Neighbors unhappy with Drone overhead

[icecoldgin]

In my case, our community has a Viber Group and I regularly post there pics/videos of the nearby mountains and scenery with the village in the foreground.

The resident-members of the Viber Group can see that no particular house or privacy is targeted.

I always get a number of likes/hearts for these photos/videos and I take it as their tacit approval of the drone flying overhead and around the village.

At the very least, no one has complained yet.

 

[TS_Thomas02]

If the shoe were on the other foot I wonder.
I love my MA2 but I wouldn't dream of flying it anywhere near my house & neighborhood.
How miffed would you be if someone was flying over or near your home with a drone ?
Maybe next time do the responsible thing and test your gimbal a half mile down the road in some field or park . Not worth upsetting your neighbors , you'll have to live and pass by these people everyday,

I agree. Sometimes, timing is everything. It's a little after 10 in the morning here now. My neighbors are mostly at work, I'm off today and I'm with my grandson. A little flight over the house now, would be fine. Saturday afternoon, with everyone home relaxing, probably would not be the time. It's also interesting how using the Mavic mini to get shots of the kids from over playground equipment, gets a smile. Using the drone over a place where people would feel "spied on", is something I'm sensitive to. Sometimes my kids are great ambassadors when I'm getting photo's in the park. Some of the stuff I see on YouTube (regarding the drone pictures), I just shake my head.

 

[Chaplain Dave]

Love Chaplain humor! I was flying in your neck of the woods a couple of weeks ago...

View attachment 115843

Great shot! I'm further to the east of there, better shots of the mountains in your background.

 

[Tentoes]

"What kind of pervert are you?"

"A federally licensed one?"

 

[Chaplain Dave]

"What kind of pervert are you?"

"A federally licensed one?"

I hope that was said with a sense of humor.

 

[Tentoes]

I hope that was said with a sense of humor.

I was asked that. Did not think of the proper response till much later.

 

[rscheff]

I live next to a closed grammar school with a gated baseball field. I fly from my deck, sometimes by hand and other times completing a mission with "dronelink" program. One day I was just flying around with no particular reason except just to fly and I spotted a pick up truck in the field (illegally) and it was next to a large bag which had a soccer goal in it that the local soccer team uses. I became curious about the truck, thinking they might be after the goal net, and started watching it from approximately 130 feet. A guy approached the truck bed and reached in and started throwing something (I assume rocks) at my drone. Much of what I discovered was not learned until I reviewed my recordings on a larger screen. The guy then started giving the finger to my drone and again reached into the back of the truck and pulled out an item used for throwing tennis balls to dogs (we call them a chuck it) it is a long arm that allows you to throw something farther than by hand. He used this for several minutes. He then went into his bed and pulled out a portable compressor and attached a nail gun to it and started shooting at my drone. A couple minutes went by with him running around like a madman and then he got on a cell phone. The next week a neighbor came to me and said, "Were you flying your drone in Capen field last week on Tuesday?" I said, probably, why? He said the police blotter had an entry from a concerned citizen that someone was flying a drone in the field. Concerned I went to the police department and asked about the entry and the officer at the desk was the there when the call came in and remembered it because it was different. I told the officer what happened and he said, "You should have called us, we would have gone there and sternly told the trespasser who was actually wrong. I was just glad he did not hit the drone because I was flying the mini and it certainly would have caused damage. The officer said if he did, we would have charged him.

 

[Fly_Me_To_The_Moon]

This is why the Maviz Zoom comes in handy. You can easily take shots of neighboring properties from a block away with the optical zoom lens, and with the low volume propellers, they have no idea you are even there.

 

[Peter Brazil]

Hi from Brazil,
I find it funny that people get nervous or irritated by a drone flying by. There are so many other things that are much worse and these people don't even blink an eye... like, being filmed literally everywhere you go (gas stations, banks, supermarkets, etc...), your ip address open and exposed, your phone number, etc etc...
My experience here in Brazil has been that 100% of the times I have been approached, was out of curiosity of what that little bird (MM) can do. I usually show them a live shot of what I am filming and even fly closer to get them in the image. They all leave with a smile. When I fly close to any activity (kayaking, jogging, etc), people usually smile and wave.
Maybe life here is just more friendly than in the USA. I did live many years in Kingwood, TX (just outside of Houston), and thought people there were super-friendly - but, that was before drones existed.
Anyway, my opinion is to always de-escalate any situation and be friendly and accommodating.
Safe flying to all of you around the world.

 

[Jrose152]

Remember: You can’t fix stupid! I have a good friend who went on a rant the minute I said I had a drone. Less than 2 weeks later he asked me to inspect his roof. He was thrilled with the photos and video. And he has asked me to come back and check another area of his roof. I do it for fun and experience. All the 107 police can relax. This is purely as a favor. Perhaps you might find a chance to chat with her away from the drone itself and offer to check her roof and gutters. Like my friend, once he saw what could be done he was fascinated.

As long as your intention is not to do this for compensation you're fine. I'm pretty sure if he offered to pay later on after you intended to do it for recreational purposes, you can still legally collect payment because at the time of your flight your intention was not for commercial. That being said, I don't want to have to argue that case to anyone so I would never tow that line.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Well, yesterday almost same scenario with neighbour directly across from me . . . and we are on very friendly terms between our families.

Not my drone though.

He calls, just asking if I was flying yesterday, about 3pm, a drone is / was over his property.
Nope, not me mate . . . my batteries all usually discharged to storage levels, and too busy building out back to be having fun.
(Not to mention, I have absolutely no intention of ever flying from home, did that once or twice early on testing straight up and down 2 mins, nothing of interest to me to film in the neighbourhood.)

Anyway, the house next to his in coming on the market, interior stagers, RE agents attending, and I walk out front and yep, there's a pro looking setup parked out front, clean pro van, signage something something Visuals, ah the photogs !

So I tell him don't worry too much about it, their are just taking aerials (10 acres) and they will probably by now be doing the interior / ground shots.
"They were flying over my property though !"
They can legally I advise, just not openly invade your privacy by hovering too low or long, no need for concern.

An hour later he calls, says he didn't see it, his wife did, laying in bed with headache.
Looked out bedroom window vertical blinds, see drone hovering like within 20m at 2nd story window height, bright blue light, seemed to have a camera on front looking in window.
"Do you remember van biz name ?" I couldn't specifically, but said the neighbour might, or certainly the RE company.

I said yes, if correct in position of a said drone, I could see no reasonable photo angle of the neighbouring property that should be obtainable from that position.
No, probably not 'perving', the usual drones won't see anything very well through balcony shadows and glass reflections, blinds etc, so probably no real need for concern a pro company would be behaving nefariously.

Still he said he'd report to Police in case 'something happened' later.

Sigh, I have a feeling there's nothing unusual going on here, I recall one paranoid incident years ago with the lady of the house.
Son went over to advise something, she hid inside, wouldn't answer the door, meds I think at the time.
Apparently called son or wife asking what he was doing over there, apologies came later when normal resumed.

 

[A.O.]

Why is everyone so worried about the winey neighbors??

 

[Tentoes]

Why is everyone so worried about the winey neighbors??

Beats me! I live too close to an airport to fly, so I don't worry about the neighbors.

 

[A.O.]

Beats me! I live too close to an airport to fly, so I don't worry about the neighbors.

I fly from home only, dont particularly care what the neighbors think...