I am a certificated drone pilot, now what?

What should a drone pilot charge?

  • nothing, you're not even flying!

    Votes: 5 21.7%

  • $50/hour

    Votes: 5 21.7%

  • $100/hour

    Votes: 5 21.7%

  • $200/hour

    Votes: 2 8.7%

  • One million dollars!! Muahahaha

    Votes: 6 26.1%
  • Total voters
    23
ozone

ozone

Well-Known Member
I saw the thread previously about how easy it is to get your drone pilot rating. I followed the FAA directions, called my local DPE, and voila! I am a drone pilot.

I have an idea to provide my supervisory services to realtors and farmers, etc. From my reading, even as a part 61 drone pilot, I have the ability to charge for my services, even if I'm just supervising the realtor or farmer while they fly the drone around the property.

Does anyone know what the going rate might be for charging for my services? I have $50/hour as a starting point idea, but I thought I'd crowd source what people think they can charge for running a drone operation to take pretty pictures of houses (that sell in my area for $400,000+) or crops (where the land rents between $100-200 per acre).
 
Unfortunately you'll be competing against every Realtor who knows a teenager with a DJI Phantom who doesn't give one lick about certifcates / etc. You'll need to find a very precise niche to hold as your own in order to start marketing yourself. For example, the survey company I fly for already offers UAS services with thermal imaging as a scouting tool for farmers. The opportunities are out there, you just need to get creative.
 
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Supply and demand. The barriers to entry are very low, if at all as mentioned earlier. The demand isn't very high so you'll have a flooded market.
 
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I got my RPO to help a friend who is a pro photographer.

We had a job lined up and he charges a minimum of about 1500 a day. Since I was an addition it was 2k a day.

The major tech company that needed flyover shots of the their campus reportedly LOLed and said they'll get "some kid to do it for 500$."

My buddy was in shock. I told him, welcome to aviation. He's over it at this point and doesn't even bid drone work anymore.




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We go after larger jobs & upper-end clients - architects, developers, contractors, government agencies - and we get $300/hour. We've been doing it for a couple of years, we know what we're doing, and we've earned a great reputation as a B2B provider. It takes a lot more than a $1,000 drone that can shoot 4K video.
 
ozone said:
I saw the thread previously about how easy it is to get your drone pilot rating. I followed the FAA directions, called my local DPE, and voila! I am a drone pilot.

I have an idea to provide my supervisory services to realtors and farmers, etc. From my reading, even as a part 61 drone pilot, I have the ability to charge for my services, even if I'm just supervising the realtor or farmer while they fly the drone around the property.

Does anyone know what the going rate might be for charging for my services? I have $50/hour as a starting point idea, but I thought I'd crowd source what people think they can charge for running a drone operation to take pretty pictures of houses (that sell in my area for $400,000+) or crops (where the land rents between $100-200 per acre).
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Where do you live that land costs $100-$200 an acre??
 
Crop Duster said:
Where do you live that land costs $100-$200 an acre??
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it RENTS for $100-200/acre. You can look this up yourself by looking up agricultural land rental prices Minnesota. I suppose that you could park your plane in an acre, but you'd have to move it for the cropdusters and seeders and hopper trucks when harvest time came around. Plus, it's hard to launch or land a plane from 1 acre, while surrounded by soy or corn.
 
ozone said:
it RENTS for $100-200/acre. You can look this up yourself by looking up agricultural land rental prices Minnesota. I suppose that you could park your plane in an acre, but you'd have to move it for the cropdusters and seeders and hopper trucks when harvest time came around. Plus, it's hard to launch or land a plane from 1 acre, while surrounded by soy or corn.
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Would think it's gotta rent for more than that, but maybe with corn prices down, not so much anymore. Wisconsin land is going $250-$300/acre.
 
If you are seriously looking at going at this as a business I would suggest reading the book: The Pumpkin Plan by Mike Michalowicz. Great book to get you thinking about how to get a business thriving when there is a lot of competition.

I've been approached by many real estate brokers in the area because they also know I am a pilot to do drone and aerial stuff for their listings. I won't touch it though because the majority of the stuff is within a class D and there is flight testing and military training in the area. In the very off chance of the drone going rogue, I don't want to risk my ATP over a couple thousand dollars for taking pictures.
 
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