Hello in NC

[TRADSLLC]

Just wanted to drop in and say hello. Just ordered a Inspire 1 V2.0 with the X3 camera system. May upgrade later but really not needed as of yet. I currently have a Autel XSP which I love to fly and use in my business. It has it's idiosyncrasies for sure. But it is a machine I use in my sUAS business.

I am hoping the Inspire will adapt to offer more versatility which from the research I have done it certainly should. The only thing that took me so long to purchase has been the consumer feedback in regards to DJI's customer service. I hope it is not as bad as I have read. Taking a chance if a issue arises the authorized dealer will be able to be a conduit for me.

Once again, looking forward to getting this machine in and learning a new platform after being use to Autel and Starlink.

 

[FP-C Medic]

Hello from NC to you!!

 

[TRADSLLC]

Hello from NC to you!!

Hello FP-C Medic! What part of NC are you from?

 

[FP-C Medic]

Hello FP-C Medic! What part of NC are you from?

Way down south in Lumberton. What about you??


Sent from my iPhone using InspirePilots

 

[Advexure]

Welcome to the forum, @TRADSLLC. You've got a very helpful group of Inspire pilots here on the forum that are happy to help with any questions you may have. Enjoy your Inspire 1 and safe and happy flying!

 

[AeroMirage]

Hello from Durham!!
Welcome aboard!!
Plenty of reports of bad customer service and too few of the positive. I have had one experience with them which was excellent. I had a battery starting to bulge. After sending them copies of the receipt and pictures of it showing serial number, they replaced it without any fuss.
People are too quick to pass negative info and slow to share positives.

 

[TRADSLLC]

Welcome to the forum, @TRADSLLC. You've got a very helpful group of Inspire pilots here on the forum that are happy to help with any questions you may have. Enjoy your Inspire 1 and safe and happy flying!

Hoping to be the case Advexure! Thanks for the warm welcome.

 

[TRADSLLC]

Hello from Durham!!
Welcome aboard!!
Plenty of reports of bad customer service and too few of the positive. I have had one experience with them which was excellent. I had a battery starting to bulge. After sending them copies of the receipt and pictures of it showing serial number, they replaced it without any fuss.
People are too quick to pass negative info and slow to share positives.

Well I hope that is what it is for sure AeroMirage. I will have to say my Autel has great CS so I hope if needed, DJI does not disappoint me.

 

[JakeB826]

Hey everybody, my name is Jake and I'm in Wilmington. Like many I've started a small side business and am trying to learn the ropes of small business operation. I have my 107 and NC Commercial Permit and am waiting on some FAA airspace authorizations as most of the north part of Wilmington is Class D.

I hope I can be of help to anyone who needs it and provide more benefit than drag with the multitude of dumb questions I'll probably ask. . I'm not concerned with "competition" and will happily lend a hand if another business asks. I get plenty of negativity in my big boy day job so I'm looking to be positive on the side gig.

Anyway...best of luck to everybody. Be safe.

Jake

 

[TRADSLLC]

Hey everybody, my name is Jake and I'm in Wilmington. Like many I've started a small side business and am trying to learn the ropes of small business operation. I have my 107 and NC Commercial Permit and am waiting on some FAA airspace authorizations as most of the north part of Wilmington is Class D.

I hope I can be of help to anyone who needs it and provide more benefit than drag with the multitude of dumb questions I'll probably ask. . I'm not concerned with "competition" and will happily lend a hand if another business asks. I get plenty of negativity in my big boy day job so I'm looking to be positive on the side gig.

Anyway...best of luck to everybody. Be safe.

Jake

Welcome Jake and I too get no respect at my day to day job and overlooked for advancement. I have 6 years left to retire with a pension and that is why I set out to start my own side business so I could be mad at the boss......ME! So welcome!

 

[inspiredantheman]

Hey everybody, my name is Jake and I'm in Wilmington. Like many I've started a small side business and am trying to learn the ropes of small business operation. I have my 107 and NC Commercial Permit and am waiting on some FAA airspace authorizations as most of the north part of Wilmington is Class D.

I hope I can be of help to anyone who needs it and provide more benefit than drag with the multitude of dumb questions I'll probably ask. . I'm not concerned with "competition" and will happily lend a hand if another business asks. I get plenty of negativity in my big boy day job so I'm looking to be positive on the side gig.

Anyway...best of luck to everybody. Be safe.

Jake

I'm new here myself from Charlotte! Good luck with the FAA "authorizations". Did you request them via the online link? I just submitted 2 myself, one for the Oak Island area. The 90 day requirement seems like it may kill some deals. Hoping to pass my exam next week. Let me know how the requests go!

 

[JakeB826]

I did do it online. I'm 50/50 on whether or not I'll get them. I didn't do a good job of specifying heights, other than below 400', so that may get me rejected. I did have an interesting conversation with the tower at ILM the other day, though. The guy told me that they submit a map to the FAA detailing what heights they are cool with in each sector of their area and the FAA uses that to determine approvals.....buuuut they won't release the map to us, only the FAA. Wouldn't it make sense for those trying to be compliant and operate professionally to know these heights so we can A) comply and B) not have to submit multiple guesses at what they want so our requests can each go through the 90 day period?

Then he told me .."oh no, you put in your request online and they get back to you in 2 or 3 days" Am I missing a different link or portal somewhere? The last jewel was " we really don't care what you do, as long as you stay about 50" above the houses, so you don't have to call all of the time" So I'm supposed to operate commercially in class D airspace with no contact, no waiver or authorization and not even a call to ATC? " Yeah, they really don't mind as long as there aren't any problems". I'm stumped to say the least.

Sorry for the rant, didn't mean to come across negative or psycho but dang. Sore spot I guess with the authorizations! I've been a police officer for a total of about 23 years now, I'm used to bureaucracy and one hand not talking to the other but this is a frustrating one. Can't we all just get along?!?

Good luck with your 107 test. It isn't easy by any stretch but if you prepare well it is definitely doable. I did mine up in New Bern and they were exceptionally easy and cool to deal with. Hopefully you'll get your Oak Island authorization. The really big bucks real estate on Bald Head Island is cut almost in half by the five mile radius from the airport there. I've done a few real estate jobs here but haven't had much luck getting good marketing traction and steady flow. Still trying to figure that one out without bringing on tons of overhead.

 

[inspiredantheman]

I did do it online. I'm 50/50 on whether or not I'll get them. I didn't do a good job of specifying heights, other than below 400', so that may get me rejected. I did have an interesting conversation with the tower at ILM the other day, though. The guy told me that they submit a map to the FAA detailing what heights they are cool with in each sector of their area and the FAA uses that to determine approvals.....buuuut they won't release the map to us, only the FAA. Wouldn't it make sense for those trying to be compliant and operate professionally to know these heights so we can A) comply and B) not have to submit multiple guesses at what they want so our requests can each go through the 90 day period?

Then he told me .."oh no, you put in your request online and they get back to you in 2 or 3 days" Am I missing a different link or portal somewhere? The last jewel was " we really don't care what you do, as long as you stay about 50" above the houses, so you don't have to call all of the time" So I'm supposed to operate commercially in class D airspace with no contact, no waiver or authorization and not even a call to ATC? " Yeah, they really don't mind as long as there aren't any problems". I'm stumped to say the least.

Sorry for the rant, didn't mean to come across negative or psycho but dang. Sore spot I guess with the authorizations! I've been a police officer for a total of about 23 years now, I'm used to bureaucracy and one hand not talking to the other but this is a frustrating one. Can't we all just get along?!?

Good luck with your 107 test. It isn't easy by any stretch but if you prepare well it is definitely doable. I did mine up in New Bern and they were exceptionally easy and cool to deal with. Hopefully you'll get your Oak Island authorization. The really big bucks real estate on Bald Head Island is cut almost in half by the five mile radius from the airport there. I've done a few real estate jobs here but haven't had much luck getting good marketing traction and steady flow. Still trying to figure that one out without bringing on tons of overhead.

Not a rant at all! Just what I needed to read. Thanks for sharing the info. It is all quite a cluster right now and no-one seems to have a definite answer until you post a video and the FAA comes knocking 3 months later saying you weren't in compliance! Funny how it's gone from "inform them you will be flying" to begging permission 90 days in advance. I feel like there needs to be several levels of regulations, depending on the flight equipment. As far as altitude goes, they've already set us at 400' for a reason. Other than landing, choppers and planes don't go below 500', as far as I know.

Thanks again and happy flying!

 

[JakeB826]

Welcome Jake and I too get no respect at my day to day job and overlooked for advancement. I have 6 years left to retire with a pension and that is why I set out to start my own side business so I could be mad at the boss......ME! So welcome!

Thanks for the welcome. My day job just isn't worth the risk and liability anymore, it hasn't been for a long time but insurance costs for the kids, etc have kind of held me here for a bit. I'm sure like any real world job the internal politics and mid-level management headaches are the driving force behind many people's unhappiness.

I read one of your posts on the real estate thread from awhile back regarding pricing, etc. Right now I am "that guy" as far as getting into the market and finding a balance between pricing and developing a solid customer base. I don't have a professional photography background....any advice in how to find that balance and then bridge over into being a true professional at this stuff? Seems like there are three distinct groups here....the P3S guys that want to tinker......the guys like me that are willing to work and invest and put in the effort...and the pros who are out doing it well and making it happen. How do I get from B to C?

Any constructive advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[TRADSLLC]

Thanks for the welcome. My day job just isn't worth the risk and liability anymore, it hasn't been for a long time but insurance costs for the kids, etc have kind of held me here for a bit. I'm sure like any real world job the internal politics and mid-level management headaches are the driving force behind many people's unhappiness.

I read one of your posts on the real estate thread from awhile back regarding pricing, etc. Right now I am "that guy" as far as getting into the market and finding a balance between pricing and developing a solid customer base. I don't have a professional photography background....any advice in how to find that balance and then bridge over into being a true professional at this stuff? Seems like there are three distinct groups here....the P3S guys that want to tinker......the guys like me that are willing to work and invest and put in the effort...and the pros who are out doing it well and making it happen. How do I get from B to C?

Any constructive advice would be greatly appreciated.

I am no pro photographer either. I do a lot of photo'ing however on my job but not trained in any way. I self teach myself a lot of what I do and practice a lot. I do know the balance can be a trite bit of a thin line and if you under sell your ability and talent ie. the job, you will have a hard time making that back up because clients only see you went up on the job and view it as wrong. I say miss a lot of jobs up front getting started and maybe even do a few freebies so they can see your work! Maybe just charge them for the day long liability insurance and any frivolous expenditure and tell them it is a promotional gig and then they have no real cheap price to hold you to when you get up and running. Give them your price guide and then almost free for except a few things then they know if they use you again for the great work you did the job will roughly be "X" "Y" or "Z".

We had our first meeting this past Saturday in Winston-Salem to begin to organize a NC sUAS Association to protect the rights of the drone operators whether they are hobbyist, commercial, or compete in competition.

If you are interested in your FB page link let me know. We hope to get formalized to combat the unnecessary legislative laws and local ordinances that are soon to follow.

 

[inspiredantheman]

Great advice. I'm interested in a similar group in the Charlotte area.

 

[JakeB826]

Thank you for your reply and offer of inclusion. I appreciate that. I'd be happy to provide whatever support or assistance I can for your group.

I'm at the still doing it for free point, I've only had the LLC and website, etc up for a short time and am trying to find out where I fit and what direction I want to take. I doubt I'll deal much with real estate down the road, commercial applications are starting to make more sense. I've already been working on a home inspector certification in preparation for getting the hell out of law enforcement, the drone business idea started as an extension of that. Real estate photography seemed like a starting point and bones earning ground from the outside but I'm starting to find out that isn't necessarily the case.

Please let me know how I can contribute and be of any help to your new organization, it sounds like a great thing.

 

[TRADSLLC]

Thank you for your reply and offer of inclusion. I appreciate that. I'd be happy to provide whatever support or assistance I can for your group.

I'm at the still doing it for free point, I've only had the LLC and website, etc up for a short time and am trying to find out where I fit and what direction I want to take. I doubt I'll deal much with real estate down the road, commercial applications are starting to make more sense. I've already been working on a home inspector certification in preparation for getting the hell out of law enforcement, the drone business idea started as an extension of that. Real estate photography seemed like a starting point and bones earning ground from the outside but I'm starting to find out that isn't necessarily the case.

Please let me know how I can contribute and be of any help to your new organization, it sounds like a great thing.

Hello Jake-

Here is the link and we would be glad for you to request joining.

需要安全验证

 

[Sideshow]

I just wanted to say thank you for this great thread! Like many of you I'm getting a little long in the tooth and am looking to put my passion/ flying ability to work for me. It would be great to go full time, but I'm perfectly willing to phase in. Right now I'm a little intimidated by the amount of information I've been sifting through. The part 107 is just one step, website another, specialties, certifications, advertizing.... Makes my head hurt!

 

[dirkclod]

Welcome to the forum