3 ms·
Quiet, slow, ground-level activities are generally thought of as OK. Noisy, fast and elevated things are generally not. As the sphere of influence of some act
by danpat 12y ago
Quiet, slow, ground-level activities are generally thought of as OK. Noisy, fast and elevated things are generally not. As the sphere of influence of some activity grows, more people begin to object to it.
The problem with things in the sky is that they visible (and often audible) from long distances. A single noisy drone might affect several square miles, covering hundreds or thousands of people (depending on the location). A guy hiding behind a tree with a tripod will likely affect a few square yards, and a tiny handful of people.
- baddox 12y agoMost consumer multirotors are not audible from long distances. "Several square miles" is a wild exaggeration. For most drones that non-professionals would be using at a park, I think a 20 meter radius would be more realistic.
- danpat 12y agoSorry, I was thinking more along the lines of gas-powered remote-controlled planes. Look, you're right. Used tactfully, by reasonable people, they would absolutely make a fantastic photography platform, and probably not be too intrusive. However, I have insight to the daily lives of park wardens in popular national parks. There aren't many of them, they have to cover huge areas, and they spend their days stopping people lighting things on fire, breaking things and taking them away, writing their names on things and trying to put their kids on the backs of the wildlife for photos (I kid you not, it happens once or twice every summer). I guarantee that if drones were permitted, some people would be buzzing them around the wildlife from a safe distance. This kind of added stress on the animals can and does lead to failure to breed, which has very bad effects on the viability of species, particularly for the less populous apex predators (bears, wolves, big cats). From the parks point of view, they have to come with policy based on gross population behaviour. They can't supervise or train everyone using the park, so they have to come up with simple policies that can be blanket applied. Unfortunately, the potential for abuse with drones is probably pretty high, thus the ban.
- baddox 12y agoYeah, I don't think you'll find very many people, even RC hobbyists, who think that gas-powered RC aircraft should be allowed anywhere other than isolated private property and dedicated RC airfields.