

Beijing From Above, aka How I was police detained for flying a Quadcopter - zhte415
http://www.stuckincustoms.com/2014/06/19/dji-quadcopter-china-detention/

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servowire
Well, you are flying a semi-toy without proper safety near people, buildings,
above roads, cars, etc on a tourist site. An arrest might be slightly over the
top, but this should not be allowed.

I'm a model RC pilot for 20 years and these kind of "stunts" are hurting the
hobby. At least ask for permission next time.

A phantom only has 4 motors, and the quality is "meh" \- there is hardly any
2nd control (fa I have tripple recievers in my jets, if one RC system fails I
still regain control over another radio).

It has a "failsafe" \- i=even if it works it's still not really good in an
urban area. GPS signals might be weak (flyaway danger) and it's only flies to
25 meters when returning to home. It could fly into a tower or even not reach
proper 25 meter when the 3D GPS lock is weak or disengaged.

My 2 cents. Sorry. Please people, don't fly above crowded areas. I've seen a
Phantom hit a car it's almost 1KG of deadweight when it comes down. It's only
a matter of time until someone gets hurt.

~~~
jgrahamc
Part of the problem with these devices is accessibility. It's been common for
a long time for people doing RC to get involved in clubs, build their own
aircraft, understand how the aircraft works (how it flies, its engine, its
radio components).

Quadcopters seem totally 'plug and play'.

I'm involved (somewhat) in high-altitude balloon flights and we have a similar
problem. People want to be able to buy a kit of everything they need to launch
a balloon into the stratosphere. There's been a lot of resistance in the UKHAS
because we want people to learn about the entire process (and that includes
safety).

~~~
dirktheman
Accessibility is an issue. Technology that was military-grade only 1 decade
ago (UAV's, powerful model rockets which can be converted to guided missiles)
is available for anyone to buy online today.

With great buying power comes great responsibiliy.

~~~
doctorKrieger
go home ur drunk , rc models were accessible long before that.

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zo1
Why do I get the impression that this guy was really, really, _really_ lucky?
Certainly more lucky than I'd imagine him being if he did a similar thing in
the USA next to some FBI/CIA buildings.

~~~
baby
He's lucky it was in China and not in the US and that he was not a chinese.
I've had friends doing a strip tease in front of a group of cops, other smoke
weed not far from a police station, and a lot of other stupid crap. The fact
that you're a foreigner they will allow a lot of things.

Actually I had my fair share of police encounters in France as well and it
never went bad. The last I remember was asking cops to take me in their cars
to a club (I was completely drunk), they told me they were not a taxi company.
I then told them they had to take me because I was inebriated, they just
laughed at me and left.

In 2 weeks in the US I got arrested twice. Once for eating a sandwich 5meters
from people drinking alcohol in the street. Then the second time, while I was
going to court for that stupid shit I got arrested for going through the
subway gate twice in less than 15 minutes even though I had an unlimited pass.

/rant over. Cops are cool in a lot of places. Not in the US.

~~~
doctorKrieger
whats wrong with going twice through the subway gate? Also since when you can
get arrested for eating a sandwich?

~~~
baby
> whats wrong with going twice through the subway gate?

They told me I was cheating the system. When really I was confused about what
subway to take so I went back and asked the girl in the booth for help.

> ...

because I knew the people walking 5 meters ahead of me so I stopped to watch
them getting arrested, and stayed 5 minutes around, so eventually they came
towards me and my friends and arrested us also. We were so shocked we didn't
ask why. Kept us an hour in the cold looking through our stuff etc... Tossed
my sandwich to the ground (and I told them that it was littering) and finally
convoked us to the court for "drinking in the streets".

~~~
doctorKrieger
us is a truly retarded country.

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Cookingboy
The story was definitely interesting, and the Chinese authority actually acted
very leniently.

Additionally, the footage was amazing, sometimes I forget how beautiful that
city is on days with little smog :)

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seanmcdirmid
The shots are beautiful, totally worth it. I also forget how great Beijing can
be in clean air.

~~~
hexagonc
The views were beautiful but the scene transitions in the video got
irritating. I stopped watching after a while.

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justicezyx
Well, Chinese sky space is tightly regulated. If you are a law-abiding
citizen, just try to learn them first, then post some article with less-
misleading titles...

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mkesper
For a second I thought he was tortured with cupping glasses, but no, that
seems to have been self-inflicted torture...

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KhalPanda
"Police detained"? Aka "arrested"?

~~~
higherpurpose
I'm bothered by all the extreme political correctness to the absurd trends
lately.

~~~
RobAley
Er, depending on your country, they are different things. In the UK, you can
be detained by police for a short period of time (e.g. during a stop-check or
search on the street), but it isn't an arrest, you're "just" prevented from
leaving whereever you are for a short period of time. If you are arrested, it
means you are taken to a police station where a whole lot of
rights/procedures/paperwork kicks in. Different countries have different
points where they hit the dividing line between detaining and arresting.

~~~
KhalPanda
> If you are arrested, it means you are taken to a police station where a
> whole lot of rights/procedures/paperwork kicks in. Different countries have
> different points where they hit the dividing line between detaining and
> arresting.

I'm not sure that's true. On every UK police program I've seen (mostly
traffic-related - Road Wars, Police Interceptors, etc), frequently they'll
arrest someone at the roadside, then de-arrest them when they've finished
their inquiries.

~~~
rahimnathwani
This is the first time I've heard the term 'de-arrest', but it does indeed
exist:

[http://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/mar/01/law.emmabrockes](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/mar/01/law.emmabrockes)
"According to section 30, subsection (7) and (7A) of the Police and Criminal
Evidence Act 1984, to "de-arrest" is to allow that "a person who has been
arrested under any act of law at a place other than a police station, shall be
released before reaching a police station if a constable is satisfied that
there are no grounds for keeping him under arrest". Unlike being released with
no further action, being de-arrested means that the record of the initial
arrest is removed."

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dalore
What device is a Samsung Nexus Android (S4)?

~~~
kalleboo
[http://m.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_nexus_i9250-4219.php](http://m.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_nexus_i9250-4219.php)

~~~
dalore
Thanks. Tried googling it at all I got was Samsung Galaxy S4 vs the Nexus.

Although that link says known as the samsung galaxy nexus 3.

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danieldrehmer
once I was astronaut detained

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nznd-yyt
No zuo no die why you try?

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pnngndclsng
TL;DR --> no jail

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CraigJPerry
Worst "I have a dji phantom" blog post ever :-)

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annnnd
I wonder why second group stopped by, the explanation doesn't seem plausible
to me... did you check the quadcopter for any signs of tampering? Anyway, nice
shots!

