Posted on 08/31/2016 4:48:33 AM PDT by SJackson
Old school justice.
If you’ve seen the Godfather movies, you know there are risks in messing with the wrong people. Two strangers with a drone found this out the hard way when they flew their device near the rural Virginia property of actor Robert Duvall.
A local woman, Jennifer Youngman, did not like what the men were up to and — boom! — she shot the drone out of the air after a gust of wind brought it towards her property.
“They were going a little too fast and they went over my airspace. I had my .20-gauge there, so I put two 71/2 birdshot shells in it, and there you are,” Youngman told the Fauquier Times, which reported the story this weekend.
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Youngman and other local residents speculated the drone operators might be from The National Enquirer and had come to spy on Duvall, who played the lawyer Tom Hagen in the Godfather movies.
The men allegedly set up a card table near Duvall’s residence to launch the drone, and then scrammed after Youngman shot it down.
It will come as no surprise that isn’t the the first drone to meet such a fate in the U.S. Last year, a Kentucky man ended up in county jail after he blasted a device he said was spying on his daughters. Another such incident occurred in California.
It’s unclear for now what the law is when it comes to taking action against drones hovering over private property. On one hand, some academics argue the law frowns against “self-help,” and shotgun owners can face mischief or vandalism charges if they open fire. But at least one academic argues that “robotic intrusions” pose a special kind of danger that justifies “violent self-help.”
In the Kentucky case, prosecutors dropped the criminal charges, though the drone owner is still pursuing civil charges in federal court.
So far, it does not appear any charges are in store for Youngman, who is glad to have chased the drone away from the property of Duvall, who she describes as a “really nice man.”
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If she has had any second thoughts, it is only in regard to the nuisance created by the drone debris.
“I have a bit of regret, I had small pieces of drone all over my pasture. It’s already given me two flat tires on my tractor,” she told the Fauquier Times.
Fortune could not immediately confirm the facts of the story, but Youngman repeated the account to Ars Technica, adding that she is an experienced skeet shooter.
The government CLAIM to control everything.We the people need to remind them who is boss.
Really? The airspace in question or all of it? Is it near an airport with a tower and radar service area?
:: It’s already given me two flat tires on my tractor,” she told the Fauquier Times ::
And, them tires don’t come cheap. Seems like a counter-suit for recovery is in order.
We include a few ne’er-do-wells in that equation.
:-)
We don't really need any new robotics laws, a'la Isaac Asimov. Shooting one of these down if it's over your property and you do not want it there ought to be considered citizen apprehension, for police inspection, of a criminal tool. Sorry if somebody paid several thousand dollars for a top of the line drone, but if they bought a $200 thousand Maserati that would give them no more right to drive it into someone's backyard than if they owned a beater.
“How high can we claim “airspace”?
Did she bill the drone owner for her flat tires?”
I think the FAA has reluctantly allowed us serfs to claim as much as 400 feet of ceiling.
Duvall has done so many other really good roles since then but, by God, we have bring in the mediocre movie “The Godfather” into it.
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My thought as well. Apocalypse Now, Lonesome Dove, Tender Mercies, True Grit, The Great Santini . . .
The height regulation is particularly important near an airport. Other than that, it is an issue of at what height you must install a beacon on top.
Where I live I can put up whatever I want. At some point it would require a beacon on top. I have no intention of having a tower of such a height.
I’m not afraid of towers, spent a couple of weekends working on one that was really tall. I did not get higher than 1350 feet on it but it was somewhat taller.
I’m telling you (and the rest of the forum) that the statutory law and executive (FAA) rulemaking on “airspace” in these United States are almost certainly NOT what you think they are, or what your “common sense” tells you they should be. Learn what is, first, before ranting about it.
Great sport but you have to be careful: don’t get caught and don’t cause anyone to be hurt.
Since drones have cameras they might be able to see you shooting at them. How do we solve that problem?
How do pieces of plastic pierce a tractor tire?
Godfather and Godfather 2 are all time classics.However,as a guy I can see why the "typical" woman might not like it.It certainly doesn't even remotely resemble a chick flick.Duval was also excellent in his first big role as "Boo" Radley in To Kill A Mockingbird.I'm not a big movie goer so I don't really know him from any other films.
Nice shot! I'm not a woman and I still don't see what makes the Godfather so great. It's a good movie but it's not great. In my mind it idolizes the mob and, personally, I think people that like it like the violence and "tough guy" baloney.
That’s why I’m voting for Trump.....to bring back some “Common Sense” to this country. We, as a country, have been so tangled in chains of rules and regulations....most of which are completely unnecessary and were created simply to give work to our lawyer overpopulation by the lawyer overpopulation in our government, that the country can’t breathe anymore. I really don’t care at this moment anything about the FAA rules. I simply made a smart remark to make some people think. Got your attention, didn’t I?
It shows. It also shows that you don't know anything about those rules, or about the more complicated than you think issue of airspace use that they govern.
I simply made a smart remark to make some people think.
You might try doing some thinking yourself. More importantly, you might try doing some learning
Got your attention, didn’t I?
Criminals get my attention, too. Jus' sayin' ...
I have far more important things at the moment to occupy my time than to study FAA rules. My time is taken by several things including GETTING TRUMP ELECTED, and BRIAN MAST too. Don’t ever assume someone is ignorant about anything until you know them. I do my homework. Do you?
As far as learning is concerned, I’ve been pretty good at it my entire life. Obviously, you haven’t.
LOL, perfect! I assume that’s Granny from Beverly Hillbillies?
Unsure of your "gender identification" I covered the matter entertaining all possibilities.It wasn't meant as a "shot".As for the films themselves,yes they're shockingly violent but I don't see any attempt to glorify or idolize.They were films about a collection of psychopaths,many of whom are of very limited intelligence and some of whom masquerade as respectable "businessmen".
But your mileage may vary.
I do not care if someone flies a drone over the house and have some cool videos of the neighborhood. If someone flies a drone and hovers over the house to spy on me........Kablam!
It’s already given me two flat tires on my tractor,” she told the Fauquier Times ::
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