Drones and Air Space

..." your private airspace probably ends somewhere between 80 and 500 feet above the ground."...

I think it should be Cuius est solum, eius est usque ad caelum et ad inferos ("For whoever owns the soil, it is theirs up to Heaven and down to Hell.") ,this might make property worth what it costs....but probably 3oo ft is a fair compromise...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_rights

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2013/07/photographer_george_steinmetz_arrest_how_much_airspace_do_you_own.html

Depends on the range of your weaponry. With a slingshot, not very much.

"we hope to see your drones come visit our yard..."

The privacy invasions that these things engender will be outrageous. I know nothing about aviation law, but you should own some air space above your property, to the point where your 4th amendment rights can't be violated. With the cameras these things have, I'm not even sure that's possible anymore. Hobbyists I'm not worried about. Watch and see. The biggest abusers of these things are going to be governments. They will become the red light cameras of property tax, building permit, and code enforcement. And not just on the exterior of your house. Remodeled your kitchen, adding granite counter tops and cherry cabinets? They're visible through your windows. Got some areas that need more insulation? Thermal imaging. Expect to get nagged about that too. Vehicle inspection has expired? Piece of cake to see that tag. Dog off leash? Washing your car during a dry spell? Fire pit larger than 36" diameter? Fourth of July fireworks illegal? That'll be $100 per violation.

I'd say at minimum, we need at least these basic laws/rules:

1) Evidence collected via drone surveillance cannot be used in anything less than felony level criminal prosecution.

2) There's a DO NOT CALL list. There should be a DO NOT FLY list, extending at least 100 feet above your property. Within that you cannot fly. Drone pilot, it is your responsibility to know who is on the DNF list.

3) If you are on the DO NOT FLY LIST, and a drone enters your property, you can legally shoot it down.

4) If a drone crashes on your property, you own it,it's cargo, and it's data contained in any memory. The pilot/owner has no rights to trespass on your property to retrieve it. They can buy it back from you if they want possession of it and its data/cargo.

5) Drones should all have GPS and tracking transmitters, and be connected to the net. You should be able to open an app and see who's flying what in your area anytime.

6) As Lyn said the other day, any expenses for the above are paid by a drone tax, not by the taxpayers in general.

jhammond

A 50-caliber weapon maintains a far higher "space" than does a 22-caliber weapon...of course, there's also the questions of accuracy and/or fragmentation fallout to consider.

If the 'spy' isn't in your space and is taking photographs of things that are within a sight, saying your privacy is being invaded is a tough argument to make.

You have to have a reasonable expectation of privacy in order for some violation of privacy to occur. Things that are outside that can be viewed and photographed don't support a reasonable expectation of privacy.

I was flying a small helio drone over a house just south of Denver when we were having the same discussion. We lifted several hundred feet and hovered just as a squadron of choppers from the air base in Colorado Springs came over low and fast. I cut the power and crashed the drone to get out of their way. They were rooftop level and would have chopped the drone to pieces so we were lucky to have avoided a crash. I assume they have the right-of-way as far as air space goes no matter what altitude they fly, or where.

Chicken!

That is what the "Before you fly" app from the FAA is supposed to be for. I hope you used it with a licence!

My helio drone is smaller than the minimum requirement for a license. It is a toy not a commercial drone.

IMHO:

Any law,rule,or regulation that prevents the government from collecting revenue,or prevents lawyers from

earning money in litigation will not be passed.

Most politicians or senators,congressmen,representatives,etc. are either present or previous lawyers,and

Hyenas will protect their pack and progeny.

It is ALL about money.

I am sure most have you have seen this already,but I will repeat it here just 'cause;

A group of sheep is called a flock.

A group of wolves is called a pack.

A group of cattle is called a herd.

A group of crows is called a murder.

A group of Baboons is called................

A congress.

'Nuf said.

http://www.collectivenoun.com/

The FAA just limited the height that drone can fly with out special permits to 400 ft.

Lot of complaints about the new regulations. As it did not address privacy issues.

https://www.faa.gov/uas/media/RIN_2120-AJ60_Clean_Signed.pdf

If we want this privacy issue addressed we need to buy drones and start invading the privacy of our elected officials.

You think the privacy of elected officials isn't already compromised?

Accidental discharge of a shotgun might happen here!

I claim all air space above my property that is within range of 12 GA. #7 bird shot.

Buckshot would extend the range. A deer slug even more in the hands of an astute shooter.

Probably not much can be seen through your roof, so any drones spying on you are more likely to be in your neighbor's airspace rather than your own. If you have no ordinances prohibiting firearm discharge within jurisdictional limits, you could treat drones as glorified skeet. But if they are delivering you a couple keys of medical marijuana, you might not want to get too trigger-happy.

The possibility of one doing things that another might want to photograph surreptitiously calls from some internal reflection.

No. One only has to live a "normal" life!!

You may say it calls for examining what one is doing; but there are many things it could be "calling" for:

It could just be called "casing the joint".

It could be called "verifying the address of a Vet by an ISIS jihadist".

It could be called "protecting an insurance company against a fraudulent claim".

It could be called "seeing if my husband (wife) is cheating".

Or, (in a few years) it could be called "pin-point targeting of advertising".

Or, (by an enterprising boyfriend) it could be called "seeing if the coast is clear to see Jennifer...by climbing in her window".

Or, it could be called "getting the next $million photo of a naked celebrity".

HOW IN THE WORLD COULD THIS POST BE RATED "OFF TOPIC" ???

WHO EVER RATED THIS "OFF TOPIC" IS OBVIOUSLY....OFF TOPIC!!

'Internal reflection', huh? Not merely 'reflection', but reflection with a private/non-public component stressed.....

Curious. I am tempted to inquire as to what you have to hide; what you wish to keep hidden from public scrutiny, but perhaps it is best left to reflection, internal or otherwise.

I live in gun savvy Mississippi where we don't take kindly to trespassers, spies or bible salesmen. Privacy is one of our treasured assets. Ms government has been pretty good in protecting our rights. Federal government is a different story. I talked to a sheriff neighbor the other day regarding air space and drones. His take on it was that it is a gray area, not addressed by current state law. He said it would probably be a case-by-case matter if law got involved. Looks like it will be something that may have far reaching implications and opinions not currently addressed by state law.

Maybe what we need is an "interceptor" drone that we can send up to attack an "enemy" drone.

I spent a summer during college selling books in Mississippi and I can testify to the gun part! It was in the mid- 1960's and country folks there were a bit sensitive to us Yankees knocking on their doors. It didn't help that I had OH plates beginning with US- ! That irritated the moonshiners as well.