coverage then you know it's fake news!