so ive been flying for about 2 years now, got my part 107 last spring and i do a lot of real estate shoots on the side while still working my day job. the real estate stuff has been going pretty well honestly, enough that im starting to wonder if i could actually do this full time or if im just romanticizing it because i hate my office job lol

the thing is i dont really know what a realistic income looks like for someone who isnt already connected to a big production company or whatever. like the people i see posting big numbers online always seem to be selling courses or something which makes me trust it less. does anyone here actually do drone work as their main gig? what does a typical month look like in terms of gigs and income, or is it super inconsistent? i mostly have real estate, some construction progress stuff i do for a local contractor, and ive done a couple event things but those felt kinda stressful

genuinely not sure if i should try to scale this up or just keep it as a solid side income. would love to hear from people who made the jump or decided not to

made the jump about 3 years ago and honestly the inconsistency is the hardest part, not the flying. some months are great, like last october i had back to back real estate, a cell tower inspection gig, and a short film shoot all at once. then january was basically dead. the key thing nobody tells you is that you basically need 3-4 different income streams going at once — real estate alone will kill you in winter depending on where you live

the construction inspection work you mentioned is actually gold if you can grow that side of things. those clients tend to book regularly and they dont care as much about perfect cinematic shots, they just want clear reliable footage and someone who shows up on time. ive got two general contractors i work with on a monthly retainer now and that covers my baseline. the real estate money is just on top of that

if you already have paying clients and a 107 youre honestly ahead of most people who try to make this work. just dont quit the day job until you have at least 6 months of expenses saved and your recurring work is consistent

following this thread because im kind of in the same spot. just got my 107 a few months ago and have done like 3 or 4 paid shoots so far, all real estate. curious how you found your construction client because that seems way more stable than chasing realtors