How to handle ignorant idiots while flying your drone

Hats off to this fella in the way he handled this twat. How would you have dealt with such a situation?

Iā€™ve got to be honest - Iā€™ve had nothing but curiosity and interest if and when people notice what Iā€™m doing - (here in the UK) - no-one seems to be panicking about infringement of their private space - even when Iā€™ve been to the local park, (Sherdley, St Helens), when itā€™s filled with dog walkers. I put the H pad on the field and I wait until thereā€™s no-one within 30+ meters, then I take off @ 50 to 121m, whizz about for a time then land when the area is clear - doesnā€™t raise an eyebrow. Everyone seems to be quite grown-up TBH :slight_smile:

3 Likes

:wink:

To be honest, the Yanks are paranoid about most things, especially their so called privacy. You do hear a lot of rants about it, usually ending with the words ā€œwell if I see a drone flying near my property, Iā€™ll bring it down with my gunā€.
I get the impression they have a very short fuse, or are so used to getting what they want, when they want it.
And that is the problem, if they have an issue or argument and cannot see reason they revert to the gunā€¦why, cos they think the 2nd amendment gives them the right to use it.
(By the way, the 2nd Amendment was made because of a fear of attack from bordering countries, lawlessness within their own communities or the British forces. It meant that everyone had a right to bear arms in order that a militia of people could be mobilised to defend the country until the regular army could arrive).

Same here . I think Im more reluctant to fly in public than anything else. Me and my son always stay well away from dogs too. Sherdley park sounds great.

Iā€™ve not had anyone bother me in the local park I flew my drone, even one time where I was standing other people were sitting around on the grass nearby. They were more amused by the drone than bothered by it. Maybe the attitude is different here in the UK.

I have had a couple of ā€œConfrontationsā€ over the last 3 months, as can be seen from my posts on here.
But, I do believe it is how you handle the situation at the time.
You tend to find that the people who are in front of you are straight away on the offensive.
The usual line is ā€œYou canā€™t fly that thing here mate!ā€
The first thing is always to tell them to ā€œwaitā€ until you are in a safe position to talk to them, especially if your ā€œBirdā€ is airborne !.
You basically have to ignore them until you are landed and switched off, then talk to them.
It is disrespectful of them to talk while you are operating you drone, and also probably an offence to distract you from what you are doing !.
I have many times in the past, asked them to ā€œWait until I have landed my droneā€ , ā€œthen I will talk to youā€.
It is at that point you go to you flight bag, shove you PLI in front of them, and any other relevant paperwork you may have.
This is usually enough to quieten down the situation, and does often put them on the back foot !.
This has been the case in my experience, and has normally been enough to send them on their way.
But, I am more than willing to ā€œEducateā€ anybody on the subject of our ā€œDronesā€, and usually ends up with them going away with more knowledge than before.

1 Like

We should expect more of this nonsense. Nature provides us with more and more ignorant and aggressive people looking for an excuse to be confrontational and show off their peacock feathers.
The aggressor in the video made my blood boil.
What would I do ? Iā€™d have to suppress my extremely strong urge to snot the bastard and play along like the guy did in the video.


Nowā€¦when I bring him along with meā€¦no one approaches .

5 Likes

Based in South Wales, UK here and Iā€™ve never had a single issue from anyone at all! Most of the time people are just curious and if they come up to you at all, they ask about what it is and itā€™s capabilities are.
They do behave differently depending on whether Iā€™m flying my Mavic or Phantom though. Most people canā€™t seem to even hear the Mavic. They look up at the sky and stare because they see me doing it and then wander off. With the Phantom, they can hear it so they look for it and then give themselves a pat on the back when they find it in the sky!
Maybe us Welshmen are just nicerā€¦ :grin:

It must be my ā€œRonnie Krayā€ attitude then !.
Didā€™nt think I was that bad!.
Even @PaperCrane would probably agree with you, he has said that every time we get together, something happens !.
Maybe this is why when I called for All ā€œNorfolk Boysā€ to have a meet up this weekend, nobody Local responded !!!.
(as Chris smells his armpits !)
Nope, not that !, smells like ā€œroseā€

Lol, yeah BO may be a factor, who knows!

Iā€™ll take the fifth! :wink:

Sorry couldnā€™t make it. Another time.