Drones

Rule of thumb is if it's over your property it is yours to do with as you please. Not to say you can shoot it out of the air but if you can hose, rope swat or otherwise corral it go for it. Guy down here found out the hard way when he tried to reclaim one after videoing a man's wife and daughter by their swimming pool.

Nope ... you don't have rights to your airspace.
Sorry, but that keeps legitimate flights of fancy possible.
Now should it make contact with the ground, we have a whole new bag of rats.

Also of worthy note, opening fire upon an aircraft packs an extra special set of laws best not violated.
Seems they didn't relish the idea of large objects falling out of the sky into random locations.

Now how this works in the world of drones makes less sense, and may morph into some exceptions. It did, however, come in handy when I flew rc birds.
 
Nope ... you don't have rights to your airspace.
Sorry, but that keeps legitimate flights of fancy possible.
Now should it make contact with the ground, we have a whole new bag of rats.

Also of worthy note, opening fire upon an aircraft packs an extra special set of laws best not violated.
Seems they didn't relish the idea of large objects falling out of the sky into random locations.

Now how this works in the world of drones makes less sense, and may morph into some exceptions. It did, however, come in handy when I flew rc birds.

I beg to differ. Not sure of the legal definition of airspace but the courts down here have ruled that any rc vehicle within one's property boundaries is treated as trespass. The sticking point on drones was determined if it can be knocked down by means other than projectile than it is fair game. Laws applied to negligent discharge of a weapon, bow or slingshot or even a thrown rock still apply.
The story I mentioned involved the thing hovering over a backyard swimming pool to the point the homeowner snagged it with a large towel. Owner showed up to claim, police were called, judge ruled trespass among other things I cant recall and I forget the disposition of the drone but it definitely was lost to the owner.
Obviously this wont work with one more than 30ft. up (unless one has a decent arm) so I'm thinking disabling video with a laser pointer or reflection off of my shiny white behind.
 
i saw a special on channel seven if u can swat its legal being i your face they say it is illegal to shoot down with firearm not worth losing conceal permit and dealing with the law.
 
Nope ... you don't have rights to your airspace.
Sorry, but that keeps legitimate flights of fancy possible.
Now should it make contact with the ground, we have a whole new bag of rats.

Also of worthy note, opening fire upon an aircraft packs an extra special set of laws best not violated.
Seems they didn't relish the idea of large objects falling out of the sky into random locations.

Now how this works in the world of drones makes less sense, and may morph into some exceptions. It did, however, come in handy when I flew rc birds.

As shown in the article...http://aviation.uslegal.com/ownership-of-airspace-over-property/...first linked above by Cowart, I think, you do indeed own the airspace over your property (with certain limitations, of course).
 
There is a lot of complex interaction between state and federal laws in this arena, and I would be very careful. Much as I hate the drone flying filth, I have no intention of spending a ton of $$ to end up in jail or prison.
 
drone-loads-product-image-2_1.jpg
 
I beg to differ. Not sure of the legal definition of airspace but the courts down here have ruled that any rc vehicle within one's property boundaries is treated as trespass. The sticking point on drones was determined if it can be knocked down by means other than projectile than it is fair game. Laws applied to negligent discharge of a weapon, bow or slingshot or even a thrown rock still apply.
The story I mentioned involved the thing hovering over a backyard swimming pool to the point the homeowner snagged it with a large towel. Owner showed up to claim, police were called, judge ruled trespass among other things I cant recall and I forget the disposition of the drone but it definitely was lost to the owner.
Obviously this wont work with one more than 30ft. up (unless one has a decent arm) so I'm thinking disabling video with a laser pointer or reflection off of my shiny white behind.

Then the ruling was contrary to federal aviation regulations, or, some dimwit journalist pooched the facts.

Lemme tell ya a little story about the summer of 97
there we were, trying to get a good groove together with my newly formed garage band.
45 minutes into the session a sheriff deputy pulled in to inform us of complaints.
Didn't take too long to figure out who dropped the dime.
Was the whack job nearly a half mile down the road.
Well, a few weeks later, we switched to skeet.
Cop, pulled in again ...... great.
This time it was a story of lead raining on his world.
Nothing out of a shotgun could make a half mile trip, and the angle of fire put it a solid half mile behind him.
This piece of work even went so far as to bust out a window on the wrong side of his truck, trying to gain credibility.
I showed the deputy the ballistics section of the Lyman manual on that one.
Suffice to say, the game was on whether I wanted to play or not.
All through this, I taught myself to fly rc planes, and was a student pilot.
Going through the FAR/AIM which is all the aviation regs you wanted to know but were afraid to ask, I happened across some of the stuff regarding airspace.
We shot skeet the following week with a bird on standby.
my problem person was a paranoid sort, well stocked with tinfoil.
Well, we went from skeet, hello officer, to cross country rc flight thereafter.
Howdy sheriff, I bookmarked it for ya.
Trust me sir, I'm just as sick of seeing you as you are of me.
Those regulations gave me a foothold in the war. Enough of one to ultimately prevail.
As the summer burned on, the trusty Mustang was getting kinda rusty, and it seemed like a good time to address the old steed.
So, and it didn't surprise me, the squad pulled in, again, now with reports of drag racing, now that the stang was starting to take shape.
Engine and transmission where in the garage, separate of the car.
This made the claim clearly impossible, but showed me his next move.

Once back on the road, I made sure he was gone, prior to the shake down cruise, cause I would be needing this asset shortly.
After a good break in road trip I took the back road express to home at 4am.
Readied the other Mustang, a p51 fitted with a disposable camera, and just cruised around past his place a few times.
The fool wasn't above trashing his own stuff to sell a story.
I sat at the edge of a tree line along a dirt road with the 51, till I saw him get in his truck, and proceed to tear up his front yard.
The p51 worked pretty well as a camera ship.
Step next was back road express to a 1 hr photo place, making pretty good time.
Deputy pulled me on the way back and I handed him the pictures instead of my license.
The whack jobs demise was due in large part, to knowledge of the laws governing flight. He was treated to skeet every weekend for two months straight.
 
Airspace is regulated by the Feds; the states have no say-so. This is why a homeowner on the final approach course to an airport can not tell United they can not fly their B-757 over their house. It would seem to me the same rules would generally apply to drones, but at some point, as you get lower than a conventional aircraft would operate, and get down to altitudes where a drone could be argued to present an invasion of privacy or reckless endangerment, state laws would begin to take effect. There would have to be some murky gray altitudes that lawyers would like to argue about while they bill you $250/hour while they enjoy their cerebral gamesmanship.
 
Last edited:
Airspace is regulated by the Feds; the states have no say-so. This is why a homeowner on the final approach course to an airport can not tell United they can not fly their B-757 over their house. It would seem to me the same rules would generally apply to drones, but at some point, as you get lower than a conventional aircraft would operate, and get down to altitudes where a drone could be argued to present an invasion of privacy or reckless endangerment, state laws would begin to take effect. There would have to be some murky gray altitudes that lawyers would like to argue about while they bill you $250/hour while they enjoy their cerebral gamesmanship.

Ding ding ding
yep someone who gets it
 
Exactly. Fly by, no sweat. Dangling in the yard just ain't right.
Liked your long post above, made sense.

And that's where we get into uncharted territory, and slippery slopes.
Where do we draw the line? Tree top level? Nap of the earth? 300 foot deck? Edge of space? Infinity and beyond?
Get this wrong and the next airliner we board will deliver violence sufficient to make the TSA look like a hug from momma trying to maintain boundary compliance.
In the case of the pool side snoop, bear in mind that flight takes power, and a whole lot of it.
Those rotors and propellers pack enough quisenart magic to bore a hole through someones chest equal to it's diameter.
If it's within reaching distance, it's a clear and present danger.
That endangerment is the place to do the legal work.

You have as much a right to the fine art of flight as I,or anyone else does.
Keeping up with a stick of dynamite with wings like that p51,might not be your cup of tea, but It'll be a sad day if you lose the chance to try.
 
Back
Top