Not to be a Karen (drone police) but would you do differently?

[New England Droning]

I was up in Smuggler's Notch this October and I was close to being done when another person pulled in close behind me (not a lot of parking in the Notch) but I noticed he was pulling out and setting up his drone so I decided to cut my flight short since I didn't think it would be safe to have two up at the same location and the view of the drones is limited due to the canopy.
So I brought mine down and put it away and went to see what he was flying. I didn't recognize the older Mavic Air (I am new...) and I was shocked by the drone's condition.
at least 2 chipped blades and 2 blades were split from the end towards the middle??? I did point this out and he said he crashed it a week ago and it was a tough drone and flies strong? Really? (He said he had flown it a couple times since with no problem)
I did ask if he was hoping it would fail mid-flight and then he'd have a reason to go buy a new one. That got a smile...

Well, I wanted to get away from him so I got in my car and headed down the notch. I don't know what happened to this flight or if he even got off the ground. I may be a Karen for pointing these things out but I wondered what others would do?
The below image is an example of Snowliage (snow and fall foliage)

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

I think you did the right thing in telling him.
He, somehow, might not have been aware of the risk, or is just stupid or just doesn't give a toss.

A single blade fail may not bring the drone down but it might, plus the fragment might do other damage as it is ejected.

I have caught solid objects with a couple of Mavic 2 props, guess where the damage was? The trailing edge, I suspect the striking blade stops dead and the other blade comes round to smack into the trailing edge of the stopped blade and takes a sweet-corn kernel-sized chunk out of that trailing edge.
I cut off the damage and as an experiment flew the drone or attempted to fly the drone with the unbalanced prop. With the damaged prop on the rear arm the drone was just about manageable, with the damaged prop on the opposite front arm I couldn't even get the drone to lift off safely.

 

[P@trick]

He is responsible for his own behavior. He knows what the risks are.

 

[old man mavic]

@Salem-Drone i have been in similar situations ,several times ,where i have been flying and then someone else with a drone has appeared ,and proceeded to either try to enter into conversation,with me or just set up their drone and start flying,i explain that i would be happy to talk to them when we have both landed ,and mostly they have been ok with that
but there is always one for whom any mention of drone condition ,or flying rules during our conversation,immediately goes off on one ,and its very obvious from their demeanor and attitude ,that they dont give a rats butt,about such things
in those instances i quietly walk away and go find somewhere else to fly

 

[New England Droning]

I think you did the right thing in telling him.
He, somehow, might not have been aware of the risk, or is just stupid or just doesn't give a toss.

A single blade fail may not bring the drone down but it might, plus the fragment might do other damage as it is ejected.

I have caught solid objects with a couple of Mavic 2 props, guess where the damage was? The trailing edge, I suspect the striking blade stops dead and the other blade comes round to smack into the trailing edge of the stopped blade and takes a sweet-corn kernel-sized chunk out of that trailing edge.
I cut off the damage and as an experiment flew the drone or attempted to fly the drone with the unbalanced prop. With the damaged prop on the rear arm the drone was just about manageable, with the damaged prop on the opposite front arm I couldn't even get the drone to lift off safely.

I was at a farm and they gave me permission $$$... to fly my drone and photograph the sunflower fields and they had a picture frame with the farm name on it (I assume kids could position themselves in the hanging frame and mom/dad could snap a shot. I tried flying my drone through it (3'x2' opening) and the drone made it through once and I tried for a 2nd trip through and the mini 2 didn't like it and flew into the frame. I didn't think and tried to take off again and it shuddered, backfired, like a 1920 model A and I landed ASAP and saw the problem. Half a blade was sheered off on the front arm... I changed out both blades on the front arm and right as rain but I didn't try the frame again.

To me the danger is more about getting in the air and THEN all heck breaks loose.. And you are right, I did point it out and if they don't want to consider the danger I can't do anything about that...

 

[Vic Moss]

Some people don't understand aerodynamics.

You tried, good for you.

 

[Starz]

Some people don't understand aerodynamics.

And some just don’t care.

 

[Siam]

He seemed to know about the issues.

And yes, to be honest. It is a very Karen question to ask
"I did ask if he was hoping it would fail mid-flight and then he'd have a reason to go buy a new one. "

Why would anyone even think about that as a question to ask? Seriously,.

Nothing wrong with pointing out something.

Why did you land for his benefit anyway? I know exactly where you are flying (been there). Plenty of room for several drones if you have LOS. I would have just moved over to him and let him know I have a drone in the air and let us just be careful.


I appreciate that you are new and asking these questions.

 

[wardtom084]

The way I fly you would ask this question. " Would I put my family on it and fly on the thing " seems simple enough. There was a question last week about a swollen battery. Would you plug this battery into your aircraft and fly your family off to the next vacation spot. If the answer is NO, get another battery.

 

[mobilehomer]

Being nice and pointing out a dangerous situation does not make one a Karen. Screaming at him for "spying on kids" makes one a Karen.

 

[Cymru]

The way I fly you would ask this question. " Would I put my family on it and fly on the thing " seems simple enough. There was a question last week about a swollen battery. Would you plug this battery into your aircraft and fly your family off to the next vacation spot. If the answer is NO, get another battery.

Given the number of single points of failure on all DJI drones thats not really a great analogy. You'd literally never fly at all.

 

[A313]

Karens show attitude. You were not..

 

[MaxE1955!]

He is responsible for his own behavior. He knows what the risks are.

Exactly! Live and let live!

 

[Bob in Savannah]

Sounds like a normal conversation to me. Nothing "Karen" about it that I could tell.

 

[PhoebeSnow]

We were at Niagara Falls on the Canadian side and it was crowded with people. A fellow US citizen hauls out his Mavic to fly it over the falls. I quickly alerted him that he would have his drone confiscated and fined heavily flying in that crowd. Then came a Canadian Falls employee who stated the same and that the area is patrolled. As a US Citizen to fly your drone in Canada is very difficult with the hoops you must go through. Quite frankly, I gave up as they were over the top and too stringent. But flying anywhere with crowds is a definite No No.

 

[timmers]

I was up in Smuggler's Notch this October and I was close to being done when another person pulled in close behind me (not a lot of parking in the Notch) but I noticed he was pulling out and setting up his drone so I decided to cut my flight short since I didn't think it would be safe to have two up at the same location and the view of the drones is limited due to the canopy.
So I brought mine down and put it away and went to see what he was flying. I didn't recognize the older Mavic Air (I am new...) and I was shocked by the drone's condition.
at least 2 chipped blades and 2 blades were split from the end towards the middle??? I did point this out and he said he crashed it a week ago and it was a tough drone and flies strong? Really? (He said he had flown it a couple times since with no problem)
I did ask if he was hoping it would fail mid-flight and then he'd have a reason to go buy a new one. That got a smile...

Well, I wanted to get away from him so I got in my car and headed down the notch. I don't know what happened to this flight or if he even got off the ground. I may be a Karen for pointing these things out but I wondered what others would do?
The below image is an example of Snowliage (snow and fall foliage)

View attachment 157051

Are you available, in a purely diplomatic role, to resolve problems in conflict areas around the world? Free flights to those zones would be a perk for you. All you need is that non-confrontational manner of dealing with situations. Give you this weekend to think about it - get back to me Monday morning. Oh, by the way, a short stop in Washington to get sworn in - no biggie.

 

[JoelP]

The Mavic 1 that I have owned already has compromised batteries. I can only imagine what compromised blades would do to further reduce that flight time. I expect that situation will self-resolve in due course.

 

[Xitor]

Definitely right to at least call out someone preparing to launch an unsafe drone with props that would have failed any reasonable pilot's pre-flight check. When drones start falling out of the sky and hitting vehicles and there will be a bigger push for more regulations / restrictions.

 

[tvdwouw]

You did the right thing - drones are mostly in the news when something negative happens, very often caused by irresponsible drone flyers. When we have a chance we should speak up!

 

[Robert Prior]

We were at Niagara Falls on the Canadian side and it was crowded with people. A fellow US citizen hauls out his Mavic to fly it over the falls. I quickly alerted him that he would have his drone confiscated and fined heavily flying in that crowd.

That area is a no-fly zone — nothing to do with crowds.

CYR518 NIAGARA FALLS, ON​

Restricted Area
Designated Altitude - Surface to 3500ft
Time of Designation - Cont
User/Controlling Agency - Transport Canada, Hamilton TC Centre (905) 679-3477
Operating Procedures - No person shall operate an aircraft, including model aircraft, within the area described unless the flight has been authorized by the User/Controlling Agency, except for medical, police and military aircraft on official duty flights.
Excluding that portion outside of Canadian airspace.

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Source: Designated Airspace Handbook, Issue 295