Seen this from Geeksvana, thought the pdf download links might be handy to some
As your man says, the vast majority of interactions with the public are friendly, just people showing an interest. If nothing else the printed out *.pdfs should give the very occasional Mr Angry enough distraction to occupy him while you calmly hover or land and pack away before putting your point of view.
I love the suggestion of dealing with a confrontation by responding âIâm sorry, Iâm not able to talk right nowâŠâ
The obvious follow up would be that âyour self righteous anger is very important to us so please leave a message weâll respond as soon as we give a tossââŠ
Still⊠tazer�
I had my first negative interaction last week after 2.5 years. Youngish chap sat on a bench, itâs dusk and heâs there with his dog and bike leaning against a wall. Take off about 50 yards away, fly out over the beach and start walking along the promenade towards him. Drone has lit strobes which he told me hurt his eyes and he said the dog was scared of the noise. It hadnât flinched in all the time I could see it, eyes closed head on his lap. I apologized and flew away from them.
An hour later a bike went past at speed with dog trying to keep up. Must have been him again, canât think of anyone else Iâd met that evening whoâd shout fuck off you twat as they cycled past.
Although rare (ive had maybe 3 issues in about 7 years of use) my general template now if someone comes up is an initial response of "For reference im conducting a legal flight in and will be complete in about ".
At that point id also start at least audio recording on a mobile device in case it turns nasty.
At that point iâd try to ignore the person if possible. If they stomp and yell about calling the police i ask them to please do so and the issue can be sorted out.
Any threats to me and/or drone should be recorded by that point to submit to the police if they try anything.
Usually though i find after stating its a legal flight under whatever category and any documentation will be given to a relevant authority for inspection if required they just give up and walk off.
Just make sure you are allowed to be flying there first though.
Hi all
Ok,say you have found a spot which seems a good safe location & out of harms way etc,
Done what checks you can at the time to see if or who owns the land weâre you are but canât find anything,so you fly your drone & then out of nowhere you are approached with what Iâve called it â some confrontation ok â so you land your drone first for safety then engage in a conversation with the person / persons,if they are saying they own the land or itâs someone elseâs private property & you have no right to be there,do I you or we just take there word for it pack up & move on,or do we ask to see some sort of proof in what there saying is true ? The only reason I ask this for people maybe like myself & others who are looking for new places to TOAL from,then obviously if what your doing is well within your rights or law but someone does not like drones & does not like what your doing & just trying to ruin your day & move you on.
How is that approached by us amicable,I hope this is not a silly question but anyone can say look mate move on I own that land or whatever,as we can prove our certificates or test or our flyer operator I D canât we.So do the jo public have to prove anything in return.
Thankyou
Very few people carry deeds to their land around with them.
If not researched beforehand, apologise and move on, or argue the toss, it all depends on your appetite for confrontation.
Just get and out fly, too many people are over thinking this
Post moved here to one of many threads on the same subject
No,
Not looking for the confrontation or argument for sure.
I new no one be walking around with there deeds as such & your comment appreciated & taken in.
Thanks
For me, it would be a polite apology to start with. Then, depending on the tone of the conversation, I would try and enter a conversation with a view to getting routine permission to fly at that location - maybe by offering a few photos to the land owner
Nothing ventured nothing gained âŠ
@Jhdee yes that sounds like a fair & compromising offer if all fails,Yepp sorry sir or madam enjoy your day & move on !
Had a sort of similar deal but with a security guard recently. Apparently Iâd ventured into an area I shouldnât be. As Iâm quite polite in these situations, after all the guy thinks he is just doing his job then I landed, packed up, and proceeded to leave whilst being âescortedâ
Unfortunately the guard was in no mood to listen to me to explain how and why Iâd managed to get to where I was and that there was literally nothing to say that I couldnât be there from the way I had got there and how they could prevent this happening again if indeed people were not supposed to be there with some simple signage.
He was having none of it and then started to go down some very strainge route that I was belittling him and just because I was better educated and all sorts. (If only he knew, but at this point I knew I was onto a loser so it just wasnât worth talking anymore)
Trespassing is civil at the end of the day. If youâre asked to leave, just leave. Only if you refuse to leave or cause criminal damage will the police get involved.
You can always do a land property search query for ÂŁ7. For the amount of searches youâll probably do a year, Iâm sure itâs cheaper than a sub to DronePrep for example!
The thing is as well, in many cases, where thereâs no barrier nor sign to prevent you from entering the land, youâre on the land under the legalese term âas of rightâ which means with an implied permission to be there, or no implied objection from the landowner. Being on land âby rightâ, however, means with explicit permission from the landowner whether by signage or written/verbal communication or other explicit means. Public rights of way are often established after a statutory period of public âas of rightâ use, as a statutory by right permission to use the land after that point.
If youâre on land âas of rightâ, or using it for a purpose âas of rightâ like flying a drone (thereâs no no drones signs for example), youâre still not technically a trespasser until asked to leave.
And try and get the police out to help you out, itâs near impossible. Unless you can get the magic words into the phone call, alarm, harass, distress.
Iâve never had a bad confrontation with someone but did have a bystander come up to me, who clearly thought I shouldnât by flying there.
A quick statement like this worked wonders
I have authorisation from the governmentâs Civil Aviation Authority to fly here under the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Regulations.
Tell them you are working for the local council planning committee, photographing the area for (depending on your mood) a housing estate, landfill or solar farm.
Karen and Ken then head for Facebook/Nextdoor
Amen that
I told a story about a brief drone confrontation with a local in the treasure hunt challenge thread recently, from when I was photographing Norton Water Tower in Runcorn.
Guy just simply tried to assert to me that I shouldnât be doing it and I simply held my ground and was assertive that I could. He buggered off pretty quickly. Itâs all about your tone, body language, and how you present yourself.
Donât be defensive, donât go on the back foot. Youâre not doing anything illegal. Simply stay confidently assertive.
Iâd also add, âtell them to hurry up as Iâll only be flying here for another hour or soâ.
I know this really wont help people caught in this situation, but Iâm afraid Iâm quite short tempered. My wife also thinks Iâm bipolar which I dont think helps very much. The answer youâd get from me will entirely depend on the way you ask and phrase your question. Youâll either get Gordon ramsay on steroids or giles brandreth on happy pills I always try to be nice, honest. But sometimes people ask really stupid questions and say really stupid things.