a buddy of mine who does utility work mentioned his company has been looking at bringing on drone pilots for infrastructure inspection and i got kind of curious about it. seems like it could be steady work but i have no idea what the barrier to entry looks like for that kind of job, like do they want specific certifications beyond 107, certain equipment, or is it more about who you know

im an experianced pilot but all my background is in photography and cinematography so the technical inspection side of things is pretty different from what im used to. dont even know what sensors or software theyd need. anyone been down this road

yeah i did cell tower inspections for about a year through a contractor, it's good steady money but the learning curve is real if you're coming from photo/video. the flying itself isnt that different honestly, close proximity stuff can be nerve wracking near towers but you get used to it. what they really care about is documentation — knowing how to log findings, use the inspection software, sometimes they want thermal capability depending on the asset. some companies will train you if you have solid stick time and a clean record, others want you to already know the workflow. your buddy being an inside contact is probably worth more than any cert tbh, thats how most people i know got into it

the thermal thing is worth looking into regardless, ive heard solar farm inspection is blowing up and they pretty much all require a thermal sensor. M30T or similar. its a big equipment investment but the day rates for that kind of work are way higher than anything you'll get shooting real estate