http://www.kgvault.com/2013/02/15/hearst-castle/

Originally Posted by Svede

http://www.kgvault.com/2013/02/15/hearst-castle/

Awsome photos, what was your multi and camera.

Queen Bee flying wing, Sony Rx100. The launch point was about 4 miles away, too far for my multi.

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Originally Posted by Svede

Queen Bee flying wing, Sony Rx100. The launch point was about 4 miles away, too far for my multi.

Svede,

A bunch of flyers ( mostly LOS ).. were flying off of highway 1 over by San Simeon Creek Campsite on Saturday morning when a Park Ranger drove up to us and started asking questions about a flying wing that buzzed Hearst Castle. There was a security training event for local law enforcement and park rangers taking place when you buzzed the castle..All of these guys saw your wing and this ranger said your wing was about 100 - 150 feet above the castle and he referred to your wing as a "drone". He asked if we knew who you were and if we had seen anything resembling your wing flying around.. He also asked what the range was on an FPV plane etc etc.... They considered your stunt a security breach and they took it very seriously..!!!
I stepped in and defended FPV flyers in general and I said that you were just a recreational FPV pilot just out flying around and decided to fly around the Castle.. I suggested that you had no malicious intent..
What they did notice immediately was the noise coming from your wing as it was flying above, and being it is a pusher aircraft it is more noisier that a conventional model aircraft..
The ranger also said that a nearby military base fly their "Drones" in the area quite frequently and they thought you were some military guy piloting his drone and buzzing the castle.. The local authorities are on the lookout for you and your wing.. So I would suggest you stay away from that area for awhile.. I was going to fly my FPV Twinstar until this ranger guy showed up.. I decided to pack it up and I left...

If you had your wing at a much higher elevation where they could not see or hear your wing they may had never noticed you..!!
A word of advice..! Leave all the nonsense stunts to team black sheep and trappy.. Your little stunt may have ruined it for the rest of us FPV flyers for that area..

Use your head.. I know the temptation you were feeling prior to your flight that day.. You may have flown the Castle before.. If so.. consider yourself lucky.. This time however you gambled and failed..

Very disappointed to hear about this. If I've ruined anything for you guys, certainly not my intent. As far as I'm aware, there are no laws against my flight and certainly was not intended to be a "stunt", only to get some pretty pictures. Not trying to be argumentative, but wondering if the local authorities have any grounds for being upset?

Sounds more like a case of bad timing, I'm guessing they didn't post their training schedule in the local newspaper and thus no one could have known.

Originally Posted by Mykro

Svede,

this ranger said your wing was about 100 - 150 feet above the castle and he referred to your wing as a "drone".

They considered your stunt a security breach and they took it very seriously..!!!

i would have thought being 100 feet away would have been a safe distance

what if someone was standing 100 feet from it would that be against the law?
what if someone drove there RC car 100 feet from it would that be against the law?

the fact that they called it a "drone" shows just how little they new about it and there mind set in jumping to a dangerous conclusion for nothing more than a relaxing flight

nearby military base fly their "Drones" in the area quite frequently and they thought you were some military guy piloting his drone and buzzing the castle..

so why was this one a problem?

The local authorities are on the lookout for you and your wing..

A word of advice..! Leave all the nonsense stunts to team black sheep and trappy.

so you see nothing wrong TBS doing it but Svede carnt do it?

Your little stunt may have ruined it for the rest of us FPV flyers for that area..

get a life you carnt tell me that no one in that area has never done anything questionable in the way of RC toys

if you ask me TBS have done much more damage and they are doing it world wide

Originally Posted by Svede

Very disappointed to hear about this. If I've ruined anything for you guys, certainly not my intent. As far as I'm aware, there are no laws against my flight and certainly was not intended to be a "stunt", only to get some pretty pictures. Not trying to be argumentative, but wondering if the local authorities have any grounds for being upset?

Sounds more like a case of bad timing, I'm guessing they didn't post their training schedule in the local newspaper and thus no one could have known.

Svede,

As soon as one puts a camera on an RC plane it changes things.. This ranger who talked with us didn't know anything about RC planes and less about FPV.. And I'd assume anyone else who works security at the Castle.. Putting an RC camera on a plane seems to make the worst come out of people.. All of a sudden they assume we are spying on people..! They want to believe we are invading their privacy.. We as FPV pilots just need to follow a couple of rules..

1. Do not fly over populated areas.
2. Avoid bringing any attention to yourself and your plane

This includes world famous attractions and landmarks... aka (Hearst Castle)
Hearst Castle is world renowned,, attracting a lot of people everyday of the year..!
Security at Hearst Castle is a big deal..! Any place that involves alot of people has security to it.. Security equals law enforcement..

We can't cant control the spin that the media and law enforcement puts on our hobby.. It's a shame..

Just keep low.. Things will blow over and eventually calm down around that area..

Take Care..