More TX Pilots Needed for Telecom - Also Other States for Telecom, Power, Golf and Mapping

[GadgetGuy]

I completely understand this is not for everyone; and each pilot will need to evaluate it based on their current work and the type of work they are looking to move into.

As for the training cost, we do have a reimbursement program that gets the pilot back almost half of their training cost once they have engaged in some work with us. From our perspective, we are happy to contribute and lower the cost of the training for the people that begin working on our contracts, but have also had pilots tell us very openly that they are going through our training with the intention of learning the business to attempt to get out there on their own. If we did not charge for training and only recouped the cost on a per job basis we would probably end up providing endless free training to pilots who do not intend to fly with us. So, this was our best effort to be fair and meet in the middle. The actual cost of training may seem higher they you expect, but if you look into the other companies that do this type of training you will find them much higher. We had found a video course for just under $1000 that was not even available, another company like ours that charges 30-50% more and if you look at somewhere like UVU (unmanned vehicle university) they are about triple our cost. We have a UVU trainer on contract with us and know a lot about what they offer and what they charge.

I wish it could all be video based - that would really make it easy for everyone. But nothing replaces the actual time on the sticks flying 15 or 20 feet for a large antenna array and knowing what to do if you lose radio signal to the copter. Very similar is knowing how to get into the equipment cabinets when requested to do so, and ultimately having the pilots demonstrate their ability to perform these inspections before being sent out on contracts.

I really do see your point and understand your perspective - especially if you have been burned in the past. I hope you can see it from our side too - we just want to get trained pilots out flying. As we type this message we have pilots from outside the state of TX traveling to TX to get towers inspected. And its not because we do not have TX pilots that have registered with our pilot network - we just have not gotten them through training yet. Training is something we all wish happened faster, but nothing can replace a pilot who is properly prepared for something that is not an ordinary flight profile - and one with very specific requirements.

Again, I do appreciate your thoughts and your point of view.

Michael

Exactly how many additional pilots do you currently have fulltime employment for, assuming they complete the $1200 training (and incur the additional $4,500 in costs to be there for the training), other than those you have already have working for you?

What is a realistic expectation for a newly trained pilot for the income you can offer them over the next 12 months to justify the $5750 total investment?

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

@GadgetGuy...these are not employee positions. They are contract positions for pilots interested in getting into this type of work. Most of the pilots that fly for us already have businesses and clients...while some may be brand new to the drone industry and looking for their first job or client, those pilots likely would require more time on the sticks before flying near complex towers and performing these inspections.

In your reply on Tuesday you said:
"Thanks! Sounds more like side work than full time work, but work is work!"

It is all still the same...some of the power line work is scheduled to turn into multi year contracts for individual pilots, but the thousands of towers we are talking about are geographically diverse and currently have a high concentration in TX with an upcoming release of work in states from TX moving west. They have also begun in parts of the midwest and the east.

As an aside, we asked a few of the pilots who are coming to some of the upcoming trainings if they had to miss out or cancel $2500 worth of jobs to attend trainings. So far the answers are no - many pilots are coming during their slower season, or they are able to arrange their jobs in such a manner that they do some client work before they leave or right after they get back (or both), etc. We have not asked everyone, but we inquiring on the topic because we are curious to know the answers - so far nobody has purchased a $1000 plane ticket either. While this certainly may be the case for you (if you are considering attending a training) it is not the case for everyone. We have also been unable to find any drone training course that guarantees any full time employment upon completion of a handful of days in training that they paid $1200 for (or any amount of money). We have even had someone mention they pay more than that amount to go AUVSI and listen to some presentations and walk around the conference hall...certainly no guarantee of new clients or revenue from that training / education either.

I think you have done a responsible job helping people consider their options and at this point they all seem to be making their choices regardless of what either one of us continues to write.

Many Thanks!

Michael

 

[2nd2non]

Another value of the training is it gets an additional skill/experience. I thought telecom inspections would be straight forward until heard the detailed description and requirements. With 5G networks about to take off, I can see this work picking up. For me I set aside a small budget for ‘continuing education’. I just wish this training came with a certification. Something to consider if available or possible.

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

Another value of the training is it gets an additional skill/experience. I thought telecom inspections would be straight forward until heard the detailed description and requirements. With 5G networks about to take off, I can see this work picking up. For me I set aside a small budget for ‘continuing education’. I just wish this training came with a certification. Something to consider if available or possible.

You are correct...and a little background on some of the bottle necks for the 5G upgrades include the lack of trained tower climbers - which is the traditional method of inspection and equipment space planning. Right now tower climbers must climb and measure, climb and confirm engineering plans, climb to begin an installation, climb to modify a plan if things don't fit right, etc. In addition to equipment upgrades, the climbers have historically done the inspections / repair work as well. There are far too few climbers in comparison to the number of towers that exist and the frequency in which the towers must be climbed for the various reasons. Assumably its one of the reasons it takes so long to bring new cellular technology to the entire country (such as the upgrades to 4G, LTE, 5G, etc). There was a recent article that discussed the infrastructure plans of the government and impact of national 5G network. Maybe it would only last a year or two, but that is going to create a lot of tower inspection work. I'll look up the article and add it to this thread for anyone interested.

 

[GadgetGuy]

@GadgetGuy...these are not employee positions. They are contract positions for pilots interested in getting into this type of work. Most of the pilots that fly for us already have businesses and clients...while some may be brand new to the drone industry and looking for their first job or client, those pilots likely would require more time on the sticks before flying near complex towers and performing these inspections.

In your reply on Tuesday you said:
"Thanks! Sounds more like side work than full time work, but work is work!"

It is all still the same...some of the power line work is scheduled to turn into multi year contracts for individual pilots, but the thousands of towers we are talking about are geographically diverse and currently have a high concentration in TX with an upcoming release of work in states from TX moving west. They have also begun in parts of the midwest and the east.

As an aside, we asked a few of the pilots who are coming to some of the upcoming trainings if they had to miss out or cancel $2500 worth of jobs to attend trainings. So far the answers are no - many pilots are coming during their slower season, or they are able to arrange their jobs in such a manner that they do some client work before they leave or right after they get back (or both), etc. We have not asked everyone, but we inquiring on the topic because we are curious to know the answers - so far nobody has purchased a $1000 plane ticket either. While this certainly may be the case for you (if you are considering attending a training) it is not the case for everyone. We have also been unable to find any drone training course that guarantees any full time employment upon completion of a handful of days in training that they paid $1200 for (or any amount of money). We have even had someone mention they pay more than that amount to go AUVSI and listen to some presentations and walk around the conference hall...certainly no guarantee of new clients or revenue from that training / education either.

I think you have done a responsible job helping people consider their options and at this point they all seem to be making their choices regardless of what either one of us continues to write.

Many Thanks!

Michael

Thanks, Michael, but, respectfully, you still haven't answered the questions.

1. Exactly how many additional pilots do you currently have contract assignments for, assuming they complete the $1200 training, other than those you already have contracting for you?

2. What is a realistic gross income expectation for contract jobs received through you, for a new graduate of your $1200 training, over the next 12 months, to justify the upfront $1200 training cost?

By the way, any legitimate concern you have of your trainees using your training to compete against you for jobs, used to justify your charging a substantial upfront fee for the training, could easily be obviated by simply requiring that a non-compete agreement be signed before training. That is the proper way of handling such concerns, unless the income from training prospective pilots exceeds the income from actually contracting those trained pilots.

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

By the way, any legitimate concern you have of your trainees using your training to compete against you for jobs, used to justify your charging a substantial upfront fee for the training, could easily be obviated by simply requiring that a non-compete agreement be signed before training. That is the proper way of handling such concerns, unless the income from training prospective pilots exceeds the income from actually contracting those trained pilots.

I am not sure where this came from, but we have not expressed this concern. You also continue to mis-characterize what we are doing. We are training pilots so they can fly telecom infrastructure under our contracts. The training is required by the software company that processes and hosts all the data for the carriers and tower owners. We have not found a less expensive way to get the pilots that want to engage in this work their training. There are several that cost substantially more - and there are no guarantees from anyone.

We are happy with the number of pilots that want to get into this side of the business and currently have some coverage that will be represented in nearly all 50 states. Most states could use more coverage based on the new emerging information flowing from the people involved with NATE. The new standards being written and the "flight before climb" language will drive even more need for pilots able to do this work.

How many, how much...I think you know those answers are not one size fits all and I will repeat my previous answer that most pilots are not sitting around without a single client or job to do. This is likely something that will be "in addition to" and not "instead of" for the work portfolio. Sure, some people are looking to get out of the photo and video jobs they do for real estate, etc. Some are looking to become more industrial instead of cinematic. But we do not dictate how many days they want to do this work - the pilots set their schedules and availability. Some will want to travel and do lots of this work and some will be happy to do towers on the weekend and earn $1000 as they have time for it.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I am not sure where this came from, but we have not expressed this concern. You also continue to mis-characterize what we are doing. We are training pilots so they can fly telecom infrastructure under our contracts. The training is required by the software company that processes and hosts all the data for the carriers and tower owners. We have not found a less expensive way to get the pilots that want to engage in this work their training. There are several that cost substantially more - and there are no guarantees from anyone.

We are happy with the number of pilots that want to get into this side of the business and currently have some coverage that will be represented in nearly all 50 states. Most states could use more coverage based on the new emerging information flowing from the people involved with NATE. The new standards being written and the "flight before climb" language will drive even more need for pilots able to do this work.

How many, how much...I think you know those answers are not one size fits all and I will repeat my previous answer that most pilots are not sitting around without a single client or job to do. This is likely something that will be "in addition to" and not "instead of" for the work portfolio. Sure, some people are looking to get out of the photo and video jobs they do for real estate, etc. Some are looking to become more industrial instead of cinematic. But we do not dictate how many days they want to do this work - the pilots set their schedules and availability. Some will want to travel and do lots of this work and some will be happy to do towers on the weekend and earn $1000 as they have time for it.

It came directly from your Post #57 above, justifying charging a training fee.
I am not mischaracterizing anything:

"From our perspective, we are happy to contribute and lower the cost of the training for the people that begin working on our contracts, but have also had pilots tell us very openly that they are going through our training with the intention of learning the business to attempt to get out there on their own. If we did not charge for training and only recouped the cost on a per job basis we would probably end up providing endless free training to pilots who do not intend to fly with us."

Just because others are charging large upfront fees for training without any guarantees does not make it right or necessary, if you are not in the training business except incidentally, and are, in fact, putting each of these newly trained pilots to work on contacted jobs that you currently immediately need them for. You could also easily require that they complete a minimum number of such jobs for you to pay for the training, or they would be required to reimburse you for the training costs.

You continue to dodge the same types of questions that every trade school in the country is required by federal law to disclose to all prospective students before enrolling:

1. Exactly how many additional pilots do you currently have contract assignments for, assuming they complete the $1200 training, other than those you already have contracting for you?

2. What is a realistic gross income expectation for contract jobs received through you, for a new graduate of your $1200 training, over the next 12 months, willing to travel to wherever you need them, to justify the upfront $1200 training cost?

Evading the questions doesn't help your case.
Anyone considering paying upfront for your $1200 in house training deserves the answers.

 

[aerialimagery]

Why does the fee have to be $1,200? What is so expensive about the training that the fee needs to be so high? If you're looking for subcontractors to work with and who you will make money off of, then why isn't the training fee something that's more "bare bones"? Or are you hoping to have a lucrative training business as well? If so, the incentive will be to bring in as many students as possible regardless of whether you will ever have jobs for them. It seems like a conflict to me. What is most troubling to me, though, is that the post was about needing subcontractors, and I'm sure many responded, and then the $1,200 entry fee is mentioned after the leads are acquired. It's like "bait and switch." From my perspective, if you really have the contracts and the work, you will do whatever you can get as many subcontractors as soon as possible and not charge a substantial fee to allow someone to "possibly" work for you. I can't imagine that if I needed a subcontractor to do some work for me that I would tell him he first had to pay me to train him, and then tell him that, by the way, I don't really have anything definite for you yet...as I line up other subcontractor/students.

(And yes I know that you say the training is necessary because of a contract and that there are others who charge more, but the $1,200 fee is the deal breaker for me because regardless of what the actual situation is, there is as least the appearance that you're primarily in the training business, and the prospect of contracts is a just a dangling carrot),

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

Why does the fee have to be $1,200? What is so expensive about the training that the fee needs to be so high? If you're looking for subcontractors to work with and who you will make money off of, then why isn't the training fee something that's more "bare bones"? Or are you hoping to have a lucrative training business as well? If so, the incentive will be to bring in as many students as possible regardless of whether you will ever have jobs for them. It seems like a conflict to me. What is most troubling to me, though, is that the post was about needing subcontractors, and I'm sure many responded, and then the $1,200 entry fee is mentioned after the leads are acquired. It's like "bait and switch." From my perspective, if you really have the contracts and the work, you will do whatever you can get as many subcontractors as soon as possible and not charge a substantial fee to allow someone to "possibly" work for you. I can't imagine that if I needed a subcontractor to do some work for me that I would tell him he first had to pay me to train him, and then tell him that, by the way, I don't really have anything definite for you yet...

While some of the comments in this thread seem to have a questionable motive, your questions do make sense to me and I am happy to answer them the best I can.

First, on the cost, I think you will find that we are probably the lowest priced training for 5 days that gets you up and running with the ability to go fly cell towers with the specific profiles that are required. We tried a training program that was more "bare bones" (we did not actually deliver the training ourselves) and ended up sending staff out of state to work with the pilots that needed more help once they got in the field. Obviously that does not work on a large scale. Also, we had pilots do the lesser type training and end up having to go back to towers multiple times to properly get the right data that could be processed and delivered to the carriers and tower owners. Lots and lots of wasted time. We have also tried to see if we can contract the training out in different parts of the country to trainers that are experienced drone operator trainers and could get certified to train this flight profile as well. The average cost to us was $500 per day per pilot. So a 4 or 5 day class was going to cost us $2000 per student. There is another program out there that teaches you all about towers for 2 days and is also over $1000 and they do not do the flight training - just understanding the tower components, radiation patterns from different antennas, etc and the things people try to find during an inspection that are safety hazards. There just is not a less expensive way to get pilots trained and prepared to make sure they can do a good job in the field. So $1200 with a $500 reimbursement (once you begin accepting contracts from us) is the absolute lowest cost we have seen.

I can tell you this in response to sending people to training in areas that we knew were not part of the initial tower location rollout...we did not prioritize them into the early training classes. We prioritized pilots based on the areas that we are told are the next big wave of tower inspections. It does not help anybody to have trained pilots where the work is not heading. We told many pilots that we could not put them into training when they wanted to go. Because the concept is to have pilots trained prior to the work being released we are always trying to stay one step ahead of the tower locations. Texas was always an early priority and recently we were told to get pilots ready in NM, OK, AZ and the west coast. We were also told areas up to the midwest should be made a priority and last month we were contracted for towers with locations in IL, IN, MI and other work existed in MN, IA and the surrounding areas.

In your comparison about the subcontractor working for you, how could you hire them if they do not know what to do for you. We have someone who wants to fly with us that is already trained and certified by a major cell phone company and has flown many, many towers. While he can not be fully exempted from the training, his requirements to learn this process and very, very different than someone who has not done a technical inspection of this type. There is an engineering company that also does tower inspections in a similar position we will be working with for some fast track approvals as well. But these are pilots and companies that have been working in this field and on tower for a long time. In the end the knowledge has to come from somewhere.

What state are you in?

 

[GadgetGuy]

It came directly from your Post #57 above, justifying charging a training fee.
I am not mischaracterizing anything:

"From our perspective, we are happy to contribute and lower the cost of the training for the people that begin working on our contracts, but have also had pilots tell us very openly that they are going through our training with the intention of learning the business to attempt to get out there on their own. If we did not charge for training and only recouped the cost on a per job basis we would probably end up providing endless free training to pilots who do not intend to fly with us."

Just because others are charging large upfront fees for training without any guarantees does not make it right or necessary, if you are not in the training business except incidentally, and are, in fact, putting each of these newly trained pilots to work on contacted jobs that you currently immediately need them for. You could also easily require that they complete a minimum number of such jobs for you to pay for the training, or they would be required to reimburse you for the training costs.

You continue to dodge the same types of questions that every trade school in the country is required by federal law to disclose to all prospective students before enrolling:

1. Exactly how many additional pilots do you currently have contract assignments for, assuming they complete the $1200 training, other than those you already have contracting for you?

2. What is a realistic gross income expectation for contract jobs received through you, for a new graduate of your $1200 training, over the next 12 months, willing to travel to wherever you need them, to justify the upfront $1200 training cost?

Evading the questions doesn't help your case.
Anyone considering paying upfront for your $1200 in house training deserves the answers.

Still waiting for you to respond to the meat of the matter.
If seeking the truth is a "questionable motive", call me guilty as charged!

1. Exactly how many additional pilots do you currently have contract assignments for, assuming they complete the $1200 training, other than those you already have contracting for you?

2. What is a realistic gross income expectation for contract jobs received through you, for a new graduate of your $1200 training, over the next 12 months, willing to travel to wherever you need them, to justify the upfront $1200 training cost?

Until you can promise immediate jobs to those who pay you $1200 upfront for the training, you are in the training business, and not in the contracting business, and your thread headline offering immediate jobs in TX is a bait and switch for your $1200 training program. It's your motives that are questionable!

So, how many "more pilots" do you need?

 

[OverArizona]

FYI to all pilots:

I personally don't like the idea of training for a contractor (@$1200) to "maybe" get work thru. I understand that special procedures are required per contract and require training for. However, having to pay for this is a red flag. This training fee was never implied when I spoke to Jim on the phone last week but he said "In no way this is a certification. Do you understand this?" He did mention that I would have to get myself to the training site. (He also seemed confused to who I was..???).

Thru what I know, the majority of 'Communication Towers', be it cellular, radio telephone, and other radio communication types, are privately owned and are leased to communication companies. Meaning that 'Sprint' tower also has Verizon repeaters on it and most likely other cellular carriers attached to it and pay a lease to the investor that owns the tower and the ground it sits on.

These tower owners know what they are doing and have very strict mandates/stupulations in the contract with carriers. eg. No body touches them without the correct permits, licensing, and certs - Liability could fall back on the owner if an individual doesn't really know what they are doing and gets hurt. [Usually] they only allow union members from the National Tower Erectors (NATE) on them. ...And, they are getting up to speed and will only allow Qualified Drone Cell-Tower Operator(s) /(QDCO's) to fly near them - similar to rotary (helicopter) pilots have to be cert with. QDCO's are also mandated by NATE.

With that in mind, the inspection missions contracted with FDS have to be limited. I could be wrong but I have tried contacting them a few more times now this past week and mentioned I'm in the process of getting my QDCO cert, I have not heard a word back since I said this.....

I'm mentioning this (and probably burned a bridge) because I've contracted with FEMA, the Dept of Interior, and numorous private companies over the past 20 years (as a Type 1 Helibase Mgr) and never had to pay for "procedural training". Heck, not even transportation for the training and there was countless hours to different regions anually for the training.

I've never flown to inspect towers but it is something I'd like to get into so I've done my research. And that's why I started my QDCO training - 32 hrs in the class, 8 hrs CPR, 16 hours of OSHA certification and 16 hours in the air to get it.

Just some food for thought. FDS, I'd like to know your response to why you are having pilots pay for procedural training so you can make money (from us)?

~j

OverArizona is a Public Benefit Corporation

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

Greetings Jason…

I’d first like to make sure you know that posting your experience or thoughts will not “burn a bridge” with us. While I would have loved to talk to you prior to a post like this, what is done is done. There has been a plethora of incorrect information posted in this thread and it becomes more and more difficult to try to correct it all without upsetting someone or having someone continue to reply with bad information for the pilots and members here on this forum.

First and foremost we have contract cell towers to fly for the largest of tower owner companies across the US. Your statement about Verizon or Sprint leasing space on a tower is accurate - but not always the case. Your statement about only allowing union members from NATE on them is not accurate. NATE is a member based trade association - not a supplier of union labor. Here is their About page from their website:

“The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) is a non-profit trade association providing a unified voice for tower erection, maintenance and service companies. NATE is headquartered in Watertown, South Dakota with a staff of nine people who administer to the day-to-day operations of the association. As a member driven association, NATE is led by its Board of Directors. These individuals come from all types and sizes of companies located throughout the United States.

Mission Statement

• To pursue, formulate and adhere to uniform standards of safety to ensure the continued well-being of tower personnel.
• To educate the general public, applicable government agencies and clients on continued progress toward safer standards within the industry.
• To keep all members informed of issues relevant to the industry.
• To provide a unified voice for tower erection, service and maintenance companies.
• To facilitate effective safety training for the industry.”

You say “And, they are getting up to speed and will only allow Qualified Drone Cell-Tower Operator(s) /(QDCO's) to fly near them - similar to rotary (helicopter) pilots have to be cert with.”

And then you follow up that statement with “QDCO's are also mandated by NATE.”

Your first statement is the more accurate of the two. I will qualify my response by saying that I am not on the standards committee at NATE - who are currently writing the standard and certifications that will dictate future requirements - but I am speaking to the person who is writing the standards. We are working on a collaboration to assist our pilots in staying ahead of the curve on all the things that may change over the next year as the standards and requirements are written.

The tech school based program called "QDCO Course" currently consists of the following:

Core Curriculum Requirements:

Course Code Course Title Clock Hours

PT107OL Part 107 Online Preparatory Course - 15 hours

OSHA101 OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration) - 10 hours

IW101 Introduction to Wireless - 16 hours

RF101 Radio Frequency Awareness - 4 hours

FACPR101 First Aid/CPR - 5 hours

PT107IR Part 107 In Residence Revision Classwork - 8 hours

SUAS101 Small UAS Ground-school & Simulators - 8 hours

SUAS201 Small UAS Flight Training (indoors) - 8 hours

SUAS202 Small UAS Flight Training (outdoors) - 8 hours

SUAS301 Small UAS Inspection Training - 8 hours

PT107X Part 107 Revision & Exam - 4 hours

SUAS401 Small UAS Business Considerations - 4 hours

PH101 Photogrammetry - 24 hours

TOTAL CLOCK HOURS - 122 Hours

It looks like a very good course - especially for someone without a Part 107 certification yet. Because I know you have a part 107 and I am aware of the level of equipment you fly, I am assuming you are able to skip much of the basics of this course and just do the parts you need. And if this is not the course you are referring to, I would like to see the one you are taking and compare its time, cost and level of training. Is this a paid course or something made available for free to anyone wishing to take it? Also, upon graduation, do they provide you any guaranteed contracts? My expectation is that you have to pay to go to the class and that they do not provide you any contract work when you complete it but I would be happy to be wrong.

Here is where I am getting my info from:

Telecom Technical College _ TelTech college course

I do appreciate that they are very veteran friendly (father was a marine) and can also appreciate that they help the prison system get jobs for the inmates in the industry (which is why I thought there might be a chance they are state funded and you could get the course for free). And as an aside, they do not even list NATE as an affiliation on their website and if you look at NATE’s website they are not listed as any type of member. That is not good or bad, but if they are telling you that they provide the only required training or certification to fly at a cell phone tower they are not telling you the real story.

Here is the most current information as of last year for NATE recommendations on flying near cell towers:

https://natehome.com/wp-content/upl...ions-Document-2nd-Edition-Jan-2017-E-FILE.pdf

Which leads to the final answer to your questions above - why do you have to pay for training. Because it costs time and money to train you. We have no guarantee you will work for us. We do not require a non-compete (as suggested by someone else). If you do work for us we offer a $500 training reimbursement lowering your training cost to $700 for 5 days of training. As we talk to other training companies to help us scale the training program on a larger basis, we are challenged with the substantially higher costs of other trainers to deliver the training. It would make the training available at a few other geographic locations, it certainly will not help with the cost. It will provide some choices however…and people will be able to choose where they want to train and apparently if a pilot pays someone else for their training they will not object to the cost as much because then they can come to us trained and decide which contracts and locations they are interested in flying.

Finally, if you feel we are not a good fit for you to fly for we wish you the best in trying to work directly with the national carriers or tower owners. If you are still interested in flying with us I am happy to talk to you at any time. Your particular interests were very interesting to us when we read your registration information and we have had numerous occasions where the type of work you identified was required. Sometime when the networks wish to test the footprint of a national fleet they pick a variety of hard to reach locations and we have had some very difficult ones to get done. We have never failed at this, but not all pilots like individual towers in remote locations.

Again, best wishes and luck in everything you are attempting to do.

Michael

 

[Aerial Perceptions]

I'd like to chime in with my personal experience with this pilot network program. I was contacted back in December about an upcoming training class and was told I should expect $400 to $500 for each inspection. Was told that because I lived in Oklahoma, I should see plenty of work. I thought it would be a great opportunity so I booked a flight and paid for the class. The class was great and I felt I was prepared to be part of something special.

A couple months after completion I got asked to do some inspection in the Texas panhandle. Was told the pay would only be $100 an inspection with 13 towers available to me. I was a little bummed about the price per tower but I figured I'd go and at least get some experience. I was able to complete one tower after 3 days and 700+ miles because I had some obstacles that weren't covered in training and I had to figure them out on the fly.

I understand it's a new program and there are kinks to be ironed out but I never felt like I was part of any team. Lost my *** on one tower and knew that I couldn't continue and finish the others. Information was not covered in training and was being sent in bits and pieces for me to decipher on the fly. Maybe other pilots are more fortunate than me but my initial experience was not good and I decided if I want to make $100 a job, I'll do some Drone Base missions locally.

Going to get crap for posting this but I figure I'd share my experience.

My theory on this is they are going to try and get as many pilots to pay this $1200 class and then be able to low-ball inspection prices because of the saturation of pilots who think they are going to make $500 an inspection.

I might be 100% completely wrong here but I am just sharing my experience.

 

[aerialimagery]

Thanks for sharing. $100 per tower? Wow. Totally not worth it especially since that kind of work seems to be very tedious and demanding. But to be fair, if there had not been the obstacles, how long would it have taken you to do the job, and could you have done all 13 within a reasonable amount of time?

I feel like I'm giving my customers a superb deal if I do some pretty pictures for $250 of just the front of their building or facility. It takes about 10 minutes. And it's fun to do. I imagine photographing a cell tower takes a little longer.

Where did that $100 fee come from, anyway? I looked into this as well and wasn't told that it was that low.

 

[Aerial Perceptions]

But to be fair, if there had not been the obstacles, how long would it have taken you to do the job, and could you have done all 13 within a reasonable amount of time?

These towers were spread out from the NW panhandle down to Lubbock. Realistically with them being spread out like that you can probably do 2, maybe 3 a day. So yes, if everything went smoothly it could still be worthwhile. Where it's not worthwhile is when you have to pay for travel, hotel etc.

Again, I was offered the towers and I took them knowing I wouldn't make any money. It was all for the experience. I still have a lot to learn and I obviously won't be part of this network but I want to make sure others know exactly what they are getting before they go through the trouble.

And to add. I spent close to$1400 on batteries, cinessd card, case and something else from them last December. Had an issue with one of the batteries and sent them a simple email back in January asking what they would recommend. No reply. Sent another email a few days ago. No reply. Sent a text and finally got a reply. Said I should contact DJI support and see what they would recommend. WTF? Nope, nope, nope. Will be doing business elsewhere.

 

[aerialimagery]

These towers were spread out from the NW panhandle down to Lubbock. Realistically with them being spread out like that you can probably do 2, maybe 3 a day. So yes, if everything went smoothly it could still be worthwhile. Where it's not worthwhile is when you have to pay for travel, hotel etc.

Again, I was offered the towers and I took them knowing I wouldn't make any money. It was all for the experience. I still have a lot to learn and I obviously won't be part of this network but I want to make sure others know exactly what they are getting before they go through the trouble.

And to add. I spent close to$1400 on batteries, cinessd card, case and something else from them last December. Had an issue with one of the batteries and sent them a simple email back in January asking what they would recommend. No reply. Sent another email a few days ago. No reply. Sent a text and finally got a reply. Said I should contact DJI support and see what they would recommend. WTF? Nope, nope, nope. Will be doing business elsewhere.

If you were to decide to do this on your own and contact cell phone companies directly and not be a subcontractor, do you feel the training has made you ready and that the $1,200 fee was worth it? Could you have learned it on your own?

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

And to add. I spent close to$1400 on batteries, cinessd card, case and something else from them last December. Had an issue with one of the batteries and sent them a simple email back in January asking what they would recommend. No reply. Sent another email a few days ago. No reply. Sent a text and finally got a reply. Said I should contact DJI support and see what they would recommend. WTF? Nope, nope, nope. Will be doing business elsewhere.

We certainly have lots to reply to relating to your comments, but to address this portion I want to be clear that we were referring to the safety issue related to your battery button not activating the LEDs. You said it showed fine in the app, gave you no errors but the lights did not light up. In response to the question about it being safe to fly - we would certainly not want to be the ones to advise you to use the battery and have it fail. Our knowledge of the internal circuitry is not sufficient to give you a "safe to fly" recommendation. That is what we wanted you to confirm with DJI (if they can even provide this answer to your question).

We will continue to add to this response or post another one about the rest of your comments.

 

[Aerial Perceptions]

Oh, I'm sure you'll clarify everything......I do appreciate it taking 3 months for you to finally address my initial email. I'm sure you're busy like the rest of us, but you weren't busy when you knew I was placing my initial order.

 

[EhmayWuntee]

Real life honest feedback is always welcome as are replies to get the other side’s opinion, this paints the best picture for the rest of us.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I'd like to chime in with my personal experience with this pilot network program. I was contacted back in December about an upcoming training class and was told I should expect $400 to $500 for each inspection. Was told that because I lived in Oklahoma, I should see plenty of work. I thought it would be a great opportunity so I booked a flight and paid for the class. The class was great and I felt I was prepared to be part of something special.

A couple months after completion I got asked to do some inspection in the Texas panhandle. Was told the pay would only be $100 an inspection with 13 towers available to me. I was a little bummed about the price per tower but I figured I'd go and at least get some experience. I was able to complete one tower after 3 days and 700+ miles because I had some obstacles that weren't covered in training and I had to figure them out on the fly.

I understand it's a new program and there are kinks to be ironed out but I never felt like I was part of any team. Lost my *** on one tower and knew that I couldn't continue and finish the others. Information was not covered in training and was being sent in bits and pieces for me to decipher on the fly. Maybe other pilots are more fortunate than me but my initial experience was not good and I decided if I want to make $100 a job, I'll do some Drone Base missions locally.

Going to get crap for posting this but I figure I'd share my experience.

My theory on this is they are going to try and get as many pilots to pay this $1200 class and then be able to low-ball inspection prices because of the saturation of pilots who think they are going to make $500 an inspection.

I might be 100% completely wrong here but I am just sharing my experience.

Thanks for sharing "The Rest of the Story," as Paul Harvey would have said.