Just had a visit from the police...

Heard a knock at the door, answered it, local policeman says hello and asked if he could come in. I said no, he then asks me if I'd been flying a drone up in a local field, I said yes and invited him in... Cos it was pretty cold...
Earlier I'd been flying a miniquad in a quiet field nearby and as I'm new to flying fpv was having a good practice flight and took along a friend as a spotter. A lady came over, with a bit of attitude, worrying about sheep miscarrying (there were no animals whatsoever anywhere nearby I made sure) her horses were going crazy cos my drone sounded exactly like a bird of prey (I thought birds of prey prided themselves on their ability to not draw attention to themselves whilst our hunting + i wasn't aware horses had a fear of being lifted into the sky by kestrels) and because of terrorism and the flight path she was calling the police (wtf) and last but not least "that thing has a camera and it's an invasion of my privacy" (I need it to see where I'm going I explain, and right now it's you that is invading my privacy, the field has public access and when you've stopped taking pictures of my car number plate I would kindly like you to f off, but I didn't say the last bit, I didn't swear or curse once and that's not like me) .
So.. Back to the police, he says 'special branch' have sent him to get my details.. I'm thinking special branch? Isn't that the sweeny? And I'm a little reluctant to just go along with anything the police ask, the fact they even ask tells you that they don't have authority to command..
But he seems like a nice guy so I ask what department he works, and is there a big concern within the police with regard to drones and terrorism and flight paths etc.. He's forthcoming and says there was an issue a year ago with a drone and because planes do come over there, farmers have been asked to call police if they ever see a drone (wtf)
I decided to help the police understand what drones are, I explain the bad reputation drones have is because of the media, you know bombing and spying etc.. But that's not us..
You've got drones for Christmas that last 30 seconds, you've got little drones for flying around the house, you've got phantoms for high altitude filming, and mine... A racer..
I get out my quad, Taranis and fatsharks, he drools... What's that! His eyes widen.. I plug in, the blue L. E. D. glow lights up each kiss 24a esc.. I pass him the goggles, he puts them on (no poop) and cannot believe what he sees.. I turn the quad this way and that, he can't believe it... He asks the price of everything, I tell him you can buy one ready to fly but if you make your own its a journey of great learning (ain't that the truth) he says he can't solder, I offered to help him (I want as many people to get involved as possible) I show him some vids on YouTube and he's hooked lol...
He said it was a real pleasure, I agreed and we shook hands. I lastly urged him to research it on YouTube and read the forums and he'll see we do try our best to show respect but it can be difficult to find places to fly, but the more organised we get as a fpv community the more meets we can arrange...
All this just goes to show how flying drones is very misunderstood by society, hopefully that'll change given time, but a part of me does worry about how big it will grow and how that will impact everything..
Anyways, fly safe and have fun everyone!
Ken, Glossop, Derbyshire.
 
Yeah I like being the guy at the park with the drone and having everybody come ask me about it - i haven't seen anyone else with a quad in person yet...going to feel sad when everybody has one and i'm just another tree in the forest :'(
 
Make sure you get FAA UAS Certificate number the police could have ask for it. I have flew anything but I have mind.
 
Make sure you get FAA UAS Certificate number the police could have ask for it. I have flew anything but I have mind.

At the moment, there is nothing to stop you going and buying a drone and taking it out flying, as long as the drone weighs less than 20kg and you are not using it for commercial reasons.

However, you must avoid flying it within 150 metres of a congested area and 50 metres of a person, vessel, vehicle or structure not under the control of the pilot.

"That’s probably going to be fine if you’re flying the drone in your back garden, but if you’re in a park, for example, you need to be very careful about making sure you’re not flying it within 50 metres of other people who are in the park,"
You will also need to fly the aircraft "within sight". This means you can’t go above 400 feet in altitude or further than 500 metres horizontally. If you want to exceed that, you need to seek explicit permission from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

Law and regulations evolving in UK cos it's so new.. I know it's different in Europe and USA and it won't be long before there's change here too, thanks for reply..
 
Hi guys well I am real lucky I know the main solicitor for the CAA and He has a large field and I fly there so no one can say any thing about it LOL
 
Hi guys well I am real lucky I know the main solicitor for the CAA and He has a large field and I fly there so no one can say any thing about it LOL
I'm very jealous right now..... So far I have been moved on by council workers in orange land rovers near a local tip, I've had a farmer sneak up behind me and start screaming at me with a rock in his hand (which he had gotten from the dry stone wall behind him) and lately this last episode.. Droning is looking more dangerous than my other hobby which involves my 1050cc superbike wow!!!
 
... People generally fear anything they don't understand ... You did well in not only staying in compliance with regulations, but also
in how you dealt with the police officer ... Enlightening people (especially those in authority) as to the fun and harmlessness of our
hobby will eventually reduce the adversarial nature of future investigations and breed an atmosphere more of curiosity and admiration :)
 
Good
... People generally fear anything they don't understand ... You did well in not only staying in compliance with regulations, but also
in how you dealt with the police officer ... Enlightening people (especially those in authority) as to the fun and harmlessness of our
hobby will eventually reduce the adversarial nature of future investigations and breed an atmosphere more of curiosity and admiration :)
Good shout.. I do live in a rural area and the landowners I've met so far are pretty mean spirited and any discussion is one sided bordering on violent. I'm an outdoor kinda guy and love sleeping out in my hammock and again you have to be stealthy to have any fun.
I advise anyone to simply walk away from confronting country types, especially farmers as they usually have a dog, stick and/or gun with them at any one time lol
I don't usually interact with police, I know my rights etc and have had to use them once or twice but I thought last night was a great chance to educate someone like you say 'in authority' and if couldn't have gone better..
Thanks for reply
 
The police can not really do anything to you unless your in violation of some county ordinance. Only the FAA can. I fly both my X8C and X8G in front of my house. I live in a trailer park. The local police come through here twice and day and even stop to watch.
 
The police can not really do anything to you unless your in violation of some county ordinance. Only the FAA can. I fly both my X8C and X8G in front of my house. I live in a trailer park. The local police come through here twice and day and even stop to watch.

Yeah, I wasn't worried at all.. I knew the law better than him. The police in UK are a mixed bunch, like anywhere else, you get good and bad ones. This guy was a good one thankfully.
I would be a little hesitant to get into an argument with a cop in USA cos they have guns lol, but I guess you guys over there are used to that and are less intimidated.
I also think cos the UK is a little island you're always under a flightpath near cities, i am about 20 miles or so from Manchester city centre and Manchester airport, I can hear a plane going over right now... There is a growing concern that a plane will crash cos of a drone flying into its engine. You could very easily reach the actual flight path with a dji phantom or similar.
I flew back from Amsterdam 2 weeks ago and the thought of a drone smashing into one of its engines on take off did actually cross my mind as I looked out the window haha..
Thanks for reply and fly safe mate..
 
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