by William Comstock - 3 mins read

Hello, and welcome back!

We're here with a lovely blog post about what you should expect in hiring a drone pilot, as many of our customers have questions about just what goes into looking for some of our services.  Let's get flying!

Licensed

Licensing is the most important aspect of choosing a professional drone pilot. 

Did you know?

• The Federal Aviation Administration licenses all pilots.
• All pilots must undergo a paid certification test.
• You may not fly commercially (for a business) in the United States without a drone pilot license.
• All drone pilots must undergo regular recertification.
• There are a lot of rules and regulations to follow while flying a drone.  We'll cover more of these in a separate blog post.

The reality is that many businesses today aren't actually keeping up with the licensing requirements.  While a good number are properly licensed and insured, many drone pilots received their certification in 2016 and 2017 and never renewed.  This means that their licenses could be three to four years out of date!

Takeaway: Ask your drone pilot to show their FAA license and recertifications to you before you hire them for a video.

All pilots employed by Dragon Drones in any capacity are FAA licensed and current in all certifications.

Insured

Insurance is another important aspect.  Thankfully, drone accidents are rare, but you always hear the odd story in the news about a drone flying in restricted airspace, interfering with other air traffic or just being a general annoyance.  Insurance will help mitigate those concerns by making sure that if something does happen, yourself as the customer and the remote pilot in command aren't going to be hit with an astronomical bill.

Just like you would get car insurance, house or rental insurance, the drone insurance will set a professional apart and ensure that they are flying in a safe and controlled manner.  Many drone insurance operators require flight logs that show an adherence to safety in order to provide competitive rates.

Takeaway: Make sure that your drone pilot and their business is insured, either on a per flight, monthly or annual basis.

All flights undertaken by Dragon Drones are insured by no less than $2M in insurance coverage.

Quote and Contract

The best professionals will quote you a price and also provide you a contract.  This is to protect both yourself and them!  It protects you by:

• Allowing the scope of the work to be clearly defined.
• Make sure you're not charged erroneously for work not done.
• Holding the drone pilot accountable for their timely and safe work.
• Provides legal remedies should the pilot/business fail to deliver.
• Offers peace of mind and professionalism.

The contract also protects the drone pilot by clearly stating that they will act in a safe manner, that they are licensed and that they won't just charge your credit card any sort of random fees.  You should always know what you are paying for!

Takeaway: Quotes and Contracts should be standard for the drone pilots and businesses that you hire.

Dragon Drones will always provide you a quote and a contract for your services.

Other Services

Editing video, mapping technologies, analyzing footage, stock footage capture and navigating FAA waivers are all additional services that can be offered by experienced pilots and established businesses.  If you aren't able to use the footage that you paid for, then why bother hiring someone in the first place?  A licensed, insured professional pilot will offer a broad range of expertise and help in navigating what exactly you need for your specific video shoot.  No two video shoots are the same!

Most of our clients here at Dragon Drones appreciate the experience that we provide and additional services we render.  For example, we do not charge for administrating and submitting an FAA Waiver form.  Take a look at some of our previous works and then request a quote if you are interested in talking about your special event or business need!

Dragon Drones - Discover Flight!