
Ask HN: Anyone making money with drones? - dchuk
I picked up a DJI Phantom a month or so ago and have been having a lot of fun taking pictures with it. Not a big video guy yet, just better at photo editing software.<p>I even made a little instagram account that&#x27;s slowly growing to post the pictures on. The whole thing is firmly still a hobby though.<p>Anyone here started a drone company? What does it do? I know there are many ways to profit from them beyond really nice pictures, like surveying, inspections, 3d modeling, etc, so curious if anyone is doing that here and how it&#x27;s going so far.<p>Thanks!
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atmosx
I know a guy who makes money by training hawks to fetch drones who try to spy
events featuring VIP ppl in Greece.

Isn't that something or what?

He said that the hawks figured that in order to avoid getting hurt, happened a
few times, they need to attack the drones from _under_. A guy asked if the
drones were moving too fast and he said that the ones he had to deal with,
were considerably slower than eagles plus most of them are floating still not
running around.

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mtmail
Those I met doing surveying had a GIS
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographic_information_system](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographic_information_system))
consulting business first and knew how to bid on local government contracts.
The drone is just another tool, the customers pay for the analysis/report.

During a sports event (24h race) one person created a DVD and sold it later
on. I can't tell if he made profit. In my opinion there is more money in
photographing individual participants (cyclists in this case).

[http://www.flyflock.io/](http://www.flyflock.io/) sells insurance to drone
owners. Depending on country you have to have one once do fly them
commercially.

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e59d134d
I know a real estate guy who hires drone pilots to shoot videos of McMansions.
Most of those drone guys are hobbyist and business is not scalable though.
Could be fun way to checkout different neighborhoods and pay for expensive
hobby.

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le-mark
It used to be a thing in rural areas for a photographer to fly around and take
pictures of farms and then sell them to the owners. I saw several aerial house
photos on people's walls in the 80s.

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FlopV
Here in the US Virgin Islands two of my friends are attempting to monetize
drone videos/content creation along with underwater camera/go pro footage for
charter boats, real estate, and other businesses. With the tourist industry,
it's a viable business here.

They've got some cool content. They just did a shoot with a charter that came
out really well, it's only on FB right now though.

Here's their youtube link if your interested.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2Cr2QDdHtA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2Cr2QDdHtA)

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KirinDave
I am not. However, I know several people in agtech who have stable businesses.

None of the startups are using off-the-shelf photography drones though. Those
drones are nice if you've got a lot of money and need a lot of otherwise-
impossible dolly and helicopter shots.

Consider that a small drone with a 7m battery life and a rasppi core capable
of LOS operation within a mile of base station can cost less than $250/unit.
For one that can carry more weight with similar characteristics? $500.

Medium size drones can spot-spray crops, survey property, and provide survey
overviews for a fraction of the cost of competing solutions once the software
has been amortized. If your operators are experts or trained, the cost goes
down further.

For me, I use recreational fpv rigs on high performance-to-weight drones to
race and freestyle. It's amazing and it's inexpensive and it's fun.

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theviajerock
Have you more info about this race drones? Where can I buy or build.
Greetings.

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KirinDave
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBrdUj1adIBCaKe3H4RGq...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBrdUj1adIBCaKe3H4RGqXfPYFB2FcHeR)

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mattbgates
Me and my lady are starting up a business and we're still learning, getting
some experience, and haven't had a client yet, but we're working with a real
estate agent and have gotten a few business cards from others who are
interested.

Basically, we are taking 360 photos of inside the house and an aerial views
outside the house in hopes to help real estate agents sell. Our basic package
includes just the 360 video, while our deluxe package offers the whole deal
including aerial views of the house and the roof and the entire neighborhood.

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stevekemp
That's pretty interesting, and seems like an "obvious" use for drones.

I bought a flat in Helsinki last year, and the online marketing included all
the stuff you'd expect - location, details of sauna, rates, floor-plan, etc -
as well as a video (hosted on youtube) which was obviously taken by a drone
flying around the interior.

Had it been a freestanding house, instead of a flat, I'm sure the drone would
have shown the exterior in a useful way too.

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justboxing
> Anyone here started a drone company?

Don't you need some sort of aviation license ("Remote Pilot Certificate") to
operate it in the States these days (assuming you are in US) if you are doing
it for commercial purposes ?

Source: [https://www.faa.gov/uas/faqs/#ffr](https://www.faa.gov/uas/faqs/#ffr)

> Option #2. Fly under the FAA's Small UAS Rule (14 CFR part 107). Under this
> rule, operators must:

> Register their UAS with the FAA as a "non-modeler".

> Obtain an FAA Remote Pilot Certificate

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dchuk
Yes, but my understanding is it's just a study-and-pass type situation, fairly
straightforward for those looking to take things commercial.

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DrNuke
I am an advisor for [http://www.dronesbench.com](http://www.dronesbench.com)
from Italy, an electro-mechanical testing bench for consumer drones entering
the market worldwide in September. We hope to have a drone certification
market soon in order to start running workshops in a scalable manner. Also
engaging with IEEE and EASA for safety legislation to come while promoting our
concise drone efficiency parameter for drone's plate. We will see.

