Flying Drones are becoming a life threatening problem here in California.

[elgecko]

They may be dangerous but they do get killer footage!

 

[Munjibunga]

Yep. I ever see one hovering over my house it's coming down.

It's just like everything else. A few idiots messing it up for everyone else. But still, if it's just hovering over my house I will assume it's being piloted by one of the idiots.... and it will come down.

I assume you mean by gunfire. In most municipalities, discharging a firearm within the city limits is illegal.

 

[David Jayne]

Paintball gun. Maybe airsoft. Those are legal.

 

[4Mal]

A couple of interesting drone applications ...
Fly by inspection of large scale irrigation systems, look for the dark green patches, those are the leaks and a waste of water. Got a friend working that now.

One company is working on the ability to take a layer off a CAD drawing and turn it into a flight plan. So autonomous inspection of large scale construction. Skyscrapers, bridges - review of in place bridge support structures. With 100% accuracy, 360 degree inspection that take a minor fraction of the time it would take manually. Remember the I-35 bridge collapse ? Give our current level of infrastructure and maintenance spending that movie will play in a town near you one day...

One local photog uses a drone to get POV footage of potential new tower construction. Basically he flies a spiral pattern the size of the tower and shoots continuously. A review of the footage shows the area that may be affected visually by the tower. He's done it a few times now on both sides of the constructor/community equation.

Snowmobiles are amazing devices for winter rescue/safety work, yet every winter some yahoo knocks himself or his buddies/family off by being stupid in avalanche country. Jet skis are amazing tools for harbor maintenance, and water safety/ life guarding. They are also incredible dangerous in the wrong hands ... Common sense isn't actually... Sort of the same thing with UAV's. They are wonderful tools and yes they are available to the general public that sees them as toys... Just like snowmobiles and jet skis..

I can't get real excited by the whole pizza delivery, amazon delivery thing. I guess Jeff Bezos can...

As far as the whole hovering over my house thing... My rule of thumb I do nothing my mother wouldn't want to see on news at 11 ... So the footage from someone hovering over my house looking down would be shockingly dull... Oh look, he pet the dog on his way to the fridge! Hey is he holding a beer ? OK, now he picking up his book again... Really - y'all drone shooters must lead amazingly different lives than mine...

If the noise bugged me, I'd ask around the neighborhood and we'd have a little chat. If the noise bugged me again, then I'd be browsing amazon for a paintball gun...

 

[Lobster11]

So I have a question for those of you who are knowledgeable about this stuff. If someone is flying a drone over my property, isn't that something akin to trespassing? Am I within my rights to, um, disable it in some way? (Local firearm ordinances duly noted.) How much of the air space above my (so-called) lawn and house do I actually own?

 

[elgecko]

So I have a question for those of you who are knowledgeable about this stuff. If someone is flying a drone over my property, isn't that something akin to trespassing? Am I within my rights to, um, disable it in some way? (Local firearm ordinances duly noted.) How much of the air space above my (so-called) lawn and house do I actually own?

That's a good question. The same thing can asked about how far down does my property go. Can someone tunnel 1' below ground level?

 

[fendermademygibson]

Where I live we have a very small international airport. I'm not sure what body of authority it is but they are trying to make it a federal offense to fly drones within a certain proximity. I want to say the proposal is a half mile radius with a ceiling of 1200 ft. Not sure how they would police it.

As somebody pointed out earlier though the sad fact is it will a reactive solution as opposed to proactive one.

There are many examples in this thread and the headlines as to why there needs to be more stringent regulations.

I seriously hope the whole idea of home delivery via drone never comes to fruition. So much potential liability. Just wait until someone gets knocked out or worse, killed because a package was accidentally deployed.

 

[Stewie26]

Where I live we have a very small international airport. I want to say the proposal is a half mile radius with a ceiling of 1200 ft. Not sure how they would police it.

That would be smack in the middle of the typical traffic pattern found at almost every airport. Currently, The FAA says at least 5 miles from an airport and a ceiling of 400 feet. With larger airports the distance can go beyond 5 miles.

 

[fendermademygibson]

That would be smack in the middle of the traffic pattern.

Like I said, I'm not sure the exact numbers or what federal regulations already mandate. This is an extremely small "international" airport. One terminal with 6-8 gates. Maybe they are/were trying to extend current airspace regulations.

 

[aborgman]

So I have a question for those of you who are knowledgeable about this stuff. If someone is flying a drone over my property, isn't that something akin to trespassing? Am I within my rights to, um, disable it in some way? (Local firearm ordinances duly noted.) How much of the air space above my (so-called) lawn and house do I actually own?

Under 500' and assuming at some point a previous owner didn't waive air rights in a navigational easement - you have some control.

Above 500' or if your deed records a navigational easement - you have no power.

 

[aborgman]

That's a good question. The same thing can asked about how far down does my property go. Can someone tunnel 1' below ground level?

Do you own the mineral rights or not?

If you don't - the mineral rights owner can do things like run a slant oil well under your property.

 

[Lobster11]

Under 500' and assuming at some point a previous owner didn't waive air rights in a navigational easement - you have some control.

Above 500' or if your deed records a navigational easement - you have no power.

That's interesting, thanks. Two followup questions:

1. Is that true everywhere -- which you seem to be implying -- or does it vary locally? That is, is this a federal, state, or county/municipality issue?

2. If I find a drone hovering over my property and below 500', am I within my rights to shoot/knock it down somehow? And if I do, am I legally obligated to return it to its owner? (And if not, can I legally punch him in the face?)

 

[elgecko]

Do you own the mineral rights or not?

If you don't - the mineral rights owner can do things like run a slant oil well under your property.

 

[aborgman]

That's interesting, thanks. Two followup questions:

1. Is that true everywhere -- which you seem to be implying -- or does it vary locally? That is, is this a federal, state, or county/municipality issue?

It is an FAA rule.

Griggs v. Allegheny County, 369 US 84,88-89, (1962)

It largely holds everywhere.

2. If I find a drone hovering over my property and below 500', am I within my rights to shoot/knock it down somehow?

Unlikely.

I suspect in most states both you AND the drone flyer would then be subject to prosecution.

Your only legal course of action is likely to be reporting the violation to authorities.

 

[4Mal]

Everything I've heard says a 400 foot ceiling for UAV operations - I am no expert in FAA regs though... Might have to ping our FAA guy and ask. This industry is a bit like the telecom industry 15 years ago. It's moving fast, much faster than the regulators can keep up.

If it were a loud UAV I can understand the annoyance factor. I don't really get the whole shoot the thing down idea though. I mean really is there actual harm being done ? Are we concerned about some surveillance thing ? Do we actually live interesting enough lives for someone to spend the time, energy and expense - personally I would bore the alleged 'surveilling Tom' to tears... The whole thing kinda smacks of the UN is planning a take over of the US conspiracy. Back helicopters and all that cr@p... Or that the Feds are going to take over Texas...

You want a surveillance item to be concerned about? Smart device viruses ... There is stuff in that category that makes me want a flip phone in spite of my boring life...

 

[Lobster11]

Everything I've heard says a 400 foot ceiling for UAV operations - I am no expert in FAA regs though... Might have to ping our FAA guy and ask. This industry is a bit like the telecom industry 15 years ago. It's moving fast, much faster than the regulators can keep up.

If it were a loud UAV I can understand the annoyance factor. I don't really get the whole shoot the thing down idea though. I mean really is there actual harm being done ? Are we concerned about some surveillance thing ? Do we actually live interesting enough lives for someone to spend the time, energy and expense - personally I would bore the alleged 'surveilling Tom' to tears... The whole thing kinda smacks of the UN is planning a take over of the US conspiracy. Back helicopters and all that cr@p... Or that the Feds are going to take over Texas...

You want a surveillance item to be concerned about? Smart device viruses ... There is stuff in that category that makes me want a flip phone in spite of my boring life...

You make some good points. I agree that there certainly are much more insidious threats to our security and privacy than this (for the time being, anyway). And I assure you that I'm not a conspiracy theorist/successionist whacko, and on my list of "things to worry about" this one is buried somewhere near the bottom of page 63. I'm also not concerned if a neighbor is flying a UAV over his own yard that strays briefly into my "airspace."

Still, my wife is gonna be pretty upset when she comes across an internet video of herself changing clothes or getting in the shower. It's illegal to trespass on someone's property and peek in the windows, and I don't see why sending a UAV to do the peeping should be any different.

 

[4Mal]

No question there. Hovering outside a window a UAV is fair game in my book... And when she carries her smart phone into the smallest room in the house... Tape over the camera lenses. Apparently hacking a smart device camera and mic is trivially easy for the hacking community. Enough so that those devices are not allowed in some secure environments.

I feel pretty safe from the surveillance Tom... I don't think there is a demographic wiling to shell out to see and out of shape 60yr old guy taking a shower ;-)

 

[254 stringer]

Got a drone problem take up falconry as a hobby.

 

[Jim C]

For those of you that don't want a drone overhead and have a legal way to make it go away, how could anyone prove the actual altitude after the fact?

Thanks for the reminder Mal; I too have read that your cell phone can also be an outsider's way to video and record your actions.
I wonder if this is possible when a phone is turned off?
I would think wrapping in aluminum foil or putting in an old WWII amo case would offer more than enough RF shielding to make the device inoperable.

 

[elgecko]

Swift water rescue application of drones. I guess they'd also be superior than those "rope cannons" they use when they need to get a rope to stranded parties.

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