1ST PILOT JOB - SUCCESSFULLY ACQUIRED

[FoxhallGH]

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.

To do commercial work with your Drone (and I'm assuming you are in the USA?),you'll not only need the FAA recreational registration for your Drone as an owner, but you'll need to sit the exam (part 107) to get commercially licensed.

 

[Mossiback]

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...

I don't know what the startup routine for the Spark is, but for the MP, MPP, M2 (you did not state which Mavic you are getting) just getting it to fly may be problematic. After receiving it you will need to charge all the batteries, activate it with DJI, and go through all the updating and calibrations. This could take an hour if you have no problems or several hours if you do. After that I would like to have a few hours flight time just to familiarize myself with the new bird and camera options before being expected to perform at a paying gig.

You also should have three batteries and extra SD cards. I could see you using one battery just to get the feel of things and it would suck to fill up a SD card before the job is done. Unless things have changed the card that comes with the Mavic is lower capacity and not fast enough to capture high-quality video.

You could also consider using Litchi or other app to program a mission. This allows you to actually plan what you will capture and would be repeatable. With a repeatable mission you could take shots through time to show progress of the development.

 

[DJI Ferrari]

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.

well where i am gonna be flying is in the country area pretty much in the middle of nowhere, lol. and I estimate the tree tops there are about maybe well, idk actually but it will be under 150 feet

 

[DJI Ferrari]

I don't know what the startup routine for the Spark is, but for the MP, MPP, M2 (you did not state which Mavic you are getting) just getting it to fly may be problematic. After receiving it you will need to charge all the batteries, activate it with DJI, and go through all the updating and calibrations. This could take an hour if you have no problems or several hours if you do. After that I would like to have a few hours flight time just to familiarize myself with the new bird and camera options before being expected to perform at a paying gig.

You also should have three batteries and extra SD cards. I could see you using one battery just to get the feel of things and it would suck to fill up a SD card before the job is done. Unless things have changed the card that comes with the Mavic is lower capacity and not fast enough to capture high-quality video.

You could also consider using Litchi or other app to program a mission. This allows you to actually plan what you will capture and would be repeatable. With a repeatable mission you could take shots through time to show progress of the development.

your right, I am so sorry ok so I am getting the original Mavic Pro, know what ummmm, ok heres the link to what I got.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MUAWOXB/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Starz]

That ad looks to be a little deceiving in my opinion. Picture clearly shows three batteries. One in the ac and two others. The literature reads two. How many did you think your were buying? Just curious.

 

[Mossiback]

your right, I am so sorry ok so I am getting the original Mavic Pro, know what ummmm, ok heres the link to what I got...

Okay, at least you have two batteries. There is no charging hub so you will need to monitor the first battery charging and plug in the second one when the first is charged. The RC can be charged at the same time as the battery. After the first is fully charged you can then start the registration\calibration process.

You do not mention what you are using for a display but since it works for the spark it will hopefully work for the MP. I suggest you use a good quality USB data cable and unplug the short cable from the side of the RC.

You will need two faster and larger capacity SD cards. The supplied card is only 16GB and I am guessing not fast enough for 4K. I do not know what specifically you will be asked to produce, and if only a few photos then the supplied card will be enough, but it will not be enough for later use.

 

[BD0G]

Hate to beat this horse , but just so you know any drone flight that flown for compensation of any kind would be considered a commercial flight and is subject to having a Part 107 Certification.

It does not matter if its a handshake deal or a full fledged multi part contract where both parties have legal representation. The law does not read , "oh, well its alright if you would like to fly one job for your buddy and dont have to worry about being Part 107 Certified".

 

[DJI Ferrari]

Okay, at least you have two batteries. There is no charging hub so you will need to monitor the first battery charging and plug in the second one when the first is charged. The RC can be charged at the same time as the battery. After the first is fully charged you can then start the registration\calibration process.

You do not mention what you are using for a display but since it works for the spark it will hopefully work for the MP. I suggest you use a good quality USB data cable and unplug the short cable from the side of the RC.

You will need two faster and larger capacity SD cards. The supplied card is only 16GB and I am guessing not fast enough for 4K. I do not know what specifically you will be asked to produce, and if only a few photos then the supplied card will be enough, but it will not be enough for later use.

I have three because I purchased a third but I got it separately, and like I did when I 1st got my spark, charging will sadly to say, will take a while. I will eventually get the official dji charging hub later.
Next month I plan to get the charging hub, the book-sack style carrier, range extender, otg cable as well as an ipad 10" or crystal sky, which ever one I will choose I wont know till next month but crystal sky is what i need to get, but crystal sky is more expensive that I've seen so far. As far as the sd car i have a 65 Gig, and it worked well with the spark

 

[swooshdave]

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 **** 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.

Make sure you have enough time to charge the batteries, configure the drone, do all the software and firmware updates and get some practice time in. It doesn't sound like you have any of that planned for. Does he have to have the footage immediately?

 

[Mossiback]

...Next month I plan to get the charging hub, the book-sack style carrier, range extender, otg cable as well as an ipad 10" or crystal sky, which ever one I will choose I wont know till next month but crystal sky is what i need to get, but crystal sky is more expensive that I've seen so far. As far as the sd card i have a 65 Gig, and it worked well with the spark

You will probably find that you will not need the range extender. The MP is more than capable of getting too far away without one.

I have read that the CS display can't be beat but there is no way I would pay the price they ask. My older Samsung is bright enough in full daylight and at ~15% the cost I can live with it.

The SD card you have should work fine. I would still get a second one and keep it in your kit. The card slot is spring loaded. One slipped off my fingernail while inserting and it sprung out and I almost lost it in the grass. It would suck if you missed a one-time opportunity to capture something and find you card is full or you left your card at home.

 

[DJI Ferrari]

Make sure you have enough time to charge the batteries, configure the drone, do all the software and firmware updates and get some practice time in. It doesn't sound like you have any of that planned for. Does he have to have the footage immediately?

Actually as I said in a previous post, my exact plan and checklist is below

1: Charge All Batteries
2: Update all Firmware
3:Calibrate All Sensors
4: Set Up Mavic In Preferred Configuration
5: Test Flight Using Chosen Configuration
6: Quick Flight in Basic Model Over Treeline In-front My Home
7:Test Flight In Sport Mode /w/ Turns Altitude Gain and Loss then Return to Home
8:Re-Check Configuration & Firmware

This is always my mandatory checklist for any DJI UAV I purchase and Pilot, if I did however forget to mention it, it was because a responsible pilot has this checklist built in aka Common sense lol so, yea. If I feel like I can't fly the mission because I feel I lack skill with the Mavic class, I will forfeit the job because I'd rather be safe and responsible that sorry and stupid.

 

[DJI Ferrari]

You will probably find that you will not need the range extender. The MP is more than capable of getting too far away without one.

I have read that the CS display can't be beat but there is no way I would pay the price they ask. My older Samsung is bright enough in full daylight and at ~15% the cost I can live with it.

The SD card you have should work fine. I would still get a second one and keep it in your kit. The card slot is spring loaded. One slipped off my fingernail while inserting and it sprung out and I almost lost it in the grass. It would suck if you missed a one-time opportunity to capture something and find you card is full or you left your card at home.

Yea, I agree fully, I keep a laptop with me too with a whole mess of extra stuff so I can unload one sd card while filling another

 

[Aerial West]

There is a law against making money for profit without licensing.

That said, this happens all the time, so the chances of something actually happening, if you do not publicize it, are very low. Real estate agents do it all the time.

 

[Starz]

This is getting too complicated for my little brain. I’m out. Good luck and hope it works out.

 

[ColinF]

To do commercial work with your Drone (and I'm assuming you are in the USA?),you'll not only need the FAA recreational registration for your Drone as an owner, but you'll need to sit the exam (part 107) to get commercially licensed.

You actually need to reheated the drone in the commercial section, not the recreational section on the FAA website.

 

[Mossiback]

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...

...my exact plan and checklist is below

1: Charge All Batteries
2: Update all Firmware
3:Calibrate All Sensors
4: Set Up Mavic In Preferred Configuration
5: Test Flight Using Chosen Configuration
6: Quick Flight in Basic Model Over Treeline In-front My Home
7:Test Flight In Sport Mode /w/ Turns Altitude Gain and Loss then Return to Home
8:Re-Check Configuration & Firmware
...

The first post makes it sound like you will be picked up right after receiving it and be expected to use it. That is what has set off all the alarm bells pointing out all the prep work necessary. Your checklist looks good but I would also add a test flight with OA sensors off. This gets a speed between regular P mode and S mode without the extra stick sensitivity of S mode. Make sure your step 2 - Update all Firmware, includes the extra batteries and there is no reason for step 8 unless there has been a Go 4 update. Go 4 updates may change some settings to the original defaults and you will get a notice if firmware needs updating.

 

[DJI Ferrari]

The first post makes it sound like you will be picked up right after receiving it and be expected to use it. That is what has set off all the alarm bells pointing out all the prep work necessary. Your checklist looks good but I would also add a test flight with OA sensors off. This gets a speed between regular P mode and S mode without the extra stick sensitivity of S mode. Make sure your step 2 - Update all Firmware, includes the extra batteries and there is no reason for step 8 unless there has been a Go 4 update. Go 4 updates may change some settings to the original defaults and you will get a notice if firmware needs updating.

lol sorry for the confusion, when I get it i will have to call him to tell him I have it, then after doing what ever he is doing because he will be at work when i call him, he will drive over here to get me, but he lives a good 45 minutes away and depending on traffic, it could be more. So I expect maybe about 45-an hour before he arrives, but even after I arrive, I will set up over where I will be flying and do some test flights, I will probably do it many times untill I think its thr right one, then ill call him, hell come check out the video on my laptop and if he likes it, he said hell pay me, but to be completely honest I am a little nervous because this is my first drone job and he expects hard work and perfection so, I will just have faith that I can pull it off, if not, then practice makes perfect right? lol

 

[Mossiback]

Whats the rush? Could he give you a few days to practice?

You mention that you will be capturing video. You will need the right SD filter to slow down the shutter speed to get that more pleasing motion blur. Without the filter video tends to be "jittery" unless you are moving/panning very slow. Of course, the brighter the day the worse the effect.

It sounds like you are on top of things. It is just that the time needed to set up a new craft, lean how to use it, and capture the desired video is a bit thin.

 

[Meta4]

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.

It seems that you are completely unaware of the rules for commercial flying and haven't worked it out from the things that have been said already.
So here it is in plain language for you.
You need to have commercial registration to do commercial flights.
Commercial registration is very different from what you have suggested.
Before you do anything else, take some time to read this and think about it:
Fact Sheet – Small Unmanned Aircraft Regulations (Part 107)

Then, you don't have the drone, haven't flown it and haven't done any commercial work before.
The idea of commercial licensing and registration is something you never heard of.
You don't know what the client wants done and have no idea about mapping (which is probably what's needed for the job).
Yesterday you were asking for people to give you the most basic information straight from the specs: My complete question List

It really seems that you are way, way out of your depth on this and don't even know how little you know.
What could possibly go wrong?

It sounds like you are on top of things. It is just that the time needed to set up a new craft, lean how to use it, and capture the desired video is a bit thin.

It sounds like he hasn't a clue.

 

[DJI Ferrari]

Whats the rush? Could he give you a few days to practice?

You mention that you will be capturing video. You will need the right SD filter to slow down the shutter speed to get that more pleasing motion blur. Without the filter video tends to be "jittery" unless you are moving/panning very slow. Of course, the brighter the day the worse the effect.

It sounds like you are on top of things. It is just that the time needed to set up a new craft, lean how to use it, and capture the desired video is a bit thin.

Yes so I purchased some camera filters when I got the drone as well as I just found my 64gig micro mem card that I will be using in it as well.

These are the filters I purchased
https://www.amazon.com/Freewell-ND-...255&sr=8-16&keywords=mavic+pro+camera+filters

and i uploaded a photo of the type of card i have, i got the image from google because its too dark here to take a photo