Drone hovering in Maplewood

I was chit chatting with my neighbors 30 mins ago, looked up towards the sky and saw a drone hovering watching us. My neighbors waved at it, and we watched it flew away. My guess is someone got a very expensive new toy and wanted to experiment with it. It was kind of freaky as it was the first time I had ever witnessed a drone. Had me thinking why would anyone want a toy like that ?

I don't think that's legal unless they have a permit from the police department or similar. (See @jude's thread about the drone club at CHS.)

The important question: was it above or below 60 feet in altitude?

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Okay just discussed it with the husband and he said it was over 60ft.

It was a ufo

Around 3pm we saw a man in the Morrow Church neighborhood flying a drone. If you pm me I can give you more details.

@ebennett sending a pm. That's my immediate neighborhood. I hate drones
(Unless Amazon is going to same day deliver me junk I need with one)!

wow you guys/gals are rough--probably just some hobbyist playing with his new toy as the OP mentioned, noone spying or anything malicious... @debpod with such negative stigma towards drones, you'll never get an amazon drone delivery

Hobby or not, I didn't appreciate being watched like that. And he/she was definitely watching us until his/hers drone was busted.

Was it armed? You are paying for much worse to be done to others with these devices.

People driving by in a car with a google glass on their face, a smart phone in their hand, or binoculars against their eyes have more ability to watch you than someone flying a fpv drone..

This is cray.

@nolnat it crashed? Yes!!
@seaweed i'd totally agree if i wasn't a horrifyingly frequent amazon shopper! I'm glad there's at least commercial no fly zones being established you can sign up for. But it should apply to hobbyists too. I have a friend in VA who had one crash in her yard and nearly hit her.

Also, why can't I send PMs via mobile MOL? Am I missing something?

All I can say is ... it wasn't us. Our drones are on order and have not yet arrived nor will we be flying them in residential neighborhoods.

@debpod, does your mobile version of MOL have an icon in the upper right that looks like a cartoon spoken words bubble? It should be just to the right of your inbox. Clicking that when looking at the general discussions list gives you a page that lets you start a new discussion.

However, at least on my Droid phone, when you click your inbox you now have a list of your prior PM conversations and that icon now let's you start a new private conversation instead of a discussion.

My Droid phone also lets me switch to a desktop view of MOL. Does yours have that option?

I can do the same on my iPhone.

can anyone direct me to where I can find the rules and regulations for owning and operating a drone. I have thought of buying one to use to take low altitude aerial photos of my listings, but I've heard there are FAA regulations limiting the operation of them

boomie said:

This is cray.

Nah. Cray made supercomputers. This is probably Brookstone.

Oh, gosh, time to close my blinds and drapes..... )

If they start peeking in my house they will surely turn around in disgust.

I'd open the door and invite it in and get it do my dishes for me.

If you do this for commercial purposes you may fall under a higher level of scrutiny. On the FAA web site check out some pages:
1. http://www.faa.gov/usa/model_aircraft -- which is what the CHS club will at least initially be guided by

2. http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ato/service_units/systemops/aaim/organizations/uas/coa/faq/

On that pages there is the question and answer statement which I am sure is enshrined in various regs:
"Can a civilian company operate an UAS (Unmanned Aircraft System which includes drones) in the NAS (which I think means National Air Space)?
and the FAA's answer:
"Currently civilian companies may not operate a UAS as part of a business without obtaining a Special Airworthiness Certificate - Experimental Category (SAC-EC). However, this SAC-EC is very limited in scope of operational use. Contact FAA for details or see FAA Order 8130.34"

I assume as a real estate company you are part of a "civilian company" and the use you envision may require some permission.

Best is to have the company's lawyer investigate.

NolNat said:

I was chit chatting with my neighbors 30 mins ago, looked up towards the sky and saw a drone hovering watching us. My neighbors waved at it, and we watched it flew away. My guess is someone got a very expensive new toy and wanted to experiment with it. It was kind of freaky as it was the first time I had ever witnessed a drone. Had me thinking why would anyone want a toy like that ?

Are you near S. Ridgewood? If so did it look like this?

It was all black, and where the camera is located it looked like a square'ish box. From that distance, it was pretty big.

It flew a few blocks down and hovered at some other neighbors in the area.

I wondered if this person had the goggles viewfinder because his/her reaction was fairly quick and clearly did not expect us to see his drone.

Jude said:

If you do this for commercial purposes you may fall under a higher level of scrutiny.

The FAA also seems to be taking an odd stance on what constitutes "commercial". If you're a hobbyist and you post your videos to YouTube, they are considering that commercial.

http://www.engadget.com/2015/03/16/faa-warns-drone-pilot-on-youtube/

seaweed said:

People driving by in a car with a google glass on their face, a smart phone in their hand, or binoculars against their eyes have more ability to watch you than someone flying a fpv drone..

And I can get a plate or even a description of the car and have them questioned by police. Notsomuch with drones.

NolNat said:

It was all black, and where the camera is located it looked like a square'ish box. From that distance, it was pretty big.

It flew a few blocks down and hovered at some other neighbors in the area.

I wondered if this person had the goggles viewfinder because his/her reaction was fairly quick and clearly did not expect us to see his drone.

That's quite unsettling.

Time to buy a paintball gun.

Oh, Boy!

Got Shotgun?