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Second mission for DroneBase.com

manutter51

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Just finished my second commercial drone mission this afternoon, a commercial real estate shoot for DroneBase. Super pumped right now because it went pretty well this time. My first mission was hugely stressful. I'd just got my M2EA and was using it for the shoot. For the "cardinal directions 10' above ground" shots, I had to hover over a fenced-in swamp overhung with trees with really thin, long twigs everywhere, plus right behind the site was Interstate 80 and I had to get beyond that for a bunch of shots, plus it was threatening to cloud up and ruin the shots, plus there was some kind of power lines in front that went up like 100'. Plus a flock of birds that suddenly took to the air and began circling my drone with a little TOO much interest. Plus airplanes in the area. Plus first-paid-mission jitters. The outcome was successful, but I came down with the flu or something two days later, and I kind of suspect it was brought on by stress.

This time it was so much better. The site was on mostly flat ground with low buildings all around it, a few trees across the road but nothing too gigantic. We did have high winds (as my controller kept warning me), but my P4 held up well enough to get the job done. I only have 2 batteries for my P4, and I was afraid that they'd be depleted before the mission was done, due to the high winds and cold temps (we got 5-6" of snow the night before last). But no, we made it, so yay.

This was kind of my "am I going to be able to hack it as a drone pilot?" mission, and I feel now like "not merely hack it, but LOVE it." I don't really have any questions or anything, I'm just posting because I'm still feeling the rush and I need to vent a little of the adrenaline. Shout out to everyone else who's just getting started in this business. I have a couple roof inspections scheduled for next week, so we'll see how that goes.
 
Did I read that right? Cardinal directions 10 ft above ground? Or was it a typo and supposed to be 100 ft above ground
 
lol just did a DB mission today with 10ft cardinals. NEVER RISK YOUR DRONE for a shot. It is sooo easy to hit an obstruction while you are focused on the shot. The backyard was covered in trees so the shots there where from more like 40 feet.
For the low low rates we get it's just not worth it the risk.
If you can't stand in a position to accurately gauge how far you are from an obstruction stay higher. I just note the fact in the comments and so far no complaints.
Also don't hesitate to ask questions - I have gotten conflicting directions from them before.
 
lol just did a DB mission today with 10ft cardinals. NEVER RISK YOUR DRONE for a shot. It is sooo easy to hit an obstruction while you are focused on the shot. The backyard was covered in trees so the shots there where from more like 40 feet.
For the low low rates we get it's just not worth it the risk.
If you can't stand in a position to accurately gauge how far you are from an obstruction stay higher. I just note the fact in the comments and so far no complaints.
Also don't hesitate to ask questions - I have gotten conflicting directions from them before.
"Stay safe and note it in the comments" -- that's excellent, thanks! That'll make my CRE missions a lot less stressful.
 
Welcome to CRE droning! DB is the only company that I'm aware of that wants 10' cardinal shots. Seems silly to me, but that's what they want! Most of the other folks I do work for just want roof level shots, but that can be just as stressful. Like others have said, if you think you're risking things beyond your comfort level, then the risk is probably too high! For my shots where I may hit something low to the ground I'll often "park" drone above the roof of the building I'm shooting, and then move myself to where I can clearly see where the drone is vis-a-vis power lines, trees, etc. This is often right underneath the drone.

Enjoy your new career!
 
I’m a newbie to this business but i’ve never heard of 10’ cardinals. Can someone please enlighten me.
 
I’m a newbie to this business but i’ve never heard of 10’ cardinals. Can someone please enlighten me.
The 10' part means you are flying your drone ten feet above the ground, and the "cardinals" are all the different angles you're shooting the property from, so front, side, back, side, and each of the 4 corner angles. It's analogous to the eight cardinal directions (N/NE/E/SE/S...), except you want everything lined up square with the property so it looks good.
 
It's when you take a shot from the front of the house, each side and each corner for a total of 8 shots.
You could say it as the points of the compass, N, NE,E, SE,S, SW,W,NW. But since houses rarely line up with the compass, you can think of it as I first started..
There is also a 12 and 16 shot variation, but the 8 shot one seems the most requested.
 
Thanks. I had a handle on the 10’ being height. I supposed if I had used my brain some, I would have eventually got there. Having never done a real estate shoot yet the techniques required are all new to me. I will store that for the future.
 
Most people have no idea what cardinality is. So don’t feel like you’re stupid.
 
I only knew what it was because DroneBase had me go through a Commercial Real Estate course prior to doing my first CRE mission, and the course explained it.
 
Another reason I don't mess with real estate, and the fact in most cases there is no money in it.
I checked out a firm in Gila County AZ that charges $95 for “6-8” aerial photos. Even keeping 100% of the fee would be paltry.

How much does DroneBase pay for something like that?
 
It's hard to say - there rates are all over the place.
These are their rates, remember they do all the post and handle all customer interactions, so they have a fair amount of overhead.
 
I just did a CRE mission a couple weeks ago: 8 cardinals at 10', 100', 350', plus a birds-eye, paid $70. For the moment I'm willing to accept that rate for the sake of the experience and building up my flight hours (plus I have a day job), but I'd hate to have to support myself on rates like that.

I've seen rates as low as $50 for comparable missions.
 
I just did a CRE mission a couple weeks ago: 8 cardinals at 10', 100', 350', plus a birds-eye, paid $70. For the moment I'm willing to accept that rate for the sake of the experience and building up my flight hours (plus I have a day job), but I'd hate to have to support myself on rates like that.

I've seen rates as low as $50 for comparable missions.
Build your experience flying your drone on your own time. You may think your doing yourself a favor working for these bottom feeders, but you aren't. What you are doing is screwing the entire industry. You said it yourself, couldn't live on what you would make taking these type of jobs. So why do it?
 
Yeah, I'm doing real estate shots of family and friend's homes for practice and eventual website material. Once I have a portfolio it will be time to do fair market gigs.
 

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