Volunteer Drone Services--Are there enough pilots out there?

[dsmith76]

I am interested in finding out if either Part 107 UAS or hobby pilots would be willing to volunteer their drone services to consumers, and perhaps small businesses. The background for this question is that, anecdotally, there seems to be a lot of drone enthusiasts that have trouble finding safe, legal places to fly, and would even volunteer their services if it gave them a great opportunity to use their drone for a useful purpose, without payment. Please reply to this post by giving feedback on whether or not you would be willing to use/fly your drone as a volunteer. Assume that all you had to do is provided raw photos or unedited video footage. Although the types of services offered would evolve, assume that a consumer simply wanted aerial photos of their home, vacation property, boat, RV, or other recreational equipment, etc. for their own personal reasons: share on social media, vanity, bragging rights, or selling their home or property. Realtors would obviously be interested in free photos, but let's exclude them from this question.

There are obviously plenty of legal and regulatory questions, but please ignore those for now. Assume your volunteer services would comply with all relevant laws and regulations.

Would you volunteer? If so, how often or how many times?

Thanks for the feedback.

Dave

 

[BigAl07]

Dave, even a volunteer service (In the USA) requires Part 107... you can't Hobby/Recreate FOR someone else.

 

[superstarpup]

Would the consumers and small businesses volunteer their “home, vacation property, boat, RV, or other recreational equipment, etc.” for my use?

 

[dsmith76]

Dave, even a volunteer service (In the USA) requires Part 107... you can't Hobby/Recreate FOR someone else.

Ok, thanks for that info. I think I see what you mean.

 

[dsmith76]

Would the consumers and small businesses volunteer their “home, vacation property, boat, RV, or other recreational equipment, etc.” for my use?

Ha. Quid pro quo? Anything provided that has monetary value probably rules out hobbyists and requires a UAS pilot. Thanks for your comment.

 

[vail]

I would volunteer for humanitarian reasons like search and rescue... but imo folks doing professional work should get paid market value for their work.

 

[jarnette]

I would also volunteer my services for search and rescue. I work in law enforcement and use drones for work and wouldn't hesitate to volunteer for those purposes. I do however think that photos and videos of homes/properties/etc should be left to those that get compensated. That type of work is an art, and I think people should get compensated for their art work.

 

[dsmith76]

I would volunteer for humanitarian reasons like search and rescue... but imo folks doing professional work should get paid market value for their work.

Got it--thanks for your comment.

 

[dsmith76]

I would also volunteer my services for search and rescue. I work in law enforcement and use drones for work and wouldn't hesitate to volunteer for those purposes. I do however think that photos and videos of homes/properties/etc should be left to those that get compensated. That type of work is an art, and I think people should get compensated for their art work.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[superstarpup]

Ha. Quid pro quo? Anything provided that has monetary value probably rules out hobbyists and requires a UAS pilot. Thanks for your comment.

Trading goods and services- fine.

Volunteering for charities- fine.

Volunteering for vanity bragging of people’s items or for profit businesses- not fine. They should be paying market rate.

 

[dsmith76]

Trading goods and services- fine.

Volunteering for charities- fine.

Volunteering for vanity bragging of people’s items or for profit businesses- not fine. They should be paying market rate.

Thanks. Can you clarify, and/or give example of trading goods and services?

 

[Meta4]

Please reply to this post by giving feedback on whether or not you would be willing to use/fly your drone as a volunteer. Assume that all you had to do is provided raw photos or unedited video footage. Although the types of services offered would evolve, assume that a consumer simply wanted aerial photos of their home, vacation property, boat, RV, or other recreational equipment, etc. for their own personal reasons: share on social media, vanity, bragging rights, or selling their home or property.

I think it's a great idea.
Please also look into organising volunteer plumbers. electricians, mechanics, accountants, doctors etc to do stuff for me.

 

[dsmith76]

I think it's a great idea.
Please also look into organising volunteer plumbers. electricians, mechanics, accountants, doctors etc to do stuff for me.

Yes. It is amazing how many volunteer websites have sprung up. Many have waitlists. Per previous posts, organizing volunteers to provide drone services for “good causes”, community services, search and rescue, charitable organizations, etc..is probably more appropriate than drone services for commercial activities that already have a relatively well established market, such as real estate photos.

 

[Meta4]

Yes. It is amazing how many volunteer websites have sprung up. Many have waitlists. Per previous posts, organizing volunteers to provide drone services for “good causes”, community services, search and rescue, charitable organizations, etc..is probably more appropriate than drone services for commercial activities that already have a relatively well established market, such as real estate photos.

I think you missed my point.
If people are in need of the services of a drone pilot, they can commission a professional to provide that service ... just as you can when/if you need the services of plumbers. electricians, mechanics, accountants, doctors etc.

 

[BigAl07]

Yes. It is amazing how many volunteer websites have sprung up. Many have waitlists. Per previous posts, organizing volunteers to provide drone services for “good causes”, community services, search and rescue, charitable organizations, etc..is probably more appropriate than drone services for commercial activities that already have a relatively well established market, such as real estate photos.

With all due respect, before you get too fat into this indeavor I highly suggest you contact your local FSDO and phrase it to them exactly like your comment above. Let them know you're potentially asking hobby/recreational operators to engage:

"to provide drone services for “good causes”, community services, search and rescue, charitable organizations, etc"

All of those things fall squarely under Part 107 requirements.

 

[dsmith76]

I get your point. I concede that we don't need to organize volunteer plumbers, or organize volunteer drone pilots to do real estate photos. On the other hand, if you go to websites such as volunteermatch.org you will see that volunteers are in demand, and available, in a very wide range of services. Drones are proving very useful in a myriad of ways and volunteering to provide services to worthy causes/organizations is how this thread has evolved.

 

[dsmith76]

With all due respect, before you get too fat into this indeavor I highly suggest you contact your local FSDO and phrase it to them exactly like your comment above. Let them know you're potentially asking hobby/recreational operators to engage:

"to provide drone services for “good causes”, community services, search and rescue, charitable organizations, etc"

All of those things fall squarely under Part 107 requirements.

I posted a reply below before I saw your thread. Anyway, yes, being a "licensed driver" will be a requirement for most types of voluntary drone services.

 

[kensteele]

there is a such thing as pro bono where people are happy to provide (legal) professional services free of charge for those unable to pay but who may otherwise be deserving. capitalism is a beautiful thing but there is room for provide free services beyond volunteer work. you find this most often when people have more in excess than they or their family can use. it's ok to do it if it makes you feel good about yourself, too. long gone are the days where offering to pay someone could be rude but it's not entirely lost.

 

[dsmith76]

Thanks for your comments. My intention in doing this post was to try to get some feedback on whether or not there are pilots out there who are willing to provide free/volunteer drone services, simply because they want to get out and fly their drone and at the same time provide a useful service without being paid. This may be a very small niche of people, but I see comments on several forums where guys are selling their drones because they ran out of places to fly and things to film.

 

[dsmith76]

Would the consumers and small businesses volunteer their “home, vacation property, boat, RV, or other recreational equipment, etc.” for my use?

Services are often bartered, and of course all applicable laws should be followed.