We often get the ques­tion, as well as see it in prac­tice, “Why not just buy our own drone instead of pay­ing for a service?”

There is a gen­eral mis­con­cep­tion that our ser­vices can be eas­ily replaced for the cost of sev­eral aer­ial shots. But as the old say­ing goes, “own­ing a ham­mer doesn’t mean I can build a house.” Just like being a drone pilot doesn’t mean I can be a Real Estate Agent. There are many dif­fer­ent rea­sons you should con­sider us instead of the DIY solution.

Some­thing you may be unaware of is the legal require­ment from the FAA that all com­mer­cial oper­a­tors pass com­pre­hen­sive aero­nau­ti­cal knowl­edge exam in order to obtain a Remote Pilot Cer­tifi­cate. 

Along with the require­ment of this com­mer­cial cer­tifi­cate: there is also a legal pro­hi­bi­tion of fly­ing in con­trolled air­space, need to acquire autho­riza­tions and waivers for many sit­u­a­tions — often tak­ing up to 90 days, and your lia­bil­ity with your sell­ers by fly­ing with­out addi­tional, spe­cial­ized insur­ance coverage.

We’re extremely con­fi­dent in our pric­ing, value, excep­tional ser­vice and pre­mium skill level we offer to our clients, con­sid­er­ing these busi­ness neces­si­ties, oper­a­tional require­ments and our absolute com­mit­ment to safe, legal oper­a­tions. If you’d like to speak more about what we can bring to the table for your busi­ness and your sellers, please don’t hes­i­tate to let us know. 

• There are many “credit card pilots,” peo­ple who have bought a drone as Best Buy and claim they are a professional
  

• The most obvi­ous answer is the law. The laws state that any per­son that uses a drone for ANY finan­cial ben­e­fit must be FAA Part 107 Certified. This cov­ers using it to take your own real estate videos or a farmer who wants to take pic­tures of his fields.

• Pri­mary equip­ment costs to do the job prop­erly are just the tip of the iceberg. Insurance, Aircraft Registration, Maintenance, Etc.

• Hours of prac­tice and experience. Many drones pilot themselves, but they do not take pictures/video themselves.  You are not only hiring a pilot, but a photographer that knows how to compose and edit the footage.

• Edu­ca­tion on pho­tog­ra­phy, com­puter sys­tems, and even basic weather fore­cast­ing are needed.

• Your work isn’t guaranteed. A drone operator will make sure you’re happy with their work instead of spending hours reshooting.

• Pro­fes­sional grade com­put­ers and soft­ware that costs more than the drones themselves.

• UAV main­te­nance. Do you have an area to charge batteries, store repair parts, and the know-how to keep the aircraft flying safely?

• Flight log compliance.  Every flight needs to be logged with flight time, location, aircraft used, pilots used, weather conditions, pilot in command.

• Insurance

• Estab­lished safety protocols.  Can you do this without hurting someone or their property?