Breaking the law.... Or not.

[RobertV]

I do have to watch it a bit lately,
as the most recent three members of public to approach me have said.."get a life"..etc, "cant you take that somewhere else" , " grow up " etc...
so when a man approached me 2 days ago with "can i have a word with you mate" ?"
I was about to blow my top, to relieve months of biting my tongue...
but I just said "yeah sure"....
im so glad i didnt loose it cos he only wanted to ask me how many miles per gallon i get from my smartcar, cos hes thinking of getting one.
we had a really good conversation for a good 20 mins, not once referring to the spark, or model flying.
really decent bloke, they are out there.

 

[notime]

What was the point of posting this stooge video?

 

[Blue Baron]

If lawmakers see the community self-policing, there is less drive to get real police involved.

LOL

And that's coming from the US. The US created an entire billion dollar industry by breaking many existing laws: the internet corporations. Google, Facebook, Amazon, ... they're all breaking the law (tax, privacy, copyright etc.) and are getting away with it.

If there is one thing to learn in a time of an emerging technology: Don't take the law *too* seriously, or you become a sheep rather than a wolf. E.g., look at drones and how C.Neistat is using them. He creates great footage by bending the law and is getting away with it - even in direct dialogue with the police.

I'd even say it is good for our hobby. Because the more this kind of footage becomes normal, the more people accept to see drones flewn that way. Assuming a safe flight not risking to harm anybody, i.e., a lightweight enough craft, not over crowd etc.

Another example I watch closely is youtuber serpentza. He's plenty of drone footage, even near the North Korean border and flies multiple drones, from Spark to Inspire. He's often called by Chinese police to "not film" in an area. Normally, police was called by suspicious residents and he gets away with continued filming. Flying a drone was a lesser problem so far. What I mean: What is "allowed" does very much also depend on what people "think" is normal. And there, we should NOT AT ALL police ourself. Never!

 

[Spark 317]

look at drones and how C.Neistat is using them. He creates great footage by bending the law and is getting away with it - even in direct dialogue with the police.

And he's grounded because of it.

FAA says NO, NO, NO.

 

[Blue Baron]

And he's grounded because of it.
FAA says NO, NO, NO.

Source?
He's drone content in almost every clip, maybe just not from NYC anymore.

 

[notime]

LOL

And that's coming from the US. The US created an entire billion dollar industry by breaking many existing laws: the internet corporations. Google, Facebook, Amazon, ... they're all breaking the law (tax, privacy, copyright etc.) and are getting away with it.

If there is one thing to learn in a time of an emerging technology: Don't take the law *too* seriously, or you become a sheep rather than a wolf. E.g., look at drones and how C.Neistat is using them. He creates great footage by bending the law and is getting away with it - even in direct dialogue with the police.

I'd even say it is good for our hobby. Because the more this kind of footage becomes normal, the more people accept to see drones flewn that way. Assuming a safe flight not risking to harm anybody, i.e., a lightweight enough craft, not over crowd etc.

Another example I watch closely is youtuber serpentza. He's plenty of drone footage, even near the North Korean border and flies multiple drones, from Spark to Inspire. He's often called by Chinese police to "not film" in an area. Normally, police was called by suspicious residents and he gets away with continued filming. Flying a drone was a lesser problem so far. What I mean: What is "allowed" does very much also depend on what people "think" is normal. And there, we should NOT AT ALL police ourself. Never!

Prisons are full of those who don't police themselves. Just do what ever you want is what i think, no matter the consequences.

 

[Blue Baron]

Prisons are full of those who don't police themselves.

The world isn't black and white.
Fortunately. Otherwise, the world would never have escaped from medieval Church rules.

 

[notime]

The world isn't black and white.
Fortunately. Otherwise, the world would never have escaped from medieval Church rules.

???

 

[Blue Baron]

???

What I said is this: What is wrong, and what is right, isn't carved in stone. Without challenging the status quo, there can be no progress. Drones are no exception.

 

[notime]

What I said is this: What is wrong, and what is right, isn't carved in stone. Without challenging the status quo, there can be no progress. Drones are no exception.

Then I guess we can challenge the rules of the road and make up our own driving rules.

 

[Hotwire]

You always need to remember, almost half the population have less than average intelligence (by definition). Be calm and treat idiots with compassion. Stupid people don't know they're stupid!

 

[notime]

You always need to remember, almost half the population have less than average intelligence (by definition). Be calm and treat idiots with compassion. Stupid people don't know they're stupid!

You summed that perfectly.

 

[Hotwire]

Cross your finger we are all in the +50% category. You can't be sure but hopeful.

 

[Hotwire]

Has anyone noticed how DJI Spark seams to terrify/torment dogs. I think it must create some ultrasonics that they are sensitive to. None of my other drone have the same effect.
This can make it very difficult keeping a safe/legal distance from the owners. If the dog is off the leash the owners will ignore the drone to harness the dog. If you are low on battery charge, the situation can be difficult. I don't believe a Spark would do anyone great harm but the owner of a scratched up dog could.

 

[Robert G]

I agree entirely.
1. When my kids were young you couldn't go in the park because of dogs. Loose alsations would chase them, all legal. Excrement everywhere. Still is.
2 If the world hadn't found the word drone impressed at dinner parties, we would get no attenetion at all.

 

[Hotwire]

Absolutely, how can you ask someone to control their RC vehicle and not be in control of your pet. A dog is potentially far more dangerous.

 

[Silversand]

Has anyone noticed how DJI Spark seams to terrify/torment dogs. I think it must create some ultrasonics that they are sensitive to. None of my other drone have the same effect.
This can make it very difficult keeping a safe/legal distance from the owners. If the dog is off the leash the owners will ignore the drone to harness the dog. If you are low on battery charge, the situation can be difficult. I don't believe a Spark would do anyone great harm but the owner of a scratched up dog could.

....actually, you are probably correct. NASA conducted an extensive study on "Initial Investigation into the Psychoacoustic Properties of Small Unmanned Aerial System Noise", at the Langley Research Center (2017), vis a vis package delivery by drone vs. motor vehicle. And concluded that, "This result casts doubt on the idea that sUAS operators can expect their operations to be greeted with minimal noise-based opposition as long as the sound of their systems are “no louder than” conventional package delivery solutions"...so apparently, quad+ copters generate some noise based opposition depending on distance / sound received at the listener locale...LOL Perhaps "drone bashing" is more a function of propeller noise than any privacy consideration(s) ?

 

[Hotwire]

Breaking the rules is easy if you don't know them all. I certainly don't know most of them in this country (Australia). If we can't know all the rules are there too many. RC models can't legally fly over 400 feet but glider competitions usually use a much higher ceiling. Amateur rocketry require thousands of feet of airspace and maybe there are rules for this. I think most of these things have involved in the period before the rule makers have their say.

Each time a new rule is created a freedom is lost and freedom could also be considered opportunity. My fear is the rules surrounding drones could stifle the potential of drone technology. I think invention is often the backyard affair and overly oppressive rules could slow the growth of all robotics. Multi-rotors certainly started off as backyard RC projects.

 

[notime]

Do we have to do it in front of the whole community though? To me it looks like a case of puffing up our own ego. Why not just send a private message and save embarrassing someone that may be new to the hobby? That's the kind thing to do.

Another example of an idiot who should taste public humiliation is the moron who recently flew his drone 1500 ft altitude and crashed it into a wing of a comuter plane making an approach to a runway in Canada. But then maybe the law should keep it private.

 

[Robert G]

Hotwire - I agree with what you say, but would add that new technology from steam trains to driverless cars basically frighten the general public. When escalators were introduced on the tube, they hat to get a chap with one leg to use it to assure people they would survive.
Railway engineer s had to use medievil building design as a comforting facade for wary travellers.
And so on.
Most people at the model aero club I use pan lipo batteries, gyros etc simply because they don't want to admit they don't understand them.
So what of quadcopters?( I can't/won't call them drones.)
Of course as new technology they were very unreliable to start with, and that's the essence of it for me. I can wear anything more or less except a third party compensation claim.
The media is most at fault as usual. Only wild hysterical mis reporting sells.
If and when someone is saved by a blood delivery or mountain rescue things might improve.
DJI is active here I think,but it's early days.
Again as others say noise is our worst enemy as per model aircraft.
A silent spark would go unnoticed.
I can only dream of a situation where with the appropriate ticket and kit the National Trust and others allow allocated access for filming - for money of course!