Using a drone but where is OK

[g6snl]

I am on the brink of buying a Drone cam and would quite like to know whether it is going to be a good tool for using on trips.

My main concern is where am I likely to be put in jail for using it and what borders will not let me in with one. Clearly one should be discrete where appropriate and avoid military zones at all costs, airports would make for a bad day too probably in any country.
It would be useful to make up a list of NO GO countries if anyone has any input. I suspect the list will be long.
Have you had one confiscated? Been in trouble, BIG trouble ?
What about Vietnam, I'm going there later ....

[lowuk]

I was at a bike and car hillclimb recently where all runs were prevented for a while by some prat flying a drone over the course.
I over heard several mutterings from people about their 12 bore being in the back of their car and the urge to blow the thing out of the sky.
The organisers put out constant pleas for the person flying the drone to desist and eventually it flew away.
So, in many situations they are seen as a menace, and there is no telling how some people who don't like them may respond.

[g6snl]

Originally Posted by lowuk

So, in many situations they are seen as a menace, and there is no telling how some people who don't like them may respond.

Absolutely and totally understand that, and agree, hence the "where appropriate" clause in my "usage requirement plans" ( just after don't use where there are guns, clause)

[TheWarden]

Why do some peoples first post always focus on negatives rather than answering or aiding on the question asked?

Can't help otherwise except Morocco you need a permit to fly

[g6snl]

Morocco - quick bit of research suggests getting a permit to use a drone is quite difficult even for pros, so for a holiday video it aint going to happen. There is an import ban completely so that is one country on the list.

[tonylester]

I recently got back from a video makers conference in California and Drones was a topic for a panel. As it was in the states it was mostly info regarding there.
For the States your drone has to be registered at a US address by a US resident to legally fly it.
If you are flying commercially you need a pilots license, although that is soon changing to a specific test that you need to pass for drones.
It's Illegal to fly in all national and state parks inc grand canyon.
Not that i broke any of those laws when i was there

There was a mention of a South American country that doesn't allow them in, can't remember exactly which one though, But you can leave it at the border and collect it on the way out. The Border guard was telling one of the guys in the panel when he went they they confiscate up to 20 a day.

Easter Island it's also banned to fly there.

Another thing to factor if you are flying is the batteries, being such a high capacity you have to carry them in your hand luggage, as you should with all spare batteries. I know in New Zealand you aren't allowed to take the Batteries on any internal flights as they are too high capacity. With Batteries this big when not in use it's always good to keep, when not in use, in LIPO fireproof bags to prevent too much damage if they short circuit and they are known to short circuit if not stored correctly.

Beyond that I'm Not to sure on country specific info. Google is a always a good place to search. If you're travelling overland you may find you will get them into the country but you won't be able to fly.

Another little tip is call it a 'toy' don't mention drone at all, in some countries drones are used to kill people and that's the only meaning of the word they know.
Ask a local official/police if it's ok to fly to take photos/videos with your toy

[Xander]

Australia is in the process of requiring a pilots licenses (like full fledged plane one too) for drones over a certain weight. I cant remember the weight is but i do remember the news forecaster saying it would make 98% of the ones on the market illegal to use with out a pilots license.

[Tony LEE]

Recently one of the Scandinavian countries passed laws completely prohibiting use of drones over the whole country

Sweden it was. Almost complete ban. http://petapixel.com/2016/10/22/swed...public-places/
Iceland bans them in certain tourist areas
Many countries have regulations or guidelines

The current state of global drone regulations has info

As an aside, some countries ban dash cameras also on privacy grounds - Austria, Luxenburg, some US states. To update this thread dashcams have been ruled illegal in:-
GERMANY, AUSTRIA,SPAIN,BELGIUM,LUXENBOURG,PORTUGAL.
For instance a fine in Austria could cost you 10,000 euro for a first offence
and 25,000 euro subsequent offences ... according to a poster on https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/thread...pe-legal.1797/ but there seems to be a distinction between having them running and publishing the output on the web.

[lbendel]

I can't answer as far as the legality of flying a drone goes, as I've been flying mine without asking for a permit in a few central Asia countries. I've done it dicreetly so nobody cared.

The only issue I faced was in border crossings. I've crossed a dozen borders with the drone hidden away in my car and it escaped inspection in every case but one : getting out of Ukraine a custom officer stumbled on it and made a bit of a fuss about needing a permit for it. I just acted stupid and waited. After 30 min of phone calls and visits by all the compound and trying to find a law to extract a bribe from me, they gave up and let me go.

I saw a guy flying a phantom in downtown Ulaanbaatar, but they told me they had an official permit for this. Anywhere else they probably don't have a clue if there's a law about drone flying

Of course, if you plan to use it commercially, then it's a different story.

[7days1shower]

Bit of a bump, but any up to date information on where this may be an issue at border crossings?

Don't want to have an expensive bit of kit confiscated...

[Tony LEE]

Perhaps you could narrow it down by giving us an itinerary first

[Tomek]

Originally Posted by Tony LEE

Recently one of the Scandinavian countries passed laws completely prohibiting use of drones over the whole country

Sweden it was. Almost complete ban. http://petapixel.com/2016/10/22/swed...public-places/
Iceland bans them in certain tourist areas
Many countries have regulations or guidelines

The current state of global drone regulations has info

As an aside, some countries ban dash cameras also on privacy grounds - Austria, Luxenburg, some US states. To update this thread dashcams have been ruled illegal in:-
GERMANY, AUSTRIA,SPAIN,BELGIUM,LUXENBOURG,PORTUGAL.
For instance a fine in Austria could cost you 10,000 euro for a first offence
and 25,000 euro subsequent offences ... according to a poster on https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/thread...pe-legal.1797/ but there seems to be a distinction between having them running and publishing the output on the web.

That is sick. Fortunately the most beautifull and interesting places on Earth are remote ones like the desert where you can use drons without restrictions (if only you do not have problem with the drone at the border).

[chris]

Marginally off topic, but maybe useful for one or 2 people... Know how to use it and if you do, still don't use it anywhere near me!

I wrote the following on my FB page from SoCal recently:

This is the last ever picture of this man's drone!! He was demonstrating it to me and Andrea. "Look this is the Sport Mode" he says, "38 miles an hour, 41, 43, 48, 52". The display on the controller shows the cliffs we're standing on speed towards the drone's camera. "Oh fcuk, where's it gone!" His controller is squawking "lost connection to device"...

Yep, Brighty has done it again: Caused him to lose/crash this us$1500 piece of kit he only bought 2 weeks ago! Actually I blame Andrea as she decided to want to ask him what the white/gold thing was he was holding, when all I was doing was taking the p!ss that it was just some UFO spotting machine (the guy had a big beard so must be into weird sh!t was my reasoning) just like other people might use a metal detector on a beach.

We were both very apologetic and slightly embarrassed ;-)

[backofbeyond]

That I can sympathise with. No, not the beard, the learning curve in trying to fly the things. Every single time ours has taken off with me at the controls its been followed by a search and rescue mission to pick up the pieces. My son, on the other hand, seems to be able to fly it through the eye of a needle. It all looks so easy in the promo videos

Not much point in asking where I can take it as the only place it seems to go is back into the garage for repairs.

[g6snl]

Oh yes the learning to fly thing. I considered this when choosing a drone as the extra cost involved with carrying a teenager around on trips was prohibitive. I came across a Yuneec Breeze 4k drone (loads info on youtube) which has several fixed modes as well as the standard "fly it yourself and crash" mode. Its controlled by a smart-phone app so no bulky controller required. Quite small so packs well. Video footage is astonishingly good for such a small device. For the those of us without the necessary skills to repair drones on day one out the box, it's not a bad bet. It has limitations - but so do I.

edit : I have no beard, if that's important ?