The FAA were aware people were using these lightweight drones in business and at that time a pilots license was really needed to fly one for business purposes. That requirement was a little extreme; given they are remotely controlled and small and you cannot sit in them! As a Drone flying hobbyist as long as you register yourself as a drone flyer with the FAA you are free to fly. Up to this point that is what I have done.
The FAA have amended their drone flying rules to make it more sensible. Now it’s time to comply so I can use the Drone in my business. That means I have to file a petition with the FAA against needing a pilots license. The petition is about 100 pages long to cover all that the FAA requires and if any Realtor wants to use a Drone in their business, to comply with the FAA it must be done. Flying must wait until your petition is granted. This takes about 8 weeks from submission to approval. Fly without and be prepared for some hefty fines! In general the FAA will grant your petition based on the size of the drone and what you will be using it for, in my case real estate. I must petition why I am safe, why it’s in the best interests of the public and why I don’t need a bonafide pilots license.
What Do Drone Photos Look Like?
The camera is both a still camera and a video camera. It feeds all it’s data into the Ipad mounted on the controller so you can literally see where you are going, see what is being recorded and click to take photos or video. Very cool! Keep it under 400 feet, that shouldn’t be an issue. 100 feet up can give some very good perspectives of properties The battery packs allow a fly time of about 20 minutes at a time. When the battery starts to fail it comes home all by itself, now that’s clever. OK back to those photos.
This first photo of a home on 2+ acres was taken from the street, the idea is to get buyers to see how much yard space there is.
This photo is much closer to the house and taken from about the same height as the house and from an angle gives a buyer a great view and a great perspective. Taken with the drone camera flying just in front of the house, we aren’t really getting aerial shots but they are much better than standing directly in front of the house.
