Just had a chap knocking on the door saying he’s lost his drone and thinks it maybe in our back garden. Quick check reveals no so I bluntly told him to so.

It’s 2145 on a Sunday, I live in a residential area FFS. I thought overflights of domestic property were illegal. Can any drone experts advise?

Don’t be such a shit neighbour I would say. Boys and toys etc

https://www.caa.co.uk/Consumers/Unmanned-aircraft-and-drones/

Footballs ok, drones not so happy about but it’s also the time of day.

Did the noise disturb you?

Or the knocking on your door? One or the other?

Tough crowd.

I see your point, OP.

How embarrassing. I hope you laughed down at him from the top of your doorstep.

No noise apart from the door bell. Definitely breaking the Drone code. Either that or chancer hoping to get in (OAP close). Hopefully next door but ones dog has savaged it.

Bloody Hell I’m grumpier than normal tonight!

But seriously, my pain in the arse son constantly kicks the ball over the neighbours fence. It’s one of those things isn’t it? So if it was a “drone” it’s not that much different unless it was filming me and Mrs ws getting some *jiggy time* in the hot tub…. *if only*

But seriously, my pain in the arse son constantly kicks the ball over the neighbours fence. It’s one of those things isn’t it? So if it was a “drone” it’s not that much different unless it was filming me and Mrs ws getting some *jiggy time* in the hot tub…. *if only*

Football is socially acceptable. A child playing football should be encouraged.

Drones OTOH, who are these drone owners? Mostly perverts I imagine; adult perverts. And the OPs ended up with one stood on his doorstep on a Sunday night. Could be after his kids!?!

Not on IMO.

Disagree, football from next door kicked over by a boy, you’ll know where it’s come from and who’s done it. 20+ year old bloke I’ve never seen before knocking on the door saying he lost a drone late Sunday evening after sunset……jog on.

Yes, not permitted to fly them in bulit up areas. Not allowed within 50m of a person or property without appropriate permission and that goes up to 150m if its got a camera on it.
And must remain withing line of sight… kind of answers itself that doesn’t it.

What annoys people is the annonimity of a camera laden device taking pictures of them, and then no way to find out who was looking at them. A photographer on the street or in a park can be approached and asked not to photogragh you, understandable in most cases.

Also the potential of a thing dropping out of the sky and either causing damage or injury, again, how do you know who to approach about it.

I have a knobber of a neighbour who sometimes, thankfully rarely, flies his drone from his garden. I spoken to him in a friendly neighbour kind of way about it. He still flies it, he’s still a knob.

OP I’m with you.

Over my garden where my children play, where I stay if I want some privacy and a soaking from next door’s sprinkler then you can **** off. If it’s over my property then as far as I can assume you’re up to something dodgy. It’s the equivalent of standing on a ladder looking into someone’s garden with a zoom lens or binoculars.

Totally inappropriate invasion of privacy.

A ball over the fence is not comparable. If it wings your prize rhododendron then puncture it or tell someone off but its not the same as taking film or pictures of someone in their own space.

Oh **** Off! The lad isn’t playing with it for the camera side of it. If he was he’d have spent a few hours flying it somewhere tricky.
He’s literally fired it up and is shit at flying which with the 4 axis bollox or whatever it is is quite plausible has lost it and he’s now down a few hundred quid. Are people so uptight these days that if someone knocks on their door it’s for dodgy reasons?

I don’t think I would care much about a drone filming me/ my property particularly unless it came in very close – probably less than I would some random making me the focus of a photo on the street. I would be a bit concerned about the thing potentially falling out of the air or smacking into something though. And the noise they make is not particularly sociable. And this is from someone who’ll probably buy one in the next month of so.

Oh **** Off! The lad isn’t playing with it for the camera side of it.

The lad is a chap, no?

http://www.lowflyingdronesolutions.com

(Kaercher website) 😈

I think they can allow some brilliant photography but they’re a criminals’ and scammers’ gift too.

Just shake your head from left to right really quickly and you’ll come out all blurred on the footage so no-one will know it’s you doing whatever you were doing at 2145 on a Sunday.

I think they can allow some brilliant photography but they’re a criminals’ and scammers’ gift too.

Any examples of this? I’m struggling to see how a criminal would find a drone useful.

Not allowed within 50m of a person or property without appropriate permission and that goes up to 150m if its got a camera on it.

That’s not quite right. The 150m rule applies to ‘congested areas’. A camera makes no difference that comes down to privacy.

Weight of SUV determines most factors rather than camera.

The drone operator has clearly been a bit of nuisance, chances are it’s pretty broken now.

When you take your CAA permission you quickly learn not to get yourself into these scenarios.

The lad can be whatever you desire Jamie. Do you honestly think he was filming the op prior to binning it in to his garden?

knocking on the door saying he’s lost his drone and thinks it maybe in our back garden.

– didn’t distraction burglars previously do similar asking about footballs?

Or has everyone become totally honest these days?

Wonder how long before one of these hits a passenger jet coming into land ? I’ve read a few pilots reports of near misses landing approaches

rone – Member 

Is that like drone without the D?

He could have been flying over his own garden, then accidentally gone over another garden and crashed. Easy enough if you’re a beginner to get disorientated and press the wrong stick etc. Or it might have been caught by a gust of wind.
Probably just incompetent, not necessarily trying to spy on you.

Dan129 – maybe you missed it, but traffic was diverted from Gatwick (I think) because of drone reports, last week or the previous one maybe.

Hanlon’s Razor

There was a drone buzzing around over my garden and a few of the neighbours recently. I had to laugh when a few hours later there was a post on the local Facebook selling/wanted page, looking for a lost drone in my location :d

Its no wonder it gets peoples backs up, would you put up with a long lens camera being held over your fence, looking through your (bungalows) bedroom windows and spotting your fleet of bikes propped against the shed?

The lad can be whatever you desire Jamie. Do you honestly think he was filming the op prior to binning it in to his garden?

I was simply agreeing with the OP that this ladchap knocking on the door at nearly 10pm on a Sunday was a bit much. I have no idea if the sick pervert, who neighbours described as a bit of a loner, was filming as well.

I think they can allow some brilliant photography but they’re a criminals’ and scammers’ gift too.
Any examples of this? I’m struggling to see how a criminal would find a drone useful.

Really? We’re rural and they’re an easy way of checking things like oil tank locations, whether someone is in, sheds etc.

I’m with OP. We know our neighbours and if Jonny (aged eight) came and asked for his drone back – no problem. Some random -I’ll have a look out of politeness but anyone knocking on the door at 9:45pm is going to generally get short shrift (kids in bed etc).

Wouldn’t want one over our garden or house without express permission TBH anyway (neighbours kids not-withstanding). We live opposite a cricket pitch and we had a drone club set up there once – was fine until they started buzzing the houses and gardens. Sent our chickens and dogs batshit crazy. I think our neighbour went and has a strong word in the end.

I think there has been a spate of people shooting them down if they’re over private property.

rone: As I understand it the Article 95 regulations (that detail the 50m/150m restrictions) only apply to “small unmanned surveillance aircraft” – so the presence of a camera does seem relevant.

https://www.caa.co.uk/Consumers/Unmanned-aircraft/Recreational-drones/Recreational-drone-flights/

Though obviously if they are crashing out of control drones into the OP’s garden then they are failing the far more basic principle of flying responsibly.

It’s always safer to assume your neighbour is a raging pervert/criminal and treat them with that in mind.

The march of modern technology is a voyeur’s charter. Better to just keep your curtains pulled shut 24/7 to be on the safe side.

TBH, if you’re cavorting in a hot tub next to the pampas grass in your garden, you’re probably already on Youtube.

Any examples of this? I’m struggling to see how a criminal would find a drone useful.

I saw one up over our, and our neighbours back gardens the other day, went about 60-70′ straight up and held position for a good couple of minutes, plenty of time to pan a camera round and get a good look at the contents of gardens, sheds and through the odd window… By the time I got round to the street there was no sign of the drone or its operator, could have been a neighbour, could have been someone casing us.

Given we have several nice big open spaces locally for nerds to fly their toys, you can see the basis of any suspicions…

I’m sure you think I am being a paranoid old curtain twitcher, but anything that let’s the user anonymously gather images of people’s private property is pretty open to abuse/misuse by criminals, especially if say, ‘strava flyby’ had already helped them track a few nice bikes to an approximate area…

The modern world is awash with tools for criminals, it doesn’t take much imagination TBH…

Regardless of what the regs say, I wouldn’t fly mine over houses, because of the risk of something going wrong and the noise. They are not toys, but some people don’t realise that.

By the time I got round to the street there was no sign of the drone or its operato

If it’s someone who is happy to fly illegally then the operator could be a good couple of miles away.

They are not toys

Of course they are. Apart from a very few used professionally they are the very definition of frivolous toy. That does not mean you get to play with it where you like though.

Woffle exactly and handy in more urban areas, who has the big garden with the nice stuff, who has expensive bikes on the lawn garden machinery or power tools on the lawn while they’re doing DIY?

I’m sure I’ve only scratched the surface but in terms of targeting a few burglaries etc. I can see a pretty good return on investment.

Like I said I think there are cool things you can do with them but like anything there will be people abusing those good features of them for bad reasons or being just plain inconsiderate of others and rude with their enjoyment of them.

Of course they are.

Clearly depends how you define a toy. But mine (which is not used professionally) could do some serious damage to someone’s face if I dicked around with it. Or flew over someone’s house and it went wrong. Which is why anyone with half a brain cell wouldn’t.

Clearly depends how you define a toy.

I guess. For me (and the oxford dictionary 😉 ) a toy is a gadget or machine used to provide amusement. My mountain bike is a toy, my commute bike is not. I am close to buying a DJI Spark – it will be a toy, and I’m happy with that and would plan to use it responsibly and considerately.