Drones are good! Some people are bad...
Recently there has been a lot of fear-mongering by the mass media and small networks across the United States. Sometimes I wonder if it's just business or is it to inform and then potentially scare the public. For those that have minimal knowledge about sUAS (drones), I do understand why some are upset, frustrated, or even scared by this technology. I believe the mainstream media has played a very large part in this drone witch hunt. It's amazing to me sometimes because the same news outlets spreading the fake news about "a possible drone strike" are also the networks using drones to capture b-roll for their telecast. For those residing in the UK, I'm sorry, but you have it the worst. With headlines such as "Drone Strike at Heathrow Airport" one can realize how quickly the perception of drones can change. And change quickly! Sadly, this headline is published before the CAA (UK's version of US' FAA) complete's their investigation. Below is a list of articles describing "drone scares" or "drone near misses" but none of them have actual facts to back their content.
- Major air catastrophe over central London avoided by 'pure luck' after drone missed plane with up to 165 passengers on board by just 60 FEET
'Drone' hits British Airways plane approaching Heathrow Airport
None of the above articles include any facts, which hurts my feelings because it's like blaming the car for driving drunk. The outlets who reported the incident include The Guardian, The BBC, and Daily Mail UK. Each outlet reported the incident on April 17, 2016, and by April 28th, 2016 most outlets reported this was not a drone-related incident. Approximately two weeks had gone by, this allowed viewers to develop a new or different perception of drones and their operators. Remember, the drones don't move themselves a user needs to provide inputs for flight path manipulation.
In the United States, we have our own issues, it seems a war has been declared on drones. The image below was posted near a college campus in Seattle, WA on or about April 7th, 2017. Interestingly enough this flyer doesn't explain why the person that posted is so upset. Not to mention how official the Gmail account is to "report" drones. All this is doing frustrating people that operate responsibly and professionally. I feel this person had a bad experience with a drone, potentially just a hater. Either way, this person(s) is butt hurt and the drone community responded. Below is an image of the original flyer posted:
The original copy of the flyer
The above flyer is not accomplishing much as the FAA controls and regulates airspace. Maybe it's a local police officer or a concerned citizen. BUT WHY!? If someone is going to write "drones are a direct threat" please explain why. Your words have no meaning in my opinion.
However, the drone community has responded, notice the difference in Chris Vo's revised copy:
With social media and other forms of digital mass communication I am nearly positive this flyer has backfired on the owner. Check out my Instagram post concerning the flyer. There are far more people that now have seen this that own drones and either operate as a hobbyist or commercially. Personally, I operate under Part 107(commercial) rules and Part 101 (hobbyist) depending on the goal of the operation. We've all sent emails to the address asking "why?" or "are you mad bro?", we just would like to know why. I will keep up with what happens next so stay tuned for an update.