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I remember growing up in the rural midwest, people with bitch about Ultra light aircraft. It’s just a glider with an engine strapped to it. They’re super noisy and fly low to the ground (relatively speaking), so they annoy people who like the peace and quiet of the countryside. They’ve been around for a lot longer than drones
Not in the US. Property owners do not own the airspace above their property.
The article isn't about the US. However, even the US, that isn't entirely true. United States v. Causby (1946) sets the precedent that property owners own the airspace above their property to (at least) 83 feet. The FAA has exclusive sovereignty over "navigable airspace", which is considered a public highway. This navigable airspace generally begins at 500 feet above the surface in uncongested areas and 1000 feet abo…
Probably one of the most misunderstood cases ever. Causby's complaint was that his chickens were dying as a result of the stress from low altitude military flights over his property. The Supreme Court ruled this was a violation of his fifth amendment rights because the government was taking something from him (chickens) without compensation.
83 feet was simply the lowest recorded flight. People took that to be some sort of magical barrier, but would only be relevant if your issue was also with chicken deaths.
Even if you take it to apply to drones, it would only apply to government drones that in some way cause you real and demonstrable financial loss.
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> even if it were you'd still find low-altitude flights often illegal Low altitude flights are illegal for a number of reasons, but part of it is separation from drones. Generally the ground to 400 ft is drones, 500-1000 is helicopters, 1000-60k is aircraft, and 60k+ is UFOs.
It's often not legal for drones to fly too close to the ground too though (e.g., <200ft). Details are decided largely through case law.
Aside: It's going to be a great time when the crows, raccoons, and other semi-intelligent wildlife discover that these drones have food in them at seemingly random reward schedules. Sure, you can give the drones little tasers to keep the animals away, depending on your locality. But knowing what I know about bears and crows, almost nothing is going to stop them. Especially when some influencer jerk tries tempting a b…
Crows are smart, and seem to for relationship with "friendly" humans, and are "trainable". I wonder how long it'd take to befriend a few crows, and teach them there's valuable stuff in delivery drones?
1. Dunston Checks In (1996)
2. Monkey Trouble (1994)
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Most localities have laws against invading someone’s privacy. There don’t need to be special laws for every specific type of surveillance.
I think more legal clarifications are needed here. If someone comes into your property to mount a trail cam or spy device, I believe you're allowed to remove it (even in a destructive manner). Not sure why the FAA insists a spy device that happens to hover a couple feet above is entitled to more protections...
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For what it's worth, shooting at aircraft (including drones) is a federal offense, and the FAA takes that one pretty seriously. Drones also have cameras.
whats sad is that in many jurisdictions, it's perfectly legal to shoot animals on your property, including other peoples' pets. In my home state, there was recently an issue where a neighbors dog dug under the fence or otherwise got into the back yard, in a residential suburban neighborhood. The property owner blasted it (with a gun) and there was nothing the DA could do. It made the news due to the outrageous use of…
As for killing animals that wander onto your property... that's been controversial for at least the last 160 years, when a similar incident almost started a war between the US and the UK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_War_(1859)
The sheer Big Brother possibilities are insane.
The future: "saferoom is where the pants aren't"
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They absolutely are aircraft and governed by the FAA. They call them Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV's). FAA also has jurisdiction over all airspace in the US starting at ground level. There's plenty of reference material on the subject you can read.
When do you differentiate between a toy and a UAV?
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Crows are smart, and seem to for relationship with "friendly" humans, and are "trainable". I wonder how long it'd take to befriend a few crows, and teach them there's valuable stuff in delivery drones?
Unfortunately it runs afoul of the same laws against training apes to steal[1] or pickpocket[2]. 1. Dunston Checks In (1996) 2. Monkey Trouble (1994)