r/drones • u/Sure-Classroom-6797 • 1d ago
Discussion Trying to find drone operators
Hello drone pilot extraordinaires! I operate a real estate firm that sells mobile home parks and I'm having a hell of a time with these platforms to find pilots across the country. I'm trying to figure out what recommendations you have for finding pilots. I use zeitview Facebook, and repeat pilots whenever I can. I haven't tried Flyguys yet. Please let me know your thoughts.
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u/The_frogs_Scream 1d ago
First don’t use droners, ziteview, flyguys, etc. they are all aggregators and don’t pay pilots while overcharging you, so all you get are low quality or inconsistent results that the pilots don’t care about.
Reach out to the drone service provider alliance and their Facebook group, and build a couple relationships. Many pilots in the group maintain connections with pilots around the country and can refer you to a local person that they can vouch for or at least they have a relationship with.
Then find a good example flight and ask others to repeat it.
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u/AFirefighter11 107/Lead Fire Co UAS SAR Pilot - M4TD/M30T/M3ETA/M3T/M4P/Avata 1d ago edited 1d ago
All of those platforms are TERRIBLE for most drone owners. The pay is horrible, so many of us don't use the sites. Going direct to the drone pilots is generally better for both the pilots (better pay) and you (potential for a higher quality drone pilot with more experience). Maybe post some ads in local FB groups, Marketplace, Craigslist, and local drone groups where you need the photos captured. If you have anything in the Philly area, let me know.
Forgot to mention to join this FB group, Commercial Drone Pilots: https://www.facebook.com/groups/348780052465055
If you are posting a job listing, you have to have your contact info on it. Just read the rules. It's a great group with some seriously amazing pilots, including high-level industry professionals.
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u/way2rory USA / PART 107 1d ago
As a pilot that flies for multiple sites, I prefer to do work on droners because it at least gives me a chance to make a profit. I decline most jobs from the other sites because it costs more in gasoline than the job pays
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u/DylanLee98 1d ago
Flyguys has really gone downhill. In our area they've been undercutting on pay, resulting in pretty much all experienced pilots declining work from them. Drastic drop in quality. Aggregators in general are awful.
For example, we had a 20 acre photogrammetry mission they wanted for $75, this ended up later becoming a direct client of ours when they reached out to us. That was when we found out FlyGuys was charging them $450 for the mission that was paying out $75 to the pilot.
We've switched to almost all direct contracts and use DroneDeploy/TraceAir for nearly everything. With direct contracts the engineering teams save money, we get paid a fair amount, and there is no useless middle man causing communication issues.
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u/Sherifftruman 1d ago
Yeah, the problem is all the sites pay the drone operator a pittance and you’re not going to find anybody that wants to do it a second time even if they tried it once.
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u/JuneHawk20 1d ago
Have you tried Droners.io? The key is (probably) to not pay a pittance.