CBS Sunday Morning interview

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Tahoe Ed

Active Member
Unfortunately, there were no opportunities to defend our hobby. Am I surprised, not. The liberal media does not want us to have any fun unless it is at the conservatives expense. Maybe we should fly over Bainer's home that would get them in the fold.
 


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oldflyer2

Member
Thank You for doing that for the community. I thought your segment was very well done. At least they did put in some of the part about search and rescue, and disaster use.

Cheers,

Tom
 

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andrewrob

Member
The comment about being able to record conversations just proves how clueless the people behind the bill are. You'd struggle to record a conversation at all through someones window, let alone with the noise of a multirotor hovering!
 

Kilby

Kilby

Active Member
Tahoe Ed said:
Kilby, your wife is a cutie. You are a lucky man that she puts up with you and your hobby.
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Haha.. Thanks. She got a kick out of that comment. She was getting sick of it, then I made her part of the team. She's now the camera operator. ;-)
 

Kilby

Kilby

Active Member
They have video up on the site now. Our segment took over 2 hours to shoot, then was edited down to 30 seconds on-air. I'm just happy that we were able to show some of our photography on the show and demonstrate that you can use these aircraft for something other than surveillance or killing.

All in all, I think they did a fairly balanced approach. Given the climate during the last few weeks, this could easily have been solely about how the boogie man is coming to get you, but the producers did have a deep interest in showing more than that. I think you will, however, see some local spin offs from this that take a much more hardline approach. I know that local CBS here in Baltimore is running a boogie man story tomorrow on the 11 pm news.

Have a look if you haven't checked it out yet. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3445_162-57568571/drones-eyes-in-the-sky/

-Terry
 


Kilby

Kilby

Active Member
Bartman said:
brief yes, but being included represents us prying the conversation room open a bit. little by little perception has to be that what we're doing is non-threatening and offers something productive for the community and economy.
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I couldn't have said it better myself, Bart. We are trying to do whatever we can to bring attention to the positive side of the discussion. I'm hoping that we can get some attention soon for all the work we have been doing with area schools to try and teach this new technology to the kids. I think that will paint this in a different light all together.
 


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Dewster

Member
I do think that laws are being passed too soon. The definitions are too broad. It seems to me that every remote controlled aircraft will be labeled a drone. You could almost start to say that the US in an effort to protect privacy is becoming the Big Brother that everyone fears. The killing of "Americans" overseas by U.S. drones has really put a bad light on Drones. I also think that the FAA"s slow road of regulating the industry has forced States to take their own action with across the board do not fly laws.

I would like to see some positive news on drones. Better yet: reclassify our hobby as something different. If people ask what I'm flying I'm just going to say that it's a remote controlled multicopter. :)
 

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helloman1976

Ziptie Relocation Expert
Dewster said:
I do think that laws are being passed too soon. The definitions are too broad. It seems to me that every remote controlled aircraft will be labeled a drone. You could almost start to say that the US in an effort to protect privacy is becoming the Big Brother that everyone fears. The killing of "Americans" overseas by U.S. drones has really put a bad light on Drones. I also think that the FAA"s slow road of regulating the industry has forced States to take their own action with across the board do not fly laws.

I would like to see some positive news on drones. Better yet: reclassify our hobby as something different. If people ask what I'm flying I'm just going to say that it's a remote controlled multicopter. :)
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I find, like most people, that people identify most with the word "drone". I use that word to defuse the issue. For example, I'll say, "This is my drone, it's a hexacopter, it has 6 motors and blah, blah, blah, it's a very fun HOBBY and I do this to film things I can't see from down here." I try to answer everyone's questions and stay out of their way and not fly over them and such. We are all ambassadors for this hobby and keep in mind that the "government" is passing laws based on people like you and I pushing for them based on "privacy". The government isn't out there trying to stop us because they think it's fun, they're doing it because PEOPLE are concerned about their privacy. Fly your drove over the White House and see what happens, they don't need any laws to protect themselves because it's not about that. If you remove the camera from your drone you are now not a drone.
 


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helloman1976

Ziptie Relocation Expert
Str8 Up said:
There should certainly be a law against that hummingbird. You could poke somebody's eye out with that thing!
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Stop saying things I don't like!!! :) I want an FPV hummingbird so I can fly into your window and FPV your house, it's what we drone people live for apparently... Humming Voyeur, it has a special ring to it...
 

jcmonty

jcmonty

Member
Yeah, a lot of people freaking out just don't get what we are doing. I have never had a single person come up to me and worry about there privacy or drone spying when flying my rigs. Everyone is always positive and asks a lot of questions. I think that laws can eventually be useful for us - provide some guidelines for commercial ventures, etc. But blanket laws that kill our industry and hobby are popping up - we really need to be proactive and make people aware that we are not to be afraid off.
 

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helloman1976

Ziptie Relocation Expert
jcmonty said:
Yeah, a lot of people freaking out just don't get what we are doing. I have never had a single person come up to me and worry about there privacy or drone spying when flying my rigs. Everyone is always positive and asks a lot of questions. I think that laws can eventually be useful for us - provide some guidelines for commercial ventures, etc. But blanket laws that kill our industry and hobby are popping up - we really need to be proactive and make people aware that we are not to be afraid off.
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I have the same experience only people ARE concerned with privacy. The first thing people mention to me is privacy and then they proceed to ask the standard thousand questions about it. I talk them down from all the "drone strike" stuff and act as an ambassador to this hobby. I think the biggest concern is that people don't want them in their backyards watching them doing whatever, they don't want to be spied on. I think if you asked people if they cared if you were filming out in an empty field versus flying over the Smithsonian during lunch hour they may have a different reaction. We have to educate people but we also have to be responsible when we fly. Did you see that idiot who flew the S800 into the stadium? It's stuff like that that people see on the news...
 

Kilby

Kilby

Active Member
The top three questions I always get when people see me out flying are (in no particular order)...

1. How long/much did that take/cost to build?
2. How far/high/fast can it go?
3. Do you use it to spy on your neighbors? (usually asked with a giggle)

With out fail, almost every time I'm asked about spying. It might have something to do with the obvious FPV downlink displayed on the monitor, but it almost always happens.

Truth be told, 99.9% of Americans don't do anything interesting enough to warrant the local government to want to spy on them to begin with. These aircraft allow the govt to do nothing new. They can spy on you with a helicopter much easier than with a drone, people are just worked up about this issue for some reason.
 




DucktileMedia

DucktileMedia

Drone Enthusiast
The fundamental issue here is no different than anything else new. People are afraid of the unknown. I think they should do some statistics on who is against this. are they primarily older people, people with criminal records, etc. This would make it a lot easier to approach these people and design a rational solution. One idea would be to fine and imprison anyone who is caught intentionally spying. How about a mandatory electronic signature for all drones, that way paranoid people can purchase a device to incriminate those breaking that law. As the majority of us on this forum are interested in the hobby and artistic side of this, I think we have a good defense. I am actually less worried about the negative nomenclature of the word drone than I am not having a voice. It's also interesting that all the focus is on privacy and not the real issue of FPV'ers taking down a real aircraft.

The simple fact is that we live in a digital camera filled world. There is no way around that. As the previous generation fades away, the children of tomorrow will only grow used to this. I would personally be thrilled to know there is a camera watching my back at all times. Would be great if someone mugged me or did a hit and run. But then again, I am a law abiding citizen and am not camera shy.
 

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