budding businessman!

[ancaerial]

Hello all! Woody here and I am embarking on a small drone business, initially working on real estate and whatever else I can find here in North Florida! I am here for advice, guidance, lessons learned, and any other great info I can get on the Phantom 4 Pro V2! I have been flying/operating in the Navy for 22 years both fixed wing ISR and on the newest drone, the MQ-4C Triton, so I have some sensor experience. I am retiring in 2021 and have a full time job lined up, but I want to get in now before BVLOS becomes mainstream! I believe my experience in flight planning will be beneficial to me as this type of flying is finally approved by the FAA. I look forward to meeting/working/learning with all of you in the future. Thanks for letting me be a part of this great community!

Woody

 

[dirkclod]

Welcome to the forum.
I hope you will find our site helpful and look forward to any input , photo's/video's you might post .
Don't be shy and ask anything if you can't find it by searching .
You might want to join our sister forum also.
Commercial Drone Pilots Forum ?

 

[Mavikhan]

Welcome aboard. You might also check out the commercial drone forum:

Commercial Drone Pilots Forum

Commercial Drone, UAV, UAS Industry Discussions

commercialdronepilots.com

 

[Tony McDrone]

Welcome to the forum. Greetings from San Diego.

 

[DoomMeister]

Welcome to Your PhantomPilots!

You should be able to find most everything you are looking for at this forum. As mentioned in another post our sister forum CommercialDronePilots may be useful for the business end of things.

Congratulations on your upcoming retirement! A heartfelt salute from a former wingnut!!! Your service is appreciated.

 

[Starz]

Phantom 4 pro V1 would be a consideration also. Same camera as the V2.

 

[ancaerial]

Welcome to the forum.
I hope you will find our site helpful and look forward to any input , photo's/video's you might post .
Don't be shy and ask anything if you can't find it by searching .
You might want to join our sister forum also.
Commercial Drone Pilots Forum ?

I sure will, thanks!

 

[ancaerial]

Phantom 4 pro V1 would be a consideration also. Same camera as the V2.

Thanks! I already have the v2 and love it.

 

[ancaerial]

Welcome to Your PhantomPilots!

You should be able to find most everything you are looking for at this forum. As mentioned in another post our sister forum CommercialDronePilots may be useful for the business end of things.

Congratulations on your upcoming retirement! A heartfelt salute from a former wingnut!!! Your service is appreciated.

Thank you so much and I appreciate your service as well. I’ll check out the other forum, too.

 

[Phoenix One]

Awesome man! Welcome! Im trying to bud my business as well. Lol. Working on the part 107. Keep it up. Plenty here to talk about!!

 

[Harleydude]

Hello all! Woody here and I am embarking on a small drone business, initially working on real estate and whatever else I can find here in North Florida! I am here for advice, guidance, lessons learned, and any other great info I can get on the Phantom 4 Pro V2! I have been flying/operating in the Navy for 22 years both fixed wing ISR and on the newest drone, the MQ-4C Triton, so I have some sensor experience. I am retiring in 2021 and have a full time job lined up, but I want to get in now before BVLOS becomes mainstream! I believe my experience in flight planning will be beneficial to me as this type of flying is finally approved by the FAA. I look forward to meeting/working/learning with all of you in the future. Thanks for letting me be a part of this great community!

Woody

Your pilot experience will definitely help you navigate the FAA rules and regulations, and will also aid in communication with them. When I was shooting for the film industry, my UAS pilot was an actual pilot, which was HUGE when it came to compliance and communicating with airport personnel. He already owned all the radio equipment required to stay in contact with any aircraft that may come into our zone. Honestly, if you get good at flying that drone, that is the market I would pursue. Shop yourself to existing production companies.

If you find you like flying enough to hone your skills, get a heavy lifter with a heavy gimbal capable of carrying an ARRI or Red and you may find that path more lucrative and rewarding. Honestly, the Real Estate market is a bust. They have no money and I'll be honest with you - those people are not easy to deal with. You're lucky to get 100 bucks/job in the residential market (even for $1M+ homes). I did okay in the commercial Real Estate market with invoices in the $1K - $2K range, but that was for full, finished production, which requires video editing equipment and skills. It's still not my favorite market.

If you're looking for a more laid-back, less-chaotic market, mapping is a great gig. In that case I would partner up with a survey company. For mapping all you need is a P4P. I have found that market to be fairly lucrative and honestly, quite fun. Other markets like roof or utility inspection are kind of in the middle as long as you work for yourself.

Anyway...good luck!

D

 

[Phoenix One]

Harleydude. Well put. I know this wasnt directed to me. But I just learned a bit from ya. Thanks. Making my next steps a little easier. Safe flying.

 

[msinger]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[ancaerial]

Your pilot experience will definitely help you navigate the FAA rules and regulations, and will also aid in communication with them. When I was shooting for the film industry, my UAS pilot was an actual pilot, which was HUGE when it came to compliance and communicating with airport personnel. He already owned all the radio equipment required to stay in contact with any aircraft that may come into our zone. Honestly, if you get good at flying that drone, that is the market I would pursue. Shop yourself to existing production companies.

If you find you like flying enough to hone your skills, get a heavy lifter with a heavy gimbal capable of carrying an ARRI or Red and you may find that path more lucrative and rewarding. Honestly, the Real Estate market is a bust. They have no money and I'll be honest with you - those people are not easy to deal with. You're lucky to get 100 bucks/job in the residential market (even for $1M+ homes). I did okay in the commercial Real Estate market with invoices in the $1K - $2K range, but that was for full, finished production, which requires video editing equipment and skills. It's still not my favorite market.

If you're looking for a more laid-back, less-chaotic market, mapping is a great gig. In that case I would partner up with a survey company. For mapping all you need is a P4P. I have found that market to be fairly lucrative and honestly, quite fun. Other markets like roof or utility inspection are kind of in the middle as long as you work for yourself.

Anyway...good luck!

D

Thanks for the insight, it is greatly appreciated. Luckily for me, this is a side hustle so I can work at it when it is convenient. That said, I am going to work hard at getting every paying gig I can get in order to build that resume of mine. I also have some friends in highway construction and they are looking to contract drone operators for various tasks, so I am hoping that connections and networking will help. As for real estate, I have friends who are realtors, residential and commercial, and they are already asking for availability. It is weird, but there does not seem to be many companies who provide contract drone services here in North Florida. Maybe I just haven't looked hard enough for competition yet!

Take care,
Woody

 

[ancaerial]

Awesome man! Welcome! Im trying to bud my business as well. Lol. Working on the part 107. Keep it up. Plenty here to talk about!!

I'm studying like crazy and am scheduled for the 6th for my test, I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Phoenix One]

Man sounds like youll be good to go. Sounds exciting