so ive been flying for about two years now, got my part 107 last spring and been doing a few gigs here and there on the weekends ? mostly real estate stuff and one construction site job that a buddy hooked me up with. i genuinely enjoy it way more than my office job and the thought of doing it full time has been rattling around in my head for a while now.

the thing is i dont really know anyone who does this full time and makes it work consistently. like i see people online talking about making great money but its hard to tell whats real and whats just someone trying to sell a course. has anyone here actually made the jump to doing drone work as their main income? what kind of work makes up the bulk of your hours? im in a medium sized city in the midwest so not sure if location is working against me either.

not looking for a lecture about saving up before quitting haha, i know that part, just want to hear from people who are actually doing it

yeah i made the jump about three years ago and honestly it took way longer to be stable than i expected. the real estate stuff is fine but its kind of a race to the bottom on pricing in most markets, everyone and their cousin has a drone now and clients will shop around for the cheapest option. what actually saved me was getting into inspection work ? cell towers, roofing, that kind of thing. the pay is better and theres less competition because you actually need to know what youre looking at and be comfortable flying in tighter spots.

midwest is fine honestly, theres tons of agriculture and infrastructure work that coastal guys dont think about. id say the hardest part isnt finding the work its the inconsistency, some months are great and then youll hit a stretch where nothing comes in and you start second guessing everything. having a few anchor clients who book regularly makes all the difference.

im kind of in the same boat as you so im following this thread. did one wedding job last month which was cool but the coordinator was super stressed the whole time and kept asking me to fly in spots i wasnt comfortable with lol. curious what rates people are charging for real estate shoots these days because i feel like i might be undercharging