so this kind of came out of nowhere. i posted some of my thermal footage in a local pilots group a while back and a utility contractor reached out last week asking if i'd be interested in doing some transmission line inspection work with them. they said they'd handle all the airspace coordination and i'd be working alongside their ground crew.

i have a mavic 3T and about 18 months of experience, mostly mapping and some agricultural stuff. i feel reasonably confident in the air but ive never done anything around high voltage infrastructure and honestly im a little nervous about what that actually involves day to day. like what are the actual hazards, is the EMI as bad as people say for the aircraft, do they typically expect you to fly really close to the conductors or more of a standoff distance situation. the pay they mentioned seems decent but i want to go in with realistic expectations and not look like an idiot on day one

anyone done this kind of work before

did a stint with a subcontractor doing distribution line work for about eight months, its pretty interesting once you get the hang of the workflow. the EMI thing is real but in my experience it was more of an issue closer to substations than out on the lines themselves — your mavic should handle it okay at reasonable standoff distances but youll want to watch your compass calibration and just be aware that things can get a little twitchy near certain equipment. the contractor youre working with should have their own protocols for minimum approach distances, if they dont that would be a red flag honestly.

day to day its a lot of hurrying up and waiting, the ground crew sets the pace and sometimes youre just standing around while they do their thing. bring snacks and sunscreen, you'll be outside in places with zero shade a lot. the actual flying is usually not that technically demanding but you have to stay sharp because the consequences of a mistake near energized lines are obviously not great. overall i found it rewarding work though, feels more substantial than shooting weddings

thats a pretty cool opportunity, congrats. i dont have experience with powerlines specifically but i'd just say make sure you get clarity upfront on exactly what they expect you to provide — raw footage only, or processed deliverables, do they want reports, what software if any. utility contractors can sometimes assume you know their workflow when you dont and it gets awkward. also make sure the insurance situation is clear, like whos covering what if something goes sideways near the infrastructure