Drones..first exposure to one.

[RCW]

My prospective son-in-law brought his drone to our place for Christmas. He got it as a birthday gift last fall - not from us.

Nothing fancy and little, maybe 8x8". His cell phone hooked up to the remote control somehow.

He took off from/landed on my truck tailgate. Went up 3 or 400'. Thing would "track/follow" subjects he picked on his cell phone screen. Ollie the Boxer chased after it...we had fun with it.

Probably flew it 15 minutes each time on a charge.

He set it to "follow" me once, and got an error message that said "Subject Too Large"... I told him remember that!

At one point, a red-tailed hawk was circling it....

The thing was cool! Video was awesome! Saw a panoramic of our whole place easily and clearly.

Never saw one before. Still amazed at how steady/solid/clear the video was.

He guessed it was ~$500. Amazing what it would do!

Don't have a want or need for one. Just thought is was neat.

 

[85Hokie]

Speaking of drones....
wife sends me a picture on my cell phone - she is going on wtf ...
blue and red lights flashing in a tree like a UFO.....
I knew what it was right off the get go, about 35'+ up, took a rock and a string, took about 5 attempts to get it down. No camera - but some kid is missin' a $50 drone.
They are really neat, almost TOO neat, I'm like that guy in KY, if you hover in my neck of the woods.......might not be there to awful long. Might not shoot it, but got lots of sticks and stones!

 

[ipz2222]

Someone is going to get sued big time over wrong use of a drone. I can just imagine some idiot flying one in front of a car , woman driver with a child inside. She swerves, wrecks and the child gets killed.

 

[sheepfarmer]

Someone is going to get sued big time over wrong use of a drone. I can just imagine some idiot flying one in front of a car , woman driver with a child inside. She swerves, wrecks and the child gets killed.

And then there were the nitwits that closed down the main airport in London last week with a drone or drones. Can hardly wait to hear what they do to them. Fly a drone into a jet engine and hundreds could die.

 

[Lil Foot]

Or the idiots who fly drones into wildfire no-fly zones, forcing the fire-fighting aircraft to leave the area for their own safety. (as happened in the Tinder Fire, which came within about 800ft of taking my place-where my Kubota lives)

 

[RCW]

Certainly there are many idiots.
We didn’t go beyond our 6 acres of yard and woods. I would shoot one over my place too.
Stability and clarity just amazed me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SidecarFlip]

I've owned a Quad Copter for a few years (before the license crap. Use it to monitor crops and field boundaries plus I use it on my up north property to scout game but I never fly it in populated areas or irritate people with it.

I some clown flew one around my compound, I'd get out my 'anti-aircraft 6 shot pump with double ought and bring it down.....

 

[John T]

don't forget the pervs flying over the backyard to get a peek/pictures of bikini sunbathers...

I personally feel its tresspassing.....

fly over my place and they will meet mr. 12ga.

on the technical aspect... I had no idea you could just use an app to fly it.....
I thought you needed some kinda skill like the radio control planes...

I guess everything is becoming automated for idiots these days.

 

[SidecarFlip]

"don't forget the pervs flying over the backyard to get a peek/pictures of bikini sunbathers... "

Won't be much of that around my place as it's inhabited by 2 old farts....

Now, my rental next property over is inhabited by a single 24 year old gal. I could see that happening over there in the summer (come to think about it, I may do just that) in as much as I am a dirty old fart. She has a habit of laying out on the back deck and catching some rays...

Putting bad thoughts in my perverted mind.

 

[johnjk]

Had a buddy bring his over before we built a few years back. Really cool to see the entire property from that vantage point. Did not get video due to his SD card being too slow but did get some great stills. His had a feature that when it sensed getting out of range, it would come back closer and when the battery got to a certain level it would return to where we launched it from.

Here are a few shots. The white house and driveway are my neighbors but it exits to the road on my property. I go all the way back through the trees to the farm behind. I'd love to have a drone but don't see using it but a couple times a year. Money better spent on more tractor toys.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Drones are very handy if used with forethought.

A buddy gave me a nice one and I used it to take super hi-res pictures of my decrepit street for the town street maintenance team. Those pictures helped make the case to the town that my street was in dire need for repair. The guy who manages asphalt repair was very happy to get those images. We are in the budget for next year as a result.

I have been able to enjoy a God's eye view of 5 years of often back breaking work on my property I would have otherwise not been able to enjoy. Wish I had before shots. Many of my neighbors and friends have asked me to shoot their property as well. My neighbor was out with his drone and sent me an awesome shot of my new solar array. A helicopter is the only other way to get a shot like that.

Yes, as much as we would like to think otherwise, there is a liability that comes with stupid activity. As the guy who gave me the drone likes to say, "One guy poops his pants and we all have to wear diapers." Now, the FAA has proposed all drones have transponders on them identifying the owner. Commercial drone operators must pass a pilots written exam to be allowed to fly for commercial use. And, the insurance required is pretty costly before you fly over peoples homes and property for hire.

Liability: Often its only the people who have something worth losing that realize the risk. But, it's those ignorant of the risks who end up changing the world for the rest of us. And those changes are rarely for the better.