Route to using Drones for work

[Chris Benton]

Hello all , happy 2017.
I am getting close to retirement and after 40 years working for others I would love to develop a drone business to keep me active and supplement the pensions. I have not rally any great experience of R/C and certainly not drones but have sold some photos and experimented with videography. My view of a camera drone is that its just a way of getting a different perspective for your camera.
I am thinking of doing promo work , surveying and maybe mapping (I know that s/w is needed) as well as videography and photography for stock. Has anyone any tips on how to get to the stage where I can provide a service to customers? I have explored the CAA courses available but need guidance on hardware- I have found an old fine star that would get my canon 6D aloft but would I be better with a low end phantom ,P4 or Inspire 1 as a start ? Would I be better starting to flu nano quads and working up to DJI ?
Any advice greatly appreciated.


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[Florida Drone Supply]

Hi Chris. What do you have that can get your 6D in the air - wondering if you meant Cinestar?

 

[Chris Benton]

Sorry aggressive spellcheck. Yes cinestar


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[Florida Drone Supply]

Thats what I thought you probably meant. What do you have underneath the Cinestar for a gimbal? Also is it a CS6 or CS8? There is certainly a real good chance you could use that for your still photos. Things like mapping and surveying might be better suited for a DJI product where things are much more integrated and easy to use.

We are a DJI dealer, but have lots of history with Cinestars and just about every system out there so we would be happy to help point you in the right direction.

Where are you located?

 

[The Editor]

Hello all , happy 2017.
I am getting close to retirement and after 40 years working for others I would love to develop a drone business to keep me active and supplement the pensions. I have not rally any great experience of R/C and certainly not drones but have sold some photos and experimented with videography. My view of a camera drone is that its just a way of getting a different perspective for your camera.
I am thinking of doing promo work , surveying and maybe mapping (I know that s/w is needed) as well as videography and photography for stock. Has anyone any tips on how to get to the stage where I can provide a service to customers? I have explored the CAA courses available but need guidance on hardware- I have found an old fine star that would get my canon 6D aloft but would I be better with a low end phantom ,P4 or Inspire 1 as a start ? Would I be better starting to flu nano quads and working up to DJI ?
Any advice greatly appreciated.


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Hi Chris,

Well, first things first, as you are probably aware, you must have PfCO from the CAA to undertake any form of commercial activity.
With regards to platform, it really is up to you since it is not really the aircraft that gets certified but rather you as an operator.
It is dependent on weight category so if you are certified in sub 7kg then you can fly anything you like in your fleet under that weight classification. You are free to add (or remove) aircraft as you see fit so long as you amend your ops manual accordingly and tell your insurance company.

Classification in any weight class will automatically entitle you to fly a lower class without any further flight tests etc.

 

[Dejan Smaic]

Chris, speaking from a photographers platform, and infancy in aerial work, you will likely need to figure out what market your trying to tap into. With that said, look at others work and understand the standard in that market for deliverables. Then, you'll need a website, portfolio, liability insurance, business plan, a commercial license to pilot UAVs. To say which aerial system will work, some people use teh dji Phantom system for real estate, action / adventure sports, weddings. The dji Inspire system, people use that platform for inspections, video (commercial & editorial), stills, etc...

This is just my 30 cents worth.

 

[CoC]

String with nano's is a lot of fun and helped me a lot to train the controls.
Do your panic things with the nano and when you are familiar with the controles and it feels (more) natural step up!

Hope this helps.

Good luck and have fun!
Don't forget to fly safe ;-)