1ST PILOT JOB - SUCCESSFULLY ACQUIRED

[DJI Ferrari]

So an old family friend just called me about my Mavic, and asked me to do some flying for him and he will pay me $500 if he is satisfied.
He just purchased a huge piece of land so I am guessing that is big considering how much he is willing to pay. Anyway he wants to clear it out and put rent houses on it but as of now, its just a swamp of trees and swamp. I guess he wants me to fly over it and see what the terrain is like and I guess what kind of equipment he will need, he said hell tell me when more when I get the Mavic tomorrow. I can't wait.

Just got my 1st Mavic battery in too, and just for the mess of it here is a photo of the stuff for my spark I had.

 

[Asgard]

Good luck Ferrari, sounds like a great way to earn some dollars

 

[BD0G]

Congratulations on your first paid gig. To fly legally Part 107 Certification is required for any paid gig though.

Drone Deploy may be helpful in your quest to accurately survey his land.
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[DJI Ferrari]

I know i will register tomorrow and on my way there i will stop at office depot and get the serial number certification sticker printed out and put on the Mavic. Im so ecited, lol.

 

[Mossiback]

So an old family friend just called me about my Mavic, and asked me to do some flying for him and he will pay me $500 if he is satisfied...

I guess it depends on your relationship with this old family friend, but payment "if he is satisfied" are pretty vague terms. You need to pin down what constitutes satisfaction. Unless you risk insulting this person, perhaps get half down at the start of the job.

 

[DJI Ferrari]

Good luck Ferrari, sounds like a great way to earn some dollars

I know right, as of now im going to be using a cheap android as my FPV screen because i didn't have enough to get the crystal sky but a few more jobs like this and i will afford it.

 

[DJI Ferrari]

I guess it depends on your relationship with this old family friend, but payment "if he is satisfied" are pretty vague terms. You need to pin down what constitutes satisfaction. Unless you risk insulting this person, perhaps get half down at the start of the job.

hes a good guy, he just believes in hard work, and can be a kind of hard butt if you know what I mean lol, at times. knowing him he will want me to go back and forth like you would with a lawnmower to a yard over his new land, but tomorrow when I get the drone, he said he will pretty much brief me on the way, but I gotta stop at office depot 1st to get the faa sticker printed to put on the bottom of my new Mavic

 

[dannybgoode]

I know i will register tomorrow and on my way there i will stop at office depot and get the serial number certification sticker printed out and put on the Mavic. Im so ecited, lol.

Part 107 is a bit more in-depth than that. And more expensive than just a couple of stickers...

 

[Mossiback]

...knowing him he will want me to go back and forth like you would with a lawnmower to a yard over his new land,...

Not wanting to spoil your gig, but would either Google maps satellite view or Google Earth be good enough for him?

... I gotta stop at office depot 1st to get the faa sticker printed to put on the bottom of my new Mavic

You could use a label maker and put the label in your battery compartment.

 

[Aerial West]

As someone who has been in the industry for a while, let me congratulate you on joining the ranks. I'm sure you'll learn a lot on this, your first gig. I wish you much success going forward.

For things like what you're describing, my best piece of advice is to know exactly what you're doing before you ever take off. Have a plan... sounds like you have a lot of ground to cover, and knowing what he needs exactly, before you take off, will help you be suiccessful.

 

[MiniPalourde]

I know i will register tomorrow and on my way there i will stop at office depot and get the serial number certification sticker printed out and put on the Mavic. Im so ecited, lol.

You may be confusing part 336 registration with part 107 registration. Obtaining part 107 is way more complicated than paying 5 bucks for a sticker. You need to study and pass a test, which will cost about 150 USD per try (if you fail, you have to pay another 150 USD to try again). You have to pass the test in person (not online), and it takes about 1h 30m to complete.

 

[Aerial West]

Whats probably going to happen here is this guy will fly it and it will be a low key transaction between friends, and in the meantime, he'll get his 107. I've seen it a million times.

It's in all practicallity probably not the end of the world, but if you plan on doing this, know you are technically breaking the law. The chances of something actually happening are about zero, but the people here mean well, and you really should get squared away.

 

[DJI Ferrari]

Well, tomorrow if my drone comes in the morning from ups then he will come pick me up take me to office depo to get my faa sticker printed, take me to the site, tell me what he wants, then he will leave and I will stay, when I am done he will return and see what I got, if it is what he wants or he likes it, he said hell pay me. But I think he just wants to know what type of stuff he will need, he'll be at his sons business gathering some extra help then he will be renting some heavy equipment too while I am flying. But I have already seen the land from google earth and it is straight up swamp at the moment, but I'll know way more tomorrow, that's if it doesn't rain because if that happens, then the jobs going to be put off until it stops. I won't be getting the commercial license for this because 1, he's paying me in cash and 2, i just don't have the money for even dji care refresh yet which is really bad, but if all goes well, I'll be able to get the insurance, a new android tablet from Walmart and the fee for the license if its really under $200 but I don't know yet.

 

[Mossiback]

...You could use a label maker and put the label in your battery compartment.

You should also make a label with your phone number and attach to an arm of your Mavic. It increases the odds of getting it back if lost.

 

[dannybgoode]

Whats probably going to happen here is this guy will fly it and it will be a low key transaction between friends, and in the meantime, he'll get his 107. I've seen it a million times.

It's in all practicallity probably not the end of the world, but if you plan on doing this, know you are technically breaking the law. The chances of something actually happening are about zero, but the people here mean well, and you really should get squared away.

So low key they have posted about it on a public forum

I agree though - by the sounds of the gig it’s not like it’s a high profile location or anything...

 

[DJI Ferrari]

Whats probably going to happen here is this guy will fly it and it will be a low key transaction between friends, and in the meantime, he'll get his 107. I've seen it a million times.

It's in all practicality probably not the end of the world, but if you plan on doing this, know you are technically breaking the law. The chances of something actually happening are about zero, but the people here mean well, and you really should get squared away.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, what do you mean braking the law because I do not want to brake any laws because that's not responsible. Please do explain, because I am like, really new to this drone job thing and don't want to be any where near irresponsible. Now my Mavic will be registered with the FAA and will have the FAA registration sticker on the side of the drone before I fly, But i figured I could do this one job without the commercial license because 1, i am doing this for a friend, not a company and 2, he will be paying me in cash, but if this is in anyway illegal, then I will call it off.

 

[DJI Ferrari]

You should also make a label with your phone number and attach to an arm of your Mavic. It increases the odds of getting it back if lost.

Yes I did that with my spark, I attached the FAA label and a second one with my phone number and even my address and Name. But I have never lost a drone and honestly, if it fell down or crashed some how, I would simply go get it no matter the distance or terrain I'd have to cross, but again, I have never crashed, well, except once and it was because it randomly started raining and i freaked a little and his a tree with my spark but it was when I was just learning and had little exp, now I make sure of the weather, local population, local land rules/laws and so on, I am just unsure about all of them.

 

[Peter Brohn]

I predict we get a message last week asking "why did my drone crash". Seems like a fairly ambitious project for a new pilot literally taking the drone out of the box and flying a mission like this.

 

[MiniPalourde]

now I make sure of the weather, local population, local land rules/laws and so on, I am just unsure about all of them.

Just fyi, cities and such have no right to regulate the airspace above them. They control the land, so they can ban drones from taking off from certains areas, but that's it. They can't limit your height and all that kind of stuff.

 

[DJI Ferrari]

well like i said in another post, i have a ton of exp with my old spark and am a quick learner, I mean I could have turned him down, but could use the money. I have watched dozens of videos on the Mavic and honestly don't see much difference from flying the spark to the mavic, I assume you can customize the stick uses like you can on the spark through djigo4, and that 2 sticks inward turn it on and off, and so on, he lives about 45 minutes away so it wont take me long to pick up the controls, besides, if I feel like there's something I don't understand that might put my new Mavic in trouble, I will land it because I'd rather be safe and quit then sorry and fail. I am a very responsible pilot and if I feel I need more practice when I get it then Ill call it off, but I'm sure I can handle it.