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!
New, newer and newest
- Thread starter kgmid
- Start date
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2022
- Messages
- 374
- Reaction score
- 438
- Age
- 67
- Location
- Birmingham, Alabama, USA
- Website
- digitalphotocreations.co
Greetings from Birmingham Alabama USA, welcome to the forum! We look forward to hearing from you!
LoudThunder
Well-known member
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…)
FAA TRUST Online Portal for Recreational Drone Operators - Pilot Institute
Get your FAA TRUST Certificate of Completion to legally fly drones for recreational reasons in the United States.
trust.pilotinstitute.com
Link to the FAADroneZone (Optional Registration for Drones under 250-Grams…)
FAADroneZone
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…?
Drone Courses - Free and Paid Drone Pilot Training
30+ free and paid classes to fly your drone. Pass your FAA Part 107 license exam, learn how to fly your drone, and more.
pilotinstitute.com
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.
Federal Drone Laws in the United States (FAA) - Pilot Institute
44809 is an exemption from Part 107 drone laws. This means that drone pilots fly under Part 107 drone rules by default unless they meet all 9 of the requirements to fly under 44809, the exception for limited recreational operations of unmanned aircraft. You can read more about these requirements...
pilotinstitute.com
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…
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…)
FAA TRUST Online Portal for Recreational Drone Operators - Pilot Institute
Get your FAA TRUST Certificate of Completion to legally fly drones for recreational reasons in the United States.
Link to the FAADroneZone (Optional Registration for Drones under 250-Grams…)
FAADroneZone
faadronezone-access.faa.gov
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…?
Drone Courses - Free and Paid Drone Pilot Training
30+ free and paid classes to fly your drone. Pass your FAA Part 107 license exam, learn how to fly your drone, and more.
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.
Federal Drone Laws in the United States (FAA) - Pilot Institute
44809 is an exemption from Part 107 drone laws. This means that drone pilots fly under Part 107 drone rules by default unless they meet all 9 of the requirements to fly under 44809, the exception for limited recreational operations of unmanned aircraft. You can read more about these requirements...
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."
LoudThunder
Well-known member
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!
Great information! Thanks so much. We sure do hibernate during the winter here in Michigan. This winter is more like a traditional 70’s winter… bitter, bitter, cold. Great, quiet little town, Mason. My sister lived there in the early 2000’s and we would visit often.
Thanks for the pointer on the 107 cert. The airspace here is complex and it’s been a while since pulling a chart out and looking at the Detroit class B cake layers. Glad to see the charts are a simple click and free. I’ll probably take the course at Pilot Institute. It looks solid and they have a lot of offerings that I may want to pursue. More digging is required before deciding on specific area(s). Since the lights are out all winter, practice will be a good start.
My oldest brother got us into flying and my dad was a navigator in the 50’s flying Sabre’s. Some great white-knuckle stories about flying in the Airforce. Walking in a circle with the Cox plane did get old and the smell of fuel on… everything, my mom wasn’t too happy. One servo on the tail sounds like a vintage tv remote clicker
Pretty cool that you got into cars. I always wanted a RC boat or a car. As a youngster, my friend and his dad had a room full of custom and purchased fast deep v’s from 2’ to 4’ long. I had a great time just looking at them.
The quadcopter may turn into food, but for now it’s fun.
Thanks again for your insight and thank you for your service!
Thanks for the pointer on the 107 cert. The airspace here is complex and it’s been a while since pulling a chart out and looking at the Detroit class B cake layers. Glad to see the charts are a simple click and free. I’ll probably take the course at Pilot Institute. It looks solid and they have a lot of offerings that I may want to pursue. More digging is required before deciding on specific area(s). Since the lights are out all winter, practice will be a good start.
My oldest brother got us into flying and my dad was a navigator in the 50’s flying Sabre’s. Some great white-knuckle stories about flying in the Airforce. Walking in a circle with the Cox plane did get old and the smell of fuel on… everything, my mom wasn’t too happy. One servo on the tail sounds like a vintage tv remote clicker
Pretty cool that you got into cars. I always wanted a RC boat or a car. As a youngster, my friend and his dad had a room full of custom and purchased fast deep v’s from 2’ to 4’ long. I had a great time just looking at them.
The quadcopter may turn into food, but for now it’s fun.
Thanks again for your insight and thank you for your service!
LoudThunder
Well-known member
One final bit of advice... It's been near and below freezing lately and my LCD tablet is a lot less responsive in the cold and I use Touch Screen Gloves to keep my hands warm... But they too sometimes needs multiple "touches" in the cold...
Here is a posting I made recently... It was made in jest because down here, they close schools if snow flurries are expected, and if we actually see snow, the world comes to a close...
Here is a posting I made recently... It was made in jest because down here, they close schools if snow flurries are expected, and if we actually see snow, the world comes to a close...
Thanks for the tip! Reminds me of flying the archer 4 seater in the winter... no cabin heat for the first 15 to 20 minutes after starting the engine.. it was so cold. We didn't have cabin heaters in the hangars, but we did have engine heaters.
LoudThunder
Well-known member
Your reference to cabin heat brought back wonderful old memories from long, long ago…
As I mentioned, I grew up in Upstate New York and in the winter of 1966, I had a VW Beetle and the "heater" in them are a cover over the exhaust and when your exhaust got hot enough, it might heat the air in the intercooler (the heater). Because it was so inefficient, I built a base for a Coleman Catalytic Heater. The top would glow red hot and radiate heat… In the image below, you can see the "Snuffer", like a pan cover to place over the grill to snuff the fire…
One time we were having a really heavy snow fall and I had a hard time pulling into the driveway and I'm thinking about having to shovel all that show in the morning… so I hop out and run into the house…
The next morning, I look out and everything has about a foot of snow on it, except the VW. Now a flake of snow on it and it was bone dry and there was a snow free trench all around it.
I opened the door and the heat poured out. The headliner had almost melted and was drooping down onto the seats. I had forgotten to snuff the heater and it ran all night… The headliner was "toast" and I had to tear it out.
But I never forgot to snuff he heater again…
