Hi there Danabenormal,
I feel qualified to give advice on this subject as on 20th November 2019, my town ( Timaru, New Zealand ) was hit by a freak hail storm which damaged 12,078 cars and did about $120m USD worth of damage in less than 5 mins
A lot of this was roof damage and I have been busy droning the roofing on houses and commercial buildings since mid 2020. I purchased a
MA2 when they first became available and have been busy with it ever since
Here in New Zealand there is no differentiation between using a drone for fun or work AS LONG AS YOU FLY UNDER 120m ( approx 400ft ) and follow a set of basic sensible rules
Those wanting to fly in restricted zones or above 120m can apply to the government for what is called a part 102 license but as my work does not need to be outside these parameters, I am operating legally without this special license
ANYWAY........ My top tips for droning building roofs ( aimed at all roof droning operators, not just your situation ) :-
1) If doing this on a regular basis, get yourself a set of prop guards - ( cheap insurance ) If working close to the roof, the guards can make a difference between a crash and just an unexpected landing on a roof
2) Use fully charged batteries where possible
3) Use tripod Mode ! slower is better near roofs
4) If getting outside your comfort zone, get in the habit of always going UP in case of emergency ( Unless under eves )
Because all other directions are relative to the direction the drone is pointing in and when learning it is easy to fly into something rather than away from it if the drone is facing towards you
5) After taking off, get a still photo of the front of the building from the street, preferably with the letterbox showing the address ( Useful for proving what building the later photos are relative to )
6) Then go to the maximum allowable height in the area you are in and take a vertical shot looking down at the building giving relativity to the street etc
7) Here in NZ, you are not permitted to fly over someone else's property without their permission ( I believe this is common in most countries ) SO..... The most important button on your controller becomes the button that flips your camera gimbal from vertical to horizontal
I use this to fly near to ( but not over ) the boundary between the property I have permission to drone, and that of the neighbor ) (US spelling
)
8) Try to shoot along the roof rather than at 90 degrees to the gutters so as to avoid crossing onto other peoples land. Or from the roof ridge back towards the gutters rather than the other way around. Or verticals
9) Also bear in mind that the minimum focusing distance for the
MA2 is approx 500mm ( 18 inches ) so you need to get quite close to see minute details but going into video mode then using the 2x zoom can be beneficial here )
10) Watch for wind causing turbulence near roof ridges on in valleys between roof ridges. Seemingly light winds can play havoc with the drone near other surfaces
Anyway, I hope that's useful
Stay safe everyone
Greetings from NZ ( Covid free for now )
Cheers, Stu
