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kgmid

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Hello all, I am thrilled to start my next chapter as a commercial drone pilot. I've loved aviation my entire life, starting with Cox airplanes, graduating to building and flying RC planes in the early 90s, and then went on to earning my private pilot certificate SEL in '98. I have a few hours flying a helicopter too. I've read some great tips here for starting out as a drone pilot, which are much appreciated. I would love to know if the demand in lower Michigan for commercial drone pilots is strong? Based on what I have read from the drone guide, it appears to be strong in the US. Thank you!
 
Greetings from Birmingham Alabama USA, welcome to the forum! We look forward to hearing from you!
 
I would love to know if the demand in lower Michigan for commercial drone pilots is strong?

Welcome from the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, USA.

As a potential New Drone Pilot, there are a couple of Legal Things you may need to do…

If you have not already done so, you will need to get your TRUST Certificate. You can get that at the Pilot Institute Web Site (FREE…). Once you get a Drone and if it weighs less than 250-grams (0.55 pounds), and while you are flying under The Exception for Recreational Flyers, you are not required to register your Drone. However, if your Drone weighs more than 250-grams (0.55 pounds), and even while you are flying under The Exception for Recreational Flyers, you are required to register your Drone.

Link to the TRUST Certificate at the Pilot Institute Web Site (FREE…)


Link to the FAADroneZone (Optional Registration for Drones under 250-Grams…)


If you are considering acquiring your Part 107 License, here is a link to get you going… TO fly for anything, and I mean anything other than fun, you will require a Part 107 Certification. That means even if your grandma asks you to fly over her home to see if she needs a new roof, you cannot do that "legally…" But seriously, whose watching…?


Since you live in Michigan, there are specific laws and rules for you to follow, please check the link below for all the Rules and Laws that are in effect in your neck of the woods and it also links you to some of the Best Places to Fly in your area… Also, if you travel on vacation, visit friends, and relatives in other parts of the country, check back here so you do not run afoul of the law.


Now, you asked about the demand for professional drone pilots, that all depends on what you want to do.
There are so many options: Photography, Videography, Infrastructure Inspections (Bridges, Towers, Windmills, etc…), Surveying, Post disaster Insurance Inspections, Crop Inspections, Agricultural Applications (Fertilizer, Pesticides and Herbicides), Media (Television and News Print), Facility and Event Security, and Small Package Delivery, just to name a few…

How low is "lower" Michigan. My son lives in Mason and that might be considered "lower" when you live in Upper Michigan (the UP as in "Upper Peninsula").

So, with that being said, there is lots and lots of opportunity, if you do the right type of work, There is not much need to real estate videos in Mason and conversely, there is not much need for Agricultural Applications in Detroit…

It also will depend on the type of equipment you buy, there are all sorts of drones that specialize in videos and photos and others that can carry a payload to spray crops…
You have a lot of decisions to make…

Good Luck and as the old knight told Indiana Jones in "Last Crusade," chose Wisely…
 
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Welcome from the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, USA.

As a potential New Drone Pilot, there are a couple of Legal Things you may need to do…

If you have not already done so, you will need to get your TRUST Certificate. You can get that at the Pilot Institute Web Site (FREE…). Once you get a Drone and if it weighs less than 250-grams (0.55 pounds), and while you are flying under The Exception for Recreational Flyers, you are not required to register your Drone. However, if your Drone weighs more than 250-grams (0.55 pounds), and even while you are flying under The Exception for Recreational Flyers, you are required to register your Drone.

Link to the TRUST Certificate at the Pilot Institute Web Site (FREE…)


Link to the FAADroneZone (Optional Registration for Drones under 250-Grams…)


If you are considering acquiring your Part 107 License, here is a link to get you going… TO fly for anything, and I mean anything other than fun, you will require a Part 107 Certification. That means even if your grandma asks you to fly over her home to see if she needs a new roof, you cannot do that "legally…" But seriously, whose watching…?


Since you live in Michigan, there are specific laws and rules for you to follow, please check the link below for all the Rules and Laws that are in effect in your neck of the woods and it also links you to some of the Best Places to Fly in your area… Also, if you travel on vacation, visit friends, and relatives in other parts of the country, check back here so you do not run afoul of the law.


Now, you asked about the demand for professional drone pilots, that all depends on what you want to do.
There are so many options: Photography, Videography, Infrastructure Inspections (Bridges, Towers, Windmills, etc…), Surveying, Post disaster Insurance Inspections, Crop Inspections, Agricultural Applications (Fertilizer, Pesticides and Herbicides), Media (Television and News Print), Facility and Event Security, and Small Package Delivery, just to name a few…

How low is "lower" Michigan. My son lives in Mason and that might be considered "lower" when you live in Upper Michigan (the UP as in "Upper Peninsula").

So, with that being said, there is lots and lots of opportunity, if you do the right type of work, There is not much need to real estate videos in Mason and conversely, there is not much need for Agricultural Applications in Detroit…

It also will depend on the type of equipment you buy, there are all sorts of drones that specialize in videos and photos and others that can carry a payload to spray crops…
You have a lot of decisions to make…

Good Luck and as the old knight told Indiana Jones in "Last Crusade," chose Wisely…

Thank you so much for the quick and detailed response! I truly appreciate it. This is what I was hoping to hear and gives me a good idea on a path. I was planning to self-study for the TRUST and part 107 certificates, unless folks here think the dollar amount for the 107 is worth the extra interaction, especially since I don't have a CFI guiding me. I am in the Detroit Metro area. I wanted to see the demand based on the different options and geography for the lower half of the mitten.

Thank you for the quote! Another one> "We do not follow maps to buried treasure and 'X' never, ever marks the spot."
 
I wanted to see the demand based on the different options
Regretfully, your weather (harsh winters…) really puts a crimp in any drone business. From the list of the many possibilities so many come to a standstill in the winter. As I mentioned, my son lives in Mason and in 1971, I was stationed at Chanute AFB, Rantoul. Illinois (base has long since closed…) and I remember the winters…

Construction almost completely stops, real estate videography show only snow, wedding are all inside, agriculture is all buried under a layer of snow. So if you want work as a full time drone pilot, you will have to decide what niche market is left, otherwise winter is a very slack season…

With that being said, power companies, utilities (gas, water, etc…) always needs pilots and those jobs are more likely to be full time. Working for a Drone business as an employee will most likely be part-time on an "as-need-basis…" And being self-employed, with no drones business experience is a recipe for disaster…

I recommend you seriously consider the Pilot Institute for the part 107 training, They often run specials, and they guarantee that you will pass or your money back. Additionally, they offer great courses, some Free, some not free, and I do not believe you can wrong.

By the way, I flew many Cox and Wen Mac U-Control airplanes and my first flight (all of 5-circles before I got dizzy and fell down) was in 1955… My father never bought me "a" new propeller, he bought a box of them… But it did not take all that long before the dizzy'ing stopped and I still had spare props from those planes decades later…

My first "radio Control" was pulse transmitter, one channel, rudder only. Press the button once and hold and the rudder turned and held full right rudder for as long as you held the button. One quick press and a second and hold, gave the plane full left rudder and as long as you held the button the rudder stayed in the full position…

And decades later, I got into modern RC Airplanes (Gas and electric) and RC hard track cars, (1/12 gas and electric), 1/10 dirt electric cars, and 1/8 gas hard track cars.

Now, it quadcopters, just for fun, my part 107 is just so I can fly in restricted areas. I live in a Class D Air Space near an air force base and I am in the Zero Altitude Quadrant (a drone taxi zone…) but I can fly here with my part 107…

Good Luck to you and yours!
 

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