Originally Posted by astrohog

Actually, you said, "Another one of those irresponsible drone pilots giving the hobby a bad name." Just more of your spin. If you don't like the AMA rules, maybe you should do something to advocate change, instead of calling a fellow flyer, "irresponsible" and accusing him of giving our hobby a bad name when, in actuality, he was flying well within his rights and within the law.


LOL, Just like your tolerance for risk, your definition of a pier full of people is hilarious! I saw a grand total of FOUR people on that pier!! Just more spin.

Actually, public outrage about flying activities in public places was more born from privacy issues of hovering drone camera platforms than anything else. A MR drone hovering overhead with its multiple blades buzzing like a macerator is far more daunting to the general public than a fixed-wing foamy that the operator has a chance of steering from danger if something should go wrong. Your "obvious" reason is just one of a multitude of reasons, NOT the OBVIOUS reason. More spin.


More "ifs" and spin. I prefer to deal in the facts, not some fictional, imaginary scenario.


Again, we are all bound by AMA and FAA rules. If YOU don't like it, fine. You are free to fly within whatever margins of safety you are comfortable with, just don't project evil on those that fly within the rules. Nice subtle spin on your assumption that people don't seem to have an issue with this particular instance because it is fixed vs. rotor. A MR pilot would have been completely within his rights to operate his MR in the same manner this fixed wing pilot did and I would have stood up for his right to do so as well, BUT as was evidenced, one bystander did seem concerned that he was flying a "drone". Based on my experience, a MR operating in this same location very well may have stirred a little more public concern and public ill-will toward "drones". This is a perfect scenario of how the public separates "drones" and "traditional" in their minds and brings unnecessary scrutiny and regulations to "traditional" modeling operations because of one certain discipline of RC. Helicopters and jets have NEVER threatened to change the way traditional aircraft are regulated, why should MR and drones?

Astro

Originally Posted by astrohog

FACT? Where was this identified as a fact? You're really reaching now, even for you! The FACT is, he flew at a public location, and the rest of the nearby public went about enjoying their activities without any outrage. Where is the problem? Only in your spin!

You are actually helping to prove the point I have been making for many years now! the main reason our hobby has come under scrutiny is due to public perception of drones (no matter how uninformed or unrealistic they may be). You can make this about a drone vs. fixed thing on these forums all you want, but the reality is in the eyes of the non-hobbyist public and in this instance it was the non-hobbyist public that simply didn't seem to be bothered by the fixed wing. No harm there. If the public had an issue with a MR operating there, would you call them haters, or would you take a step back and recognize their right to be alarmed (no matter how unfounded there concerns may or not be) and finally understand how and why we face the scrutiny and regulation we have in recent years. I have been trying to say all along that it is not my (or the others that have been labeled as MR/drone haters) "dislike" (I really don't have a dislike for them) for drones that has caused me to advocate for "traditional" activities, it is the FACT that the public sees them differently (no matter how unfounded their concerns may or may not be) and that fact is what has caused a knee-jerk reaction and regulation of the vast majority of modelers to have to fight to retain the right to operate as they have for many years because of the few who choose to operate their craft in a way that causes public outrage.

Astro