Career change to drone pilot ?????

[Ray G]

Hello all , from sunny South Carolina. My name is Ray and I am hoping to gain as much insight/input good or bad as I can get in the drone pilot field. I am 46 years old and due to wear and tear over the years I am in need of finding a good career/business that will carry me to retirement. I have never flown a drone but in my research of career options I found my self highly interest in this field and drones. So any one willing to help me make a good informed decision would be greatly appreciated
Thank you in advance for any and all help !!!

 

[dirkclod]

Welcome to CDP .
Look around and find what your interest is and let it rip . Have any question's feel free to ask any staff
in a message concerning the forum and glad you have joined .
Enjoy and be safe .

 

[Mavikhan]

WELCOME ABOARD!

 

[clackey]

Welcome. Here are some good drone business videos I compiled a while back....

Drone Business Starter Guide - MavicPilots News

Welcome to the drone business starter guide! We’ve compiled our favorite resources from around the web to help you start your drone business. We suggest you follow these in the order below to ensure you fully undrstand what might be involved to get your business off the ground. Of course, we...

mavicpilots.com

 

[GRS Drone Services]

Hello all , from sunny South Carolina. My name is Ray and I am hoping to gain as much insight/input good or bad as I can get in the drone pilot field. I am 46 years old and due to wear and tear over the years I am in need of finding a good career/business that will carry me to retirement. I have never flown a drone but in my research of career options I found my self highly interest in this field and drones. So any one willing to help me make a good informed decision would be greatly appreciated
Thank you in advance for any and all help !!!

Hi Ray, my name is Gary and after losing my job on March 3rd, I decided to start a drone business. I passed my part 107 test on 4/23 and Im waiting for the email with the certificate.
what questions do you have?

 

[cneedelman]

I might suggest that you start with a used drone that you won't be discouraged if you crash it or get it stuck in a tree, Stay Away From Trees! Maybe a Phantom 3P, I just saw one on Ebay for $199 with many extras. I would suggest that you try to find one on the PhantomPilots.com website as I think you are more likely to be assured it is in better condition. The batteries could be an issue on an older drone, and they may need to be replaced. Or you could start with a Mavic Mini on Ebay for $300, but these are not great in wind, you might be able to do some work with it, but I think it is limited in it's capabilities. You'll need a Part 107 to be legal to work for hire. But before you do any of that you need to watch a lot of videos and understand the drone, the DJI app, and what not to do. My best advice would be to find an experienced pilot in your area who would go out with you the first time and show you the ropes.
All that being said, making money at this is not easy, unless you can find a construction or mapping project that is on going, plus there's competition and you need a lot of experience to get up to speed. So even if you don't make a lot of money with it, it is So Much Fun!

I'm sure others will have some opinions here, it's a start. Good luck!

 

[Ajkm]

Unless you gain a great deal of flight experience (and 100 hours is an absolute minimum - which you need to prove from a detailed logbook) and then find a job at an existing company that needs a drone pilot, the chances of developing a career/business that will replace the income from whatever job you have now is extremely low, if not non-existent.

At best, it’s going to take considerable time as you take professional certifications (on top of any aviation regulatory requirements for training and knowledge) in order to be “qualified” to do anything for which people will be prepared to pay anything more than pocket money.

Sorry to be negative, but few will write anything remotely realistic. This is best seen as a hobby unless and until you have developed something bigger. Don’t give up the day job.

 

[Russ Still]

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[dougcjohn]

Hello @Ray G , Best of Luck on the sUAV endeavors! Expectations will probably do better than initial Realities. As with any self driven business that involves excitement, expensive BBT's hardware (Big Boy Toys), individual motivation and various intriguing technologies; the small scale tends to struggle to obtain a level of lucrative income on the whole... some shops have the right supportive location that many others lack. It remains enjoyable, and depending on your needs may be workable. The vendors and stores selling sUAV appreciate our desires to make this a business particularly.

I think with time and recognition, and ample clients, this great line of work can begin to provide what's needed... and possibly grow larger scale. I'd be concerned if expectations of profits in the intitial stage. At the same time it's acceptance by many as a payable service of substantial amount isn't the majority. My area currently doesn't see the need... the Reality has their sons & 1 Mavic... the Construction has a family member and a P4P, the Ag has COOP providing as a free service.

It's a great activity and a line of work if you're able to get the work in your area. Invest with thought of all possibilities, and best of Luck to your new Adventures!

 

[Ajkm]

Hello @Ray G , Best of Luck on the sUAV endeavors! Expectations will probably do better than initial Realities. As with any self driven business that involves excitement, expensive BBT's hardware (Big Boy Toys), individual motivation and various intriguing technologies; the small scale tends to struggle to obtain a level of lucrative income on the whole... some shops have the right supportive location that many others lack. It remains enjoyable, and depending on your needs may be workable. The vendors and stores selling sUAV appreciate our desires to make this a business particularly.

I think with time and recognition, and ample clients, this great line of work can begin to provide what's needed... and possibly grow larger scale. I'd be concerned if expectations of profits in the intitial stage. At the same time it's acceptance by many as a payable service of substantial amount isn't the majority. My area currently doesn't see the need... the Reality has their sons & 1 Mavic... the Construction has a family member and a P4P, the Ag has COOP providing as a free service.

It's a great activity and a line of work if you're able to get the work in your area. Invest with thought of all possibilities, and best of Luck to your new Adventures!

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[dougcjohn]

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[R.Perry]

You might check into Multivista in your area. They do construction documentation. They do train their own pilots and send them to the Avion school in Huntsville, AL. The school not only teaches what you need for a 107 cert, you get plenty of hands on flight time normally on Inspire 1 and 2 drones. They do a great job of teaching techniques of working with an observer.
Best of luck to you.

 

[R Martin]

Before you invest anything in hardware or software for that matter, if you are going to start a business you need a) knowledge with experience of the subset that you are going to attempt to break into (photography for example), b) competence in that subset, and most importantly, c) a business plan.
A UAS is just a tool. Buying a hammer does not make you an instant carpenter. You have to have a knowledge of the field and the experience to use the tool properly. Same thing with a UAS. Depending on what area you decide to specialize in, just as in anything else, you need the right tool for the right job. You need an aircraft that has the capability, expandability, and battery power to do the job you want to do out of the box.
Business plan, business plan, business plan. Know the market, the requirements, the earning potential, etc before investing in a UAS that may or may not need to be replaced in a few months because it is not capable of your intended role. Once you have a firm plan, then you can invest wisely and start growing the business. A good plan will help you decide if you can do this for a living or a hobby on the side to make a little extra pocket change. Or do without the headache and work for someone else as a pilot after you get your certification and gain some experience. Just my two cents.

There are a lot of online services that teach you enough to get you certificated and in the air. Sadly, a majority of them teach bare minimums. You really have to figure the rest out, or at least the right questions, to take it from there and get a full picture.

 

[R.Perry]

Martin just gave you some very good advice and it should have been the first post. I would like to add, if you have limited or no photographic and video experience I would really suggest taking some courses on both subjects, there is more to it than just snapping pictures or hitting the video record button.

 

[AMann]

If you are not good at marketing and business management, forget trying to be a successful independent drone pilot. Leave that part of it up to an employer if possible. The business end of the jjob will take 75-90% of your time, and flying will be the rest.

Hope it works out for you though, there are some good recommendations from others above and you should do well following them!

 

[R.Perry]

If you are not good at marketing and business management, forget trying to be a successful independent drone pilot. Leave that part of it up to an employer if possible. The business end of the jjob will take 75-90% of your time, and flying will be the rest.

Hope it works out for you though, there are some good recommendations from others above and you should do well following them!

That is such good advice. Other than the AG and Ranch business I don't do marketing, I'm not good at it. However my experience with Multivista has opened other doors based on word of mouth recommendations. Multivista in our area does pay well, but I don't know about other areas. It's like the old saying goes, sometimes it isn't what you know, but who you know.

 

[Ajkm]

??

For example: “At the same time it's acceptance by many as a payable service of substantial amount isn't the majority.” Or “the Reality has their sons…”

 

[dougcjohn]

For example: “At the same time it's acceptance by many as a payable service of substantial amount isn't the majority.” Or “the Reality has their sons…”

My Bad… Fast Phone typing, mind going faster than finger taps… read through the typo errors. Wasn’t that over a month ago.

Reality > Realtor.
They use Son and their Mavic for free, no desire to “pay” for sUAV service.

Short rewrite…
At the same time sUAV services are accepted by many as a payable service at a substantial amount; the majority will not see the sUAV service as a high value service.

 

[Ajkm]

Thanks. That certainly makes a whole lot more sense.