Justin Moore, owner/chief pilot, Airborne Aerial Photography in Texas, gets ready for an assignment. [Courtesy: Jason Moore]
Key Takeaways:
Drones have transitioned from perceived "toys" to indispensable professional tools, adopted across diverse industries including real estate marketing, environmental conservation, public safety, and media production.
They offer significant advantages by providing access to inaccessible or dangerous areas, enhancing efficiency in tasks like mapping and surveillance, and delivering unique, stable aerial perspectives.
Specific applications include creating aerial real estate tours, reforesting wildfire-damaged land, assisting law enforcement in critical operations and accident reconstruction, and capturing high-quality footage for television.
Successful commercial drone operation requires professional piloting skills, strict adherence to FAA regulations, and navigating challenges such as technical issues, public misconceptions, and the need for proper business development.
In 2016, ground schools started popping up for small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS), commonly referred to as “drones.”
Most of the learners would show up to these because they planned to use drones for their businesses, and it was understood that soon the FAA would be requiring a pilot certificate beyond the Section 333 Authorization for commercial operations.
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Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.
