background: i've been flying recreationally for a few years and got my part 107 certified about 8 months ago. been doing small stuff, some event coverage, helped a buddy film a wedding once. nothing serious. but i keep hearing that surveying and mapping is where the real money is and i'm genuinely curious if its something someone can transition into without a background in GIS or surveying already.

i dont have any formal survey training. i know how to fly well and im comfortable with mission planning software - been using litchi and played around with dronelink a bit. but i dont really know how to process the data on the other side of it, like photogrammetry and all that. is that something you can realistically teach yourself or do you need to be working under a licensed surveyor to do this legally. i'm a bit fuzzy on the legal side of it too tbh

the legal stuff depends a lot on your state - in some places you literally cannot call it a survey or deliver survey-grade deliverables without a licensed PLS signing off on it. so there are actually two paths: either you get hired by a survey company and fly for them (they handle all the licensing stuff), or you do mapping and photogrammetry work that doesnt get stamped as an official survey, like construction progress, volumetrics, that kind of thing. second path is more accessible but you need to be careful about how you market it.

pix4d and metashape are the main software people use for the processing side. pix4d has decent tutorials and honestly if youre willing to grind through some youtube videos and buy some of the coursework on udemy you can get a solid foundation. its not magic but theres definitely a learning curve especially understanding ground control points and accuracy expectations.

yeah what the person above said about state laws is real, dont skip that step. i got asked by a small engineering firm if i could deliver survey grade data and i almost said yes before i looked into it more carefully. ended up doing a subcontract arrangement where they used my flights and processed everything on their end. wasnt ideal but it was a foot in the door and i learned a ton just from asking questions. sometimes thats the move, find a firm that needs pilots and let them handle the technical output while you build up knowledge on the side