Dispelling Drone Myths: You're interested in drones...now what?
David: Hey everybody. Welcome to the Aerial Influence Channel. I'm David Plummer, this is Michael Ferguson. We pretty much only talk drones like 90% of the time, pretty much much to our wive’s dismay, but today is episode number six of our series Dispelling Drone Myths. What are we going to talk about today? You're interested in drones. Now, what do I do? You think it'd be like, Oh, I'll go buy a drone. I would say maybe not. I would say…
Michael: Come to us!
David: ...yeah, come to us, because we'll sell you a drone. First and foremost, what do you need the drone for? Right? You need to ask yourself that question.
Michael: Yeah, why do I want the drone and what do you want it to do?
David: Yeah. Do I need it for mapping? Do I need it for search and rescue? Do I need it for a construction site? Do I need it for mosquito abatement? Why do I need this drone? And after that you need to go, if you don't come to us, you need to go to a place that is willing to allow you, whether it's like a small Maverick mini that is relatively inexpensive, or something bigger that you're wanting to purchase potentially in the future, that is going to let you actually get your hands-on experience with it, in a safe environment where you're not afraid you're going to hit a building or a tree or land on somebody, but where you can just go out and fly.
After that, once you’ve got a feel for it, my suggestion before you even buy the drone would be to get your 107 license, right? Go start studying. There are numerous resources out there on how to take your 107 test and they actually have, you know, practice tests that are going to give you actual questions from the test and it's really all about you. There are companies out there that'll tell you they'll guarantee that you're going to pass your test if you go with their system and you might, but they can't guarantee it because it's really up to the amount of studying you're going to do. Like they can't take the test for you.
So my suggestion number two thing would be to go out, start studying, take that 107 test so that you are legal to be able to fly a drone for money-making purposes in the United States. That would be next.
Michael: Yeah, because really what you want to do is make sure that you're not only protecting everybody else, but you're also protecting yourself.
David: Yeah, there's a lot of liability if your drone falls out of the sky and hits somebody. You gotta make sure you're covered. You know, it's not necessarily hard, but there are definitely steps you gotta take to make it all happen to get where you want to be and be successful in the drone industry.
Michael: And that's why we're here because we have actually gone through a lot of the processes, especially with the agricultural components, and we've also worked with people that have gotten additional things other than the 107, you know, they've gotten waivers, that kind of thing.
David: So after that, then go with your drone, right?
Michael: Yeah. And what drone are you going to get? Well, you need to figure out what are you doing. If you want to try to do something that's an all-in-one you are going to, I would say, start very small, but if you have a very specific use, you know what that return on investment could be, then I would go with something specialized.
David: Like if you know, so imagine you're somebody that works in mapping, three times a week you have to make a 3D map of something. And that's really the main reason you're going to use that drone. We can tell you, okay, you need the Phantom 4 RTK, and here is why, and it's going to give you the most accuracy…
Michael: ...or Matrice 200 RTK with the X7. You're going to need to basically do that research or have someone help you with the research on what you want to do. Right? Sometimes the best drone is actually two drones and sometimes the two drones can actually be cheaper than one big drone and more efficient than that one big drone. Again, it's figuring out what you want it to do and then you kind of start going from there. And if it's a giant bubble, I would start to narrow that stuff down. And if it's still a giant bubble, like I want to do this, this, and this, then you may want to go to Best Buy and buy a cheap $200 drone until you figure out, because it may be a waste of money.
David: I’m a big proponent of practice drones. If you can get something cheap to just mess around with before you plunk down, you know, 2,500, 3000, 4,000 or higher on something else, do that, because you're going to have a little bit more knowledge before you ever put your hands on the super expensive drone.
So we started this thing off with, you know, you're interested in drones. Now what?
Michael: Really the first and foremost is why do you want the drone? What do you want it to help you do? And if that's, you know, mapping, all this kind of stuff, because right now there's not necessarily a one drone fits all. So that's like going back to what you said, go to a place where you can try these things out…
David: ...yeah, you’ve got to have that hands-on to actually get the feeling like, Oh, now I get how it moves forward, I get how it goes down...
Michael: ...and then that will lead you down to getting legal as far as the 107 certification.
David: But if you're talking about mosquito abatement or anything where you're going to have to dispel chemicals from a drone, you're gonna also have to look at your 137 exemption as well. But you’ve gotta get yourself legal. That's something we can help you with as well. Guide you through, guide you down that path as well. So those are the two main things.
And then you gotta pick your drone, you gotta figure out what your price range is, you gotta figure out...I mean for us, obviously, we're DJI dealers, but we're being honest and saying that they are literally the most reliable and the best drones out there. That's why DJI’s got 80% of the market right now.
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Michael: As always, thank you for listening. We're excited to share the future of drones with you.