Neighbour has a drone flying around, where do we stand
Discussion
300bhp/ton said:
JustinP1 said:
Where do you stand?
Not in your garden, for starters.
I'm with you, and seen the damage they can do to things and people when they hit them. Hence, the law preventing people flying them like this.
Not many drone buyers are aware of the law though. You could talk to him, or, you could take the passive aggressive approach of printing off something official from the net telling him it's illegal and putting it through his postbox. That should make the point you want.
You talk about drone buyers not being aware of the law, but I reckon you fall into that category too.Not in your garden, for starters.
I'm with you, and seen the damage they can do to things and people when they hit them. Hence, the law preventing people flying them like this.
Not many drone buyers are aware of the law though. You could talk to him, or, you could take the passive aggressive approach of printing off something official from the net telling him it's illegal and putting it through his postbox. That should make the point you want.
As they come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes. And the reality is a cricket ball or football could equally cause similar or more damage to many 'drones'.
When I asked him about it, as he was flying it 'impressing' some 5-10 year olds in a garden, he was uninsured, and totally unaware he should not have been flying it around in the way he was.
There may very well be some responsible drone owners, maybe yourself included, but the OP's neighbour does not sound like one from what the OP has said.
Of course, a cricket ball can cause as much damage to property or a human being, but the important thing being that the player is under obligation to play in a responsible way. In short, you don't play cricket with a cricket ball where someone not playing could get injured by it.
ratboiler said:
As the title
A neighbour has bought a drone, apart from the constant annoying buzzing similar to a strimmer, he is flying it along the back gardens and over the houses.
What I need to know is, is it legal, does it need a license to be used, it is about 18" square and has 4 propellers, all the other neighbours are up in arms and want to bring it down, although I am not sure of the legal side of that either?
What is the police take on drones?
If it has a camera fitted and it is recording video and/or taking pictures then all the above posts are relevant as the drone falls into the "surveillance aircraft" category of the Air Navigation Order.A neighbour has bought a drone, apart from the constant annoying buzzing similar to a strimmer, he is flying it along the back gardens and over the houses.
What I need to know is, is it legal, does it need a license to be used, it is about 18" square and has 4 propellers, all the other neighbours are up in arms and want to bring it down, although I am not sure of the legal side of that either?
What is the police take on drones?
If the drones is not camera equipped.... well it's just an RC controlled toy and the within 150m rule of a congested area and 50m rule of people, buildings and cars/boats not directly under the pilots control, do not apply.
If you want to call the cops then mention that you believe the operator is in Breach of the Air Navigation order in respect to the use of drones.
evilmunkey said:
if it was over my property i would be inclined to break out my kriss vector fully auto airsoft machine pistol would soon sort that bugger. 
50 rounds at 450 fps in 1.4. seconds 
what you have there is a section 5 prohibited weapon if indeed it is firing at 450 fps 50 rounds at 450 fps in 1.4. seconds Edited by evilmunkey on Monday 15th May 15:27
Gas blow back versions come as standard at around 340fps and even with propane you wont get 450 fps with out a lot of fiddling.
even the new aeg versions which are not out untill june2017 are only rated at 340-360 fps
so im calling billy bulls
t and we need custard to prove your 450fps boasthman said:
That is seriously cool. What a fantastic bird!J
matjk said:
I would just chill out, there's loads of paranoia about drones, they are just a toy really, the privacy thing is a red herring, if he was trying to spy on you a mobile phone tapped to a pole would get much better footage and not sound like a thousand angry wasps and pretty much giving the game away, people like to be outraged by stuff like this, it will be a new toy that hes learing to fly and will soon get bored or take it else where as he has done to death pictures of his neighbors lawns.
It'll get to the stage where they'll be heavily regulated to own and insure one. Just look at model aircraft and insurance etc requirements on them. In the media you read about the Heathrow close misses but in reality if a drone falls on to your parked car, dislodges a roof tile or Mrs Miggins cat it's going to spoil the fun for the sensible drone users. mph999 said:
matjk said:
I would just chill out, there's loads of paranoia about drones, they are just a toy really ....
Well .... I'm going to guess it's an out-of-the box thing from Maplin or similar, but even the relatively slow DJI Phantoms of similar will make quite a mess if they hit someone. The smaller 'racing' style can hit fairly high speeds and will probably make a bigger mess if they hit someone at full pelt.Or to be a bit more blunt - one of these dropping out the sky onto someones head could potentially be fatal.
Yes, they are toys in the grand scheme of things, but so is an air rifle ...
Having said that, they do look to have the potential to cause (possibly severe) injury to any person who is unfortunate enough to get hit by one, so I expect the situation is being monitored, and if experience shows that undue trouble is being caused, some sort of control on their use might emerge eventually.
He'll get bored or lose it in your garden soon enough. I got a drone for Christmas from the missus, they're no fun in the enclosed space of a garden.
I did have the sense to remove the camera on the one occasion i flew it in the garden, didn't fancy signing the sex offenders register if someone mistakenly thought i was attempting voyeurism by the medium of a loud flying machine covered in flashing lights...
... That's what my camouflage gear is for.
I did have the sense to remove the camera on the one occasion i flew it in the garden, didn't fancy signing the sex offenders register if someone mistakenly thought i was attempting voyeurism by the medium of a loud flying machine covered in flashing lights...
... That's what my camouflage gear is for.
JustinP1 said:
I made my statement from experience, from an 'uncle in law' who was flying one semi-professionally.
When I asked him about it, as he was flying it 'impressing' some 5-10 year olds in a garden, he was uninsured, and totally unaware he should not have been flying it around in the way he was.
There may very well be some responsible drone owners, maybe yourself included, but the OP's neighbour does not sound like one from what the OP has said.
Of course, a cricket ball can cause as much damage to property or a human being, but the important thing being that the player is under obligation to play in a responsible way. In short, you don't play cricket with a cricket ball where someone not playing could get injured by it.
The law is however different if you are using 'drones' for commercial purposes, i.e. your "Semi professional" use. vs just for recreation.When I asked him about it, as he was flying it 'impressing' some 5-10 year olds in a garden, he was uninsured, and totally unaware he should not have been flying it around in the way he was.
There may very well be some responsible drone owners, maybe yourself included, but the OP's neighbour does not sound like one from what the OP has said.
Of course, a cricket ball can cause as much damage to property or a human being, but the important thing being that the player is under obligation to play in a responsible way. In short, you don't play cricket with a cricket ball where someone not playing could get injured by it.
The weight of the craft also dictates many aspects of the law.
And that was my point more than anything. The op has only vaguely described what is going on.
Quadcopters come in many shapes and sizes and while you should be responsible with all of them. They do not all have the same risks.
e.g. it could be something like this flying about.
And may not even have a camera on it.
Also some 'big' quadcopters are still super lightweight, and unlikely to cause much risk or damage. Again, responsible use should always prevail. But that hardly means it's the same risk as running about with an assault rifle!
SpamCan said:
Sounds like the chap with the drone is breaking a few laws, peronally I'd have a quiet word with him and ask him to stop before the local busy body reports him.
So essentially my farts have got more of a chance to bring it down? 300bhp/ton said:
If you are in the U.K. Then a fully auto air weapon is far more illegal than flying an RC quad copter.
It it is an airsoft 'gun' then a fully automatic or semi automatic, gas or electric is perfectly legal. An air rifle/pistol then yes it would be illegal, but the above fires plastic BBs.citizensm1th said:
evilmunkey said:
if it was over my property i would be inclined to break out my kriss vector fully auto airsoft machine pistol would soon sort that bugger. 50 rounds at 450 fps in 1.4. seconds
what you have there is a section 5 prohibited weapon if indeed it is firing at 450 fps 50 rounds at 450 fps in 1.4. seconds Edited by evilmunkey on Monday 15th May 15:27
Gas blow back versions come as standard at around 340fps and even with propane you wont get 450 fps with out a lot of fiddling.
even the new aeg versions which are not out untill june2017 are only rated at 340-360 fps
so im calling billy bulls
t and we need custard to prove your 450fps boasttting its guts out is another thing. Also out of the factory these were about 320-340fps so you have had it upgraded a lot, which takes it deliberately over 1Joule and into Section5 which is manufacturing a firearm, much more serious than just buyiing one and pleading ignorance.
Firing any sort of airsoft weapon in your back garden to take down a "rogue" drone is also far more illegal than the actual drone pilot being a dick.
I have drones and actually use them at Milsim airsoft games and the amount of "I can shoot your drone" down bravado I hear is amazing, you realise your toy gun wont do s
t to the drone's body and probably not much to the carbon fibre props either? Airsoft AA it's not 
As for the drone driver, he is an idiot plain and simple and will be one of the many reasons a lot of the fun in drone flying will be restricted more and more.
300bhp/ton said:
Sorry but that is total nonsense. It's easy to own and fly a model aircraft. And no insurance is 'required'.
This is the case as far as I am aware. Most clubs will mandate insurance as part of their membership the one I flew with in my youth certainly did. Though if the club that you fly with are BMFA affiliated that will come as part of the membership anyway, it did for me. And for non-affiliated clubs the easiest way to get insurance is to join the BMFA.But for flying one in the middle of nowhere there is no legal mandate to have insurance, it is sensible to do so of course, a model Spitfire with a 6ft wingspan weighing several kilos can do a lot of damage when it ploughs into something like a car or somebody.
Still illegal, but less likely you'd get a knock on the door than if you use a gun...
http://jammers4u.com/drones-jammer
DISCLAIMER: 132W of RF might cause your head to explode if you hold antenna wrong way round
http://jammers4u.com/drones-jammer
DISCLAIMER: 132W of RF might cause your head to explode if you hold antenna wrong way round
Edited by FurtiveFreddy on Tuesday 16th May 11:37
SpamCan said:
This is the case as far as I am aware. Most clubs will mandate insurance as part of their membership the one I flew with in my youth certainly did. Though if the club that you fly with are BMFA affiliated that will come as part of the membership anyway, it did for me. And for non-affiliated clubs the easiest way to get insurance is to join the BMFA.
But for flying one in the middle of nowhere there is no legal mandate to have insurance, it is sensible to do so of course, a model Spitfire with a 6ft wingspan weighing several kilos can do a lot of damage when it ploughs into something like a car or somebody.
But you said about the requirements and insurance to fly an RC plane. This simply isn't true. There are no requirement to fly one.But for flying one in the middle of nowhere there is no legal mandate to have insurance, it is sensible to do so of course, a model Spitfire with a 6ft wingspan weighing several kilos can do a lot of damage when it ploughs into something like a car or somebody.
Yes, most/some/all clubs require you to have some kind of insurance. But as you said, some will include it in their membership... hardly a chore. Or the BMFA, which while run like a 1920's organisation, isn't exactly expensive.
The key thing is, not all RC planes have 6 foot wing spans these days....
In fact it's not even all that recent. Plenty of micro or park flyer foam aircraft to choose from.
Perfectly good flyer in a park, or even a large garden. No regs at all and insurance is optional.
FurtiveFreddy said:
Still illegal, but less likely you'd get a knock on the door than if you use a gun...
http://jammers4u.com/drones-jammer
DISCLAIMER: 132W of RF might cause your head to explode if you hold antenna wrong way round
And also wipe out wifi in the neighbourhood!http://jammers4u.com/drones-jammer
DISCLAIMER: 132W of RF might cause your head to explode if you hold antenna wrong way round
Edited by FurtiveFreddy on Tuesday 16th May 11:37
FurtiveFreddy said:
Still illegal, but less likely you'd get a knock on the door than if you use a gun...
http://jammers4u.com/drones-jammer
DISCLAIMER: 132W of RF might cause your head to explode if you hold antenna wrong way round
Expensive though.http://jammers4u.com/drones-jammer
DISCLAIMER: 132W of RF might cause your head to explode if you hold antenna wrong way round
Edited by FurtiveFreddy on Tuesday 16th May 11:37
Crossbows can pack quite a punch can't they?
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