More commercial opportunities

[Florida Drone Supply]

For years, companies have been using drones for telecom and cellular tower infrastructure inspections, including Florida Drone Supply and Sky Source Aerial; however, we have we were recently contacted to fly infrastructure assets to identify the status of particular equipment on the towers....the shot profile is different than either standard inspection or map mounting.

We are looking for pilots with platforms capable of flying Z30 sensors and X5s/X7 with minimum of 45mm lens to assist us with our regional project...SE United states, from Dallas, TX east to South Florida, upto North Carolina.

If you have the equipment and are interested in being part of our solution, please PM me.

Stephen

 

[BigAl07]

For years, companies have been using drones for telecom and cellular tower infrastructure inspections, including Florida Drone Supply and Sky Source Aerial; however, we have we were recently contacted to fly infrastructure assets to identify the status of particular equipment on the towers....the shot profile is different than either standard inspection or map mounting.

We are looking for pilots with platforms capable of flying Z30 sensors and X5s/X7 with minimum of 45mm lens to assist us with our regional project...SE United states, from Dallas, TX east to South Florida, upto North Carolina.

If you have the equipment and are interested in being part of our solution, please PM me.

Stephen

I just sold my Inspire.... dang nabbit LOL

 

[LUIS MARTINEZ]

For years, companies have been using drones for telecom and cellular tower infrastructure inspections, including Florida Drone Supply and Sky Source Aerial; however, we have we were recently contacted to fly infrastructure assets to identify the status of particular equipment on the towers....the shot profile is different than either standard inspection or map mounting.

We are looking for pilots with platforms capable of flying Z30 sensors and X5s/X7 with minimum of 45mm lens to assist us with our regional project...SE United states, from Dallas, TX east to South Florida, upto North Carolina.

If you have the equipment and are interested in being part of our solution, please PM me.

Stephen

Let me know if u ever get to AZ so I can put my M600/Z30 to work. ?

 

[Joe]

For years, companies have been using drones for telecom and cellular tower infrastructure inspections, including Florida Drone Supply and Sky Source Aerial; however, we have we were recently contacted to fly infrastructure assets to identify the status of particular equipment on the towers....the shot profile is different than either standard inspection or map mounting.

We are looking for pilots with platforms capable of flying Z30 sensors and X5s/X7 with minimum of 45mm lens to assist us with our regional project...SE United states, from Dallas, TX east to South Florida, upto North Carolina.

If you have the equipment and are interested in being part of our solution, please PM me.

Stephen

PM sent

 

[AH-1G]

I heard the pay is below average per tower, room and board travel pay not included, am I wrong?
I was quoted the price, but I declined to move forward.

 

[Outta Control]

I heard the pay is below average per tower, room and board travel pay not included, am I wrong?
I was quoted the price, but I declined to move forward.

I encountered a similar issue.

 

[PatR]

If the rate is below ~$350/day for pilot and ~$250/day for VO without a per diem it would be under a current low market rate. Vehicles are often not provided or compensated for as those have to be negotiated between the contractor and prime before contract signing. The sub contractors won’t be able to obtain anything not originally included in the prime contract.

Something to be cognizant of, there has been at least one aerial utility contractor here in California that didn’t pay their bills, leaving more than a few subcontractors out several thousand $$ to tens of thousands of $ in unpaid wages and expenses. A few have managed to obtain partial payment, but not all. The problem started with the first large post fire mapping effort of a community burn down and continued well after that project was completed.

Know who you will be working for and their payment reliability. Obtain contract documents spelling out compensation and payment schedules in detail before accepting any work from anyone.

 

[AH-1G]

They mentioned $130.00 per tower, and all expenses up to me.

 

[R.P..R]

They mentioned $130.00 per tower, and all expenses up to me.

How long does it take you to do 1 tower? And what sUAS are you using? How much is your insurance and misc. that you spend each day? How far are the towers from one another?

 

[R.P..R]

I took a low contact, when I started out with Cemex. $100.00 per visit to inspect their abandoned facility, thrice a month for 4 months, and the site is 35miles away from where reside.

Did my job, and flew my i1, with x5 to impress my client of my service. This was 2yrs ago. I didn’t profit much, but presently, I am now with Cemex. San Jose, Ca and Oakland, Ca plant. With a 3yr contract, and rate that I am satisfied.

When you’re starting out, take a deep breath, be humble, and good things will happen.

 

[PatR]

AH-1,

Using the customer generated photo layout required for the client I worked for as a reference, unless the towers are all close together (they won’t be) and accessing them is easy (often not the case) a low tower count day would have two towers getting shot with a good day getting four towers done. You’ll find there are days you’ll end up driving to one tower and have to carry your equipment and walk cross country to others in line as vehicle access may not be possible for multiple reasons.

I don’t much care for the “piecework” concept as it does not allow for travel time to the general working location, finding ways to get to towers once in the area as most HV towers in California don’t have actual access roads, just goat trails running through ranches and farmland and seasonal rivers and streams that have to be crossed without benefit of bridges. There’s a lot of rough country driving involved that’s hard on a vehicle and its occupants. Getting stuck way out in the boonies does happen and you have to be prepared to extricate yourself. Break an axle or shock mount and you’re in deep doo doo. Know the difference between a cow and a bull and don’t mess with the bulls![emoji3517]. They only know how to do 4 things:”; eat, crap, mate with the harem, and defend the harem or territory from interlopers. They’re very good at all of them...

City towers are easier but you have private property issues to contend with. You’re allowed access to utility easements but you have to schedule with the property owners to unlock gates or restrain pets or livestock.

There’s also the planning and paperwork time aspect to contend with as the client will likely assign one or more circuits where you’ll have to plan for next day and the next week customer advisories to schedule out, plus filing NOTAM’s and making LAANC requests.

Bear in mind the work I was doing was done using aircraft provided by the company, which removes a considerable operating expense from the operator’s cost basis.

Ultimately, those considering this kind of work need to understand there’s a lot more to it than driving up to a tower and putting a bird in the air. It’s not “easy money”. You’ll need a portable generator to recharge batteries and it will need to run the entire day, including the time your driving from one tower to another. You’ll need to be able to secure all the equipment in a manner that will keep it safe and in place during your off road adventures. You’ll also want to make every shot count, first time every time as there’s no post processing involved at either end of the image custody process. It’s a usable image or it’s not and they only pay for a shot series once. If a reshoot is needed it’s on you. You’ll need to be in pretty good physical shape. People with bad knees, backs, hips, or ankles will find many of the locations difficult to deal with.

 

[AH-1G]

And this is also another reason I decided not to pursue them.

 

[PatR]

Pretty much the same old “know what you’re getting into before jumping in” and penciling out cost versus reward in advance. That’s why I posted the info earlier as many will see $$ and little else before making a commitment. Anyone looking into this stuff needs to ask lots of questions.

You only have a given number of usable hours of daylight to shoot in, and that’s before considering weather. Some of the outfits levy a 20mph max allowable wind, as do some system models, which tends to cut your working day in half.

Over here prevailing winds usually start kicking up about 10:00-11:00 and by noon you may be done for the day. The larger clients really pay attention to that stuff as they have departments dedicated to monitoring all their aerial and drone activities. Everything is by the book.

Something else to consider is if your employer is dictating your schedule, what you shoot, how you shoot, etc., you may find you no longer fit the definition of a contractor under tax code laws. That’s why some prime clients insist pilots be employees of the contracting company. VO’s have more latitude.

One thing I’m wondering about is that $130/tower rate. Did that have to get split with the VO, is the VO paid separately, or is having a VO even a consideration? Kind of a big deal as you very much need a VO for tower inspections.

 

[AH-1G]

Pretty much the same old “know what you’re getting into before jumping in” and penciling out cost versus reward in advance. That’s why I posted the info earlier as many will see $$ and little else before making a commitment. Anyone looking into this stuff needs to ask lots of questions.

You only have a given number of usable hours of daylight to shoot in, and that’s before considering weather. Some of the outfits levy a 20mph max allowable wind, as do some system models, which tends to cut your working day in half.

Over here prevailing winds usually start kicking up about 10:00-11:00 and by noon you may be done for the day. The larger clients really pay attention to that stuff as they have departments dedicated to monitoring all their aerial and drone activities. Everything is by the book.

Something else to consider is if your employer is dictating your schedule, what you shoot, how you shoot, etc., you may find you no longer fit the definition of a contractor under tax code laws. That’s why some prime clients insist pilots be employees of the contracting company. VO’s have more latitude.

One thing I’m wondering about is that $130/tower rate. Did that have to get split with the VO, is the VO paid separately, or is having a VO even a consideration? Kind of a big deal as you very much need a VO for tower inspections.

Tower rate. I would have to hire a VO.
Like you I did all my expense calculations, not worth the headaches!
They boasted some pilots were doing 8 to 10 a day? Maybe if the towers were all close by? But I doubt this could be done every day let alone every week.
Oh, then you would have to go to their school , get certified by them, there's more!
It cost you to go to their school, paying your way there and room and board.?
But wait, you have to have a specific drone and camera.
Hate to see what the fine print is!?

 

[PatR]

That’s starting to align with west coast work. Mandatory minimum equipment level, client “onboarding” client specific policy and procedure training, operator certification by the client, etc. The flight test is timed and exacting, including all the required safety protocols.

If towers were inspected similarly, each tower has four corners, each corner has a specific number of shots and segments, heights, and angles, essentially a straight on and two oblique images along with the same angles but shot in an ascending and descending view to capture under and over. Add a central top down and each base mount and the shot count gets pretty high. Works out to 9 shots per insulator, 4 to 6 insulators per tower, along with structural shots averaging 4 per leg. Aspect ratio of each shot has to be as near identical as possible, with overlaps minimized and consistent. You end up using a minimum of two batteries per tower, and the client sets a mandatory minimum battery depletion level.

It’s good work but it’s not quick and easy. Anyone doing 10 towers a day can’t possibly be obtaining clear images suitable for review by the inspection engineers. I got to see what they look at in their environment and I can tell ya they are picky. And they should be as public safety depends on their assessments. I have a hunch the contractor will be getting bit on the butt by the client due to pilots rushing through towers. He’ll be doing a lot of free reshoots or see his money hung up for non completion.

Most of the people I worked with were more than 250 miles from home so lodging and meals were a necessity. At $130/tower, by the time you took a room, meals, auto expenses, equipment expenses, and insurance out of the compensation there wouldn’t be much left. What I was doing didn’t cover the vehicle but did take care of the pilot, VO, lodging, and per diem whether they could fly or not. No fly days were reduced rate. Aircraft provided by the contractor. We got all our shots the first time, every time and were awarded 100% satisfaction from the client. As mentioned, there is no post processing done by the operator or the client. You get the angles, the distance, focus and lighting right the first time. It’s a good image or it’s not, end of story.

Just an FYI, market rate for disaster relief work is $500/day, a meal/lodging per diem using government area rates, partial vehicle compensation, and a stand by rate for days weather prevented flying. That rate has been in every disaster relief contract I’ve seen.

 

[Kristina Fowler]

Kind of a big deal as you very much need a VO for tower inspections.

Why?

 

[PatR]

Due to natural or man made obstructions the pilot can often lose sight of the aircraft when its being positioned for different shot angles. He can also experience depth perception issues as the separation between the aircraft and the tower has client established separation minimums. You cannot operate while standing directly under power lines as that is prohibited. A VO provides the means to assure safe operations while obtaining the required images as the VO is positioned as needed to keep the aircraft in sight at all times.

A required item on your equipment list is a good two way radio system having a voice activated microphone and earbuds. The VO is often hundreds of feet away from the pilot.

There are times when both the pilot and VO can both lose sight of the aircraft. When that happens the flight is aborted by following a predetermined exit plan that usually involves a straight up climb until the view of the aircraft is recovered. That’s one of the reasons why flight under power lines is prohibited. It’s also why minimum equipment standards were developed as the average consumer drone has to be positioned too close to towers to obtain a usable image. They didn’t like retrieving Mavics and Phantoms left hanging on the wires.

 

[Kristina Fowler]

Thanks PatR - makes sense.

 

[PatR]

You’re welcome. Before I got involved with inspections my first thoughts were it would be “easy money”. That turned to be wrong on many levels as the activity is heavily planned with lots of safety factors built into it. Aircraft, camera selection and positioning, shot angles, image perspectives, exposure, focus, safety briefings, crew and aircraft location, tower selection, training, daily reporting, are all both demanding and exacting. Everything done is monitored in one manner or another. There’s even a broadcast of aircraft GPS position live streamed to the customer.

It’s a lot of work and the entry level operator will encounter a lot of things they likely had not considered. Being candid, the average multirotor operator is not up to just the task of flying accurately enough to get the job done as they haven’t yet mastered the art of controlling an aircraft in any and all orientations, or “cross controlling” an aircraft to allow flight that parallels a power line at a constant distance while maintaining the aircraft on a 45* angle to the power line while the operator is 500’ or more away. The ability to effectively fly in an “Atti” type mode, in the wind, is a must have.

It’s good work, but it’s definitely “work”. There are times when just determining how to do it will be half the job.

 

[Kristina Fowler]

Before I got involved with inspections my first thoughts were it would be “easy money”.

Yep. That's where I am now. My initial off-the-cuff guess on compensation was $400 a pop. $130, minus expenses, is a far cry from that. Harsh reality. Even If it's a 50/50 split with the dispatcher, it's still hard to justify. If these numbers are accurate, it's a deal killer. VO + travel expenses + training fee would be tough for me to overcome. Without a commitment on gig volume and location map of towers from the dispatcher, I'd have to sit this one out.