I’ve been flying my Mavic Pro Platinum for a couple of years now, having flown fixed wing before that, and I have been thinking about getting my PfCO with the hope of getting some commercial work in the future. I would obviously upgrade to better equipment if this were the case. But part of me keeps saying, is it worth it, how much work will I get, will I actually see a return on my investment? The commercial drone scene seems pretty crowded and I guess depends to a certain extent on where you live? For instance, I have a friend in central Scotland who seems to do well for forestry survey work. But what about other part of the country such as the Midlands and South West?
I’ve read the various other threads regarding Commercial work on this forum and I am still not convinced.
I would say that the PfCO is only a small part of the package. It is basically training and a test to show competence in operating the aircraft to a standard that doesn’t endanger others. Iy is a licence to operate that can be taken away if legal conditions aren’t met.
The PfCO has no bearing whatsoever on creativity, competence in camera operation, ability to follow a brief, editing and colour grading skills or mapping, surveying, 3D modelling, thermal imaging …
The PfCO gives you licence to do all those things and try to earn money doing so. If you are good at all or any of them you will find a market. And remember the flying is only a means to an end. Professional divers may have been seduced into the trade through recreational scuba diving, the diving component of their job is usually subordinate to the engineering, building or welding work they ub=ndertake whilst submerged.
For all the proliferation of camera phones and cheap compacts and DSLRs there is still a need for professional wedding photographers. Website designers still make a living despite the ease of creating sites with Wordpress. There is a B&Q in most major towns yet most people get a builder or plumber in for the tasks that require a modicum of skill.
Yes, it is a crowded marketplace. And the client couldn’t give a toss whether you have a PfCO or a cycling proficiency certificate. If your results are outstanding you should get work. And you aare only as good as your last job …
excellent reply. I too am wondering whether to take the plunge. It is further complicated by the changing regs that have several different interpretations, and is pretty much best guesses by most on youtube. I am a full time photographer, but am thinking of adding this string to my bow.
If you can do a PfCO now then I believe, as long as you keep it renewed and thus current. it will allow you to operate as if you held the proposed qualifications.
I managed to find a free theory course with UAVHUB (not available any more) which was interesting and, I felt, relatively straightforward. The theory, classroom refresher and flight tests would have cost much the same as a complete course. I didn;t take it any further.
im of the understanding that for quite a bit of stuff, if you have a mini, you won’t need any kind of qualification for certain commercial work. you will need to register though and have PLI insurance. Like i said, this is only what I have read.
As I say every month when this question gets asked, the race to the bottom of drone services began two years ago. You’re a bit late to the party if you want to join that sinking ship.
Plus, depending on how the new regs pan out, you probably won’t even need a PfCO in the future.
Training services is where the money is was. Their race to the bottom has also begun, you only need to look at the cost of PfCO training to see how that’s going to end. They’re all dropping the price before the market falls through the floor.
Spend / waste / invest your disposable income elsewhere
That’s how I saw it. If you ignore the lockdown aspect, Huge discounts means sales are drying up. Drying up because the market is saturated for training, or alternatively because the regs are being changed and making it superfluous. I literally had my basket full and about to press checkout now when I decided to hang on. So my perception (I could be wrong) is that training bodies are trying to squeeze the last few drops of milk out of the cash cow.
And however great the hobby, it soon becomes shit when you do it for a living.
There’s not many purely driven drone flying businesses that even clear the average uk wage (I’ve asked here and elsewhere and never been overwhelmed with replies)
I’m interested to hear peoples views as to whether they feel the current career opportunities for commercial pilots is positive and growing as you are lead to beleive or is it just a smoke screen for training providers to get your cash in return for PFCO training.
I personally don’t now if its good, bad or ugly, all I know is I’m going to do my pfco and give it my best shot and I’m loving it.
I’m not skilled in a profession where I can put those skills to work with a drone ie a qualified surveyor who can carry out land mapping and validate their own databases, but im more of a person who is able and dedicated to getting my pfco and then getting myself trained up in a specific area of work…have I got a chance??
I think that you are young enough to go through the process and have plenty of years ahead of you to make it pay.
I’m of the age (for me) where I would love to do it but I don’t want to spend forever with the, training, exams and paperwork that is involved so I do it for pleasure and I love it.
As was talked about in a another thread the actual flying of a drone in a commercial scenario is neither here nor there but rather the product you produce will determine your marketability. The PFCO, or what may replace it, will only provide you with the permissions to operate commercially.
I remember when the first sub-£1,000 consumer digital SLR hit the market (Canon 300D) everybody and his brother decided they were going to become the next David Bailey or Ansel Adams. I do have one friend who managed to make it a reality and make a good living out of it. He concentrated his efforts on marketing and production, and even though he had a good eye and understood light this was not how he promoted himself.
Someone who hires a builder couldn’t care less what drills or other tools they use, they’re only interested in if the builder can produce what they want efficiently.
A few years back I gave some serious consideration to doing the PFCO. I figured that as I was retired I could do jobs on an adhock basis. Even though I had a lot of experience flying, and in some adverse conditions, along with the drones I chose not to go ahead. I just didn’t have the tools to market myself nor the infrastructure to post produce the desired results that I would be expected to provide. Maybe I just didn’t have enough confidence in myself.
I know many whom have gone the commercial route and have been very successful, but I also know of many whom have thought the PFCO was the be all and end all and have come to the crushing realisation that they were ill prepared.
Overall if you have the passion and and confidence in yourself there’s no reason why you can’t be a success. Unfortunately, in my case, I had (still have) the passion but sadly very little confidence in myself to see such a venture through successfully.
I would go so far as to suggest that if you need to ask the question, then there may not be a future in it for you.
By that I’m not wishing to sound dismissive of your intentions/abilities, but this move needs several things, many mentioned above but also :
know the market you are aiming at
already know potential clients that you could depend on - either for work or for projects to build a CV in your chosen field (possibly for free, initially)
USP!. So many people out there doing (or trying to do) the same thing, you need a reason that people would come to you over the competition.
Great question! The answers to questions like this is one of the reasons I joined this forum as was going to ask this myself. Some interesting and informative answers coming back, great stuff.
