Mavic Pro owner making problems

[Lazaro68]

I have the perfect idea - I live in south Florida - we can setup a date and meeting time - all of us meet at your place - have a party - no beer since we can’t fly and drink alcohol (remember the rules) and we fly hundreds of drones to his place kinda like swarm of bees - maybe he’ll get the hint - afterwards we all ride our motorcycles in our leathers and invite him outside for a walk. Skip the motorcycles - I got carried away - I don’t have a motorcycle or belong to a biker club - but sounded good at the time.

Good luck —— but don’t shoot it down - let your neighbors know - only can get you in trouble.

 

[jcross]

Good grief. A shotgun would gandle ut in a second and not risk injury (for a a careful shooter) outside 50 yards. #4 bird shot!

 

[James in the Desert]

First of all I have three drones and I would never go into someone’s personal space. That is just too creepy If I was you I would take up a new hobby and buy a high powered air rifle with a scope and shooting out of the sky. This person is exploiting the fact that you are all law abiding citizens. You should get with your neighbors to bounty the drone and give a prize to ever shoot it down Good luck

 

[Bongohutch]

I have a few of them. But is that the same thing as shooting it down? I do not want to get in trouble but at the same time the police said to and if the guy was doing it at his place he would. I know some of the others are with birdshot. The guy can see when they come out with the gun and they say he will fly up really fast to get out of range. I have seen him do that when I get my Mavic out waiting on gps lock. He can definitely see what we are all doing that's how low and close he gets.

I don’t think you should be concerned about “getting in trouble”. You’ve had local PD say they will do nothing. Plus not only have you been harassed you have your neighbors who have had the same experiences. This kind of thing is is bulling plain and simple.

You can’t allow this kind of intimidation/bulling to continue. Whether it’s shoot it down or trap it down really doesn’t matter in my opinion. When his new found bully tactic starts costing him a grand per flight by having to replace his downed drone ... he will quit.

 

[hoggdoc]

I have a few of them. But is that the same thing as shooting it down? I do not want to get in trouble but at the same time the police said to and if the guy was doing it at his place he would. I know some of the others are with birdshot. The guy can see when they come out with the gun and they say he will fly up really fast to get out of range. I have seen him do that when I get my Mavic out waiting on gps lock. He can definitely see what we are all doing that's how low and close he gets.

How about getting all of the other people he is doing this to together and go have a "serious talk" with him. Mention cousin Guido might be called in to solve the problem.

 

[detectorguy]

I like the idea of heavy pound fishing line, when their prop get into that, drone down and then turn it off real fast. Remove his micro sd card and keep it.

 

[seca1]

If I were that far from everybody I'd get some low brass #9 birdshot for my shotgun and take it down when It was over my property. Not much he can do about it. I also live in Florida.

 

[hoggdoc]

I am going to the box store and getting me stuff for a potato gun maybe 2 one for the neighbor and make a few fishing line nets and see how it works. [emoji13]

Why would you do that? Those things have no accuracy and a big a cumbersome to get ready to shot. Just get a rifle with a scope and practice shooting small things at distance. There is no way he can get away if you are a good shot.

 

[rob2000gt]

Police gave you bad advice on the whole shoot it down. Stray bullets have killed people. They travel a long way when shot in the air. Just my thought on this whole thing.

 

[hoggdoc]

These things are useless.

 

[rob2000gt]

You are at a disadvantage vs him he can see what you are doing. Trying to follow another drone is hard to do. The whole fishing line through the trees seems to be the safest thing to do if he doesn’t see anyone putting up the lines.

 

[HighlandsVideo]

I agree with bushie. I think the very best thing you can do is just ignore it. It actually can do you no real harm regardless of how it might make you feel. Not that I think the guy should be doing such a creepy thing, but if you make an issue of it with the authorities and the neighbors or seek to damage his drone, you will just be making things harder for all of us and potentially poisoning the social atmosphere of you new home. Unless you are being lewd outdoors, growing illicit crops, storing stolen vehicles, etc. what are you so afraid he's going to see? Some people just like to piss others off and if we let them, we will be perpetuating it.

It's a brand new world. Get used to it!

 

[rob2000gt]

Once you catch him pull the line down so birds don’t get tangled up

 

[hoggdoc]

Yup stick to catching him in the act and then think about the best next move. I’ve had somebody confront me when flying claiming I was a guy trying to look at people & I had to just laugh it off since flying an Acro quads at 70 mph isn’t exactly sneaking around. There will always be dumb people... well because of the people part & that’ll never change

So you catch him in the act and video him doing it. This type of person is just going to tell you to "F" off anyway.

You need to find a way to down and destroy his Mavic...

 

[bentbrent]

Check this guy on your local sex offender registry. I think Florida has a law about drones and sex offenders. Probably a long shot but who knows.

Would be nice to be able to slow him down to kill his battery on RTH. Shooting down or using fishing line, etc would be in violation of the law (technically)...so do your shooting from under cover...

I do not think that using fishing line would be illegal. That drone operator does not have exclusive right to the use of that airspace. I don't even think that he would have legal recourse in civil court like he would if someone shot it down.

 

[coliwabl]

Sorry to hear about your problem with other MP owners. It's clear that the person does not follow or care to follow the FAA rules that the rest of us do. One of the stated rules is that a pilot cannot use a UAS for the purpose of surveillance without the permission of the person being filmed. In fact it is a federal crime under the privacy act/laws. The fact that the cops won't take action is in itself a big problem since they are refusing to enforce an existing law. You might try contact the state AG's office for clarification as well as speaking with someone at the FAA that is in a position to clarify the issue.

It sounds like that person causing the problem is either being a real jerk to aggravate others or is bordering on perversion. The cops telling people in the neighborhood to simply shoot down the drone is incompetence on the job and is absolutely not the answer.

 

[Billyboy72]

Hello all.. I have moved to the country and can fly my Mavic when ever I want. Here is the problem that I am having. Some one has a Mavic pro in my area and we are talking about maybe 15 homes in a 2 mile area. Well this other Mavic owner has been flying his Mavic into 5 of my neighbors yards for over 6 months and they say he has been 20 and 30 feet off the ground. Also the Mavic owner has been doing this as much as 3 and 4 times a week and even 2 or 3 times a day.

I just moved here and have 10 acres and it's off the main dirt road behind 5 acres and off the main road so you can not see my land from the road at all. I have also had this Mavic owner doing the same thing to me and he was and still is doing it, even when my 3 young teen-aged girls are outside swimming and playing. I talked to the others and they also have young kids. Well I called the police and so have the others. Well the police told me and them to shoot it down. He said we are in the country and people shoot birds, target, ect, all the time and that they would not do anything if said the Mavic was shot down. Well my neighbors have been doing just that but have not got it yet.

I contacted the FAA and they said that they would do nothing and to call the police. Well when the police came out they said if I wanted to file charges that the Mavic owner was Felony trespass and harassment. I have tracked down the Mavic owner from his home flight path and have tried to follow it back to get pictures of the guy/girl/kid doing this. I really do not want to file a report with the police but the others do. On another note I can no longer fly mine around in fear they will now try and shoot my Mavic down. Now they all have bad feelings towards drones. I believe I have found the owner and he said that he does not care and there is nothing you can do about it. He just kept saying prove harassment. I am in Florida and there is a law in the books but it is civil I believe. I have been trying to record him when he comes over my place.

What do you all think I can do or should do? Just think this guy is doing regularly and he will hover at about 40 to 60 feet and circle around. At this point it feels like he is basically spying on me and everything I am doing on my land like I put in a pool and a dog kennel then a garden and so on.
I have never and would not fly close to others homes or land and I always keep moving and stay 300 to 400 ft up.

There are Laws in Florida
HB 1027 // 2017

This law pre-empts local regulation of UAS so that only the Florida Legislature can make laws concerning the use of drones in the state, but allows local governments to enact drone ordinances related to nuisances, voyeurism, harassment, reckless endangerment, property damage, or other illegal acts. This law also prohibits the operation of drones over or near critical infrastructure in most instances, as well as prohibiting the possession or operation of a weaponized UAS.

SB 766 // 2015

This law prohibits the use of a drone to capture an image of privately owned property or the owner, tenant, or occupant of such property without consent if a reasonable expectation of privacy exists.

I know exactly how you feel up here in SC. I always fly mine around but I stay at no lower than 300ft. One is trees and buildings high tension wires but the other is the last thing I want is for anyone to EVER think im trying to spy on them. If I were you I’d get a few neighbors together and goto the persons house. I'll go out on a limb here and say its a teenager who thinks hes funny and has no fear of authority like most of these kids these days. Let him know in a group next time we see you we down the bird and beat your ***. Not in sports many words but sometimes there fear alone will stop the behavior. Also let your neighbors know you also have one but make yours stand out. Lights or a skin something to distinguish it from all others. Just my opinion of course but sometimes drastic times call for drastic measures

 

[DesJardins]

So you catch him in the act and video him doing it. This type of person is just going to tell you to "F" off anyway.

You need to find a way to down and destroy his Mavic...

We all have our own ways...
I’d have just punched him in the throat but that’s not an accepted forum answer if you want to stay out of trouble so I only suggest the PC answers that don’t put people in a bad situation.

If somebody can’t take care of this situation on their own then there’s no hope anyway

 

[Cheech Wizard]

Fly More and talk less... that's what you should be doing.

 

[jctarvin]

Not a lawyer, but pretty sure there is an FAA rule that prohibits shooting down a sUAS. You might have legal problems going that direction. Although, it would be emotionally fulfilling!