Destroyed Drone

[ted hughes]

A few days ago, walking my dog in the local park in the evening, I came across an abandoned drone.It was quite big and upside down.

As it was raining, I picked it up and took it home.

I asked my wife what she thought was the best way to return it to it's owner. She said put it on Facebook- but under what heading? What chance the owner would stumble upon it?

The following morning, I took it to a residential area where it could have come from and asked a resident it they knew of a drone flyer nearby. No.

She suggested leaving it by the local school.

I did that, leaving in a bus shelter near the school where I knew youngsters "hung out" in the evenings. I was hoping they would know the owner and return it.

Tonight I saw the drone had been smashed to pieces in the shelter.

What should I have done?

 

 

Edited By ted hughes on 23/07/2017 00:42:12

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

Select return to home?

[ted hughes]

Posted by Martin Harris on 23/07/2017 00:51:55:

Select return to home?

I checked, didn't have it.

[cymaz]

Sorry, it serves the owner right. And this is the problem we all face as law abiding modellers. While I understand all that's going on with EASA it won't stop this sort of thing. You did the right thing Ted by putting it on view. If the owner had been out looking for it then he could have found it by accident. It's not your fault it was destroyed

[Braddock, VC]

Raises the query, "How many of us put contact details in or on our models?" As we used to yonks ago.

[Denis Watkins]

The model may have flown miles Ted, to finish up where you found it.

At least you tried, with the best intentions.

Hindsight would be the addition of a postcode, or a BMFA number for more privacy.

There is no foolproof action that you could have taken, perhaps hang on to the model and try social media a suggested.

[Devcon1]

Maybe handed in to the police as lost property, if could have tied in with any reports of inappropriate use and given the police the opportunity of some advice should the owner have enquired.

If nothing untoward had happened it would have reunited a much loved bit of kit to a responsible flyer.

Although at the time it's always hard to decide what to do.

[Peter Miller]

Perhaps getting in touch with the local radio station. I got a lost mdel back that way once.

[gangster]

Sorry, it serves the owner right. And this is the problem we all face as law abiding That is a bit harsh methinks. I am sure many of us have lost a model from time to time if only for a few hours.

[Jon H]

I am with Devcon on this one. If handed to the police then not only does it wash your hands of any involvement but it gives an easy to locate point of contact. As for the bus shelter....i see the types that loiter in the shelters near me and i dont like to drive past them let alone leave anything in one. Half the time the shelters themselves are in ruins. Apparently respect for someone elses property is very low these days and i am not quite sure why.

While i can see cymaz's point i think its probably unfair to assume the pilot was being stupid with it. He might have made a mistake, hit a tree, had a lipo cell go down...we dont know. A chap at my club has had a number of fixed wing flyaway models due to a tx fault so we shouldnt jump to conclusions. If we do we are just as bad as the media hyping the whole thing up.

In any event, you did your best to return the drone so i wouldnt be too concerned but i can see why you feel bad.

[gangster]

Actually the Facebook idea would have been a good one if you have a local community pages most places do chances are it would have reunited the model with its owner particularly if it had also been handed into the police. They use face as well. What is really troubling me though is the "holier than though" attitude that is coming through from modellers some have even referred to themselves as legitimate modellers. Come on now probably only a fraction of a percent of those who fly a drone are doing anything stupid and illegal. As I have said before a toy aeroplane is a toy aeroplane whatever it is

[John Robertson 3]

Ted - it's not YOUR fault there was no I/D markings on the machine. Nor is it YOUR fault that it was, presumably, lost in the first place. Everything else that follows is simply you trying to do the "right" thing and I see no reason for you to feel bad - although hindsight, as always, is a wonderful thing!

My models have telephone numbers (landline & mobile) and an email address on them. I would hope any finder would either contact me direct or hand it in to the polis station. Fingers crossed in anticipation that this would never be necessary.

[Andrew Mawman]

Make reasonable attempts to locate the owner and or take it to the local Police Station. if no one claims it after 3 months its yours, then eBay it!

[Mowerman]

for Andrew Mawman's post.

[ted hughes]

I was a bit astounded it had been smashed. Stolen, yes, I could believe that.

But what was the point of it being ground to pieces? Some people may not like drones, but surely they accept other people do?

I don't know what motivates people to destroy things.

[Andy48]

I think leaving it in a bus shelter was asking for the inevitable, sadly.

Why assume it belonged to kids, there are plenty of stupid/misguided adults around.

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

I hope this doesn't come over as being "holier than thou" but with the benefit of hindsight and detached thought, perhaps leaving it in the bus shelter wasn't a very responsible thing to do. A large drone will have a sizeable LiPo which could do some serious damage to a child that might abuse it.

Far better to hand it in to the police (with a warning of the possible dangers of storing the battery) or if that's inconvenient, at least notify them that you have it in safe keeping.

[cymaz]

Just had an idea.....post it on a lost and found on Facebook/ similar

[Martian]

I don't think there is a right or wrong way to have dealt with each of us would come up with a decent solution, personally I would have taken it home for safe keeping but having said that I live in a small community and would have been able to ask around. Just a thought could it have been a lost Amazon delivery 😉

[Mark a]

On the plus side its one less to worry about.

[Michael Ramsay-Fraser]

Sorry to appear harsh but, frankly, leaving it in a bus shelter near a school was a foolish idea.

The Police have a 'Lost Property' department for a reason and if it was a fairly big drone, it stands to reason it had a value to someone perhaps. As Gangster says, there is a possibility the pilot simply lost control for any one of a number of reasons. It wouldn't be the first time. I think it's sometimes too easy to assume all drone pilots are irresponsible.

[eflightray]

It was probably smashed by someone you has a grudge with Amazon.

They probably thought it was waiting for a bus to get back to Amazon, (intelligent software informs a drone to catch a bus when the batteries are low).

Once again, it's not the drone that's the problem, it's people.

Ray.

[Michael Ramsay-Fraser]

Posted by eflightray on 23/07/2017 14:33:05:

It was probably smashed by someone you has a grudge with Amazon.

They probably thought it was waiting for a bus to get back to Amazon, (intelligent software informs a drone to catch a bus when the batteries are low).

Once again, it's not the drone that's the problem, it's people.

Ray.

How could anyone possibly have a grudge against Amazon?

[Alan Jarvis]

 

In our area the police will no longer take lost/found property or have any interest in it. It is for the finder to try and return it to the owner.

Edited By Alan Jarvis on 23/07/2017 15:48:14

[Alan Gorham_]

If only there was some sort of mandatory registration scheme for drones, then you would have easily been able to identify the owner and return their aircraft.....