so ive been flying for about two years now, mostly just weekends and the occasional small job for friends and local businesses. got my part 107 last spring and honestly i keep thinking about whether i could just... do this full time. like quit my actual job and just do drone work.

right now im doing real estate photography mostly, some construction progress shots for a contractor i know, and i had one inspection job that paid really well but it was kind of a one-off thing. the money isnt bad when i have work but the dry spells are kind of rough. some months are great and then nothing for three weeks.

anyone here actually made the jump to doing this as their main income? what markets did you go after, how long did it take before it felt stable? im not trying to get rich, just want to know if its actually sustainable or if im dreaming a bit

yeah i made the jump about four years ago and honestly the first year was pretty stressful. the thing nobody tells you is that the flying part ends up being like maybe 40% of the actual job ? the rest is sales, editing, chasing invoices, dealing with clients who dont know what they want. if you're okay with that side of it then yeah it can absolutely work.

real estate is a solid base but the margins get thin fast depending on your market, theres a lot of guys undercutting each other on price. where i found more stability was getting into the utility and infrastructure inspection space. takes longer to break into because you need to build relationships and sometimes get additional certs or training, but the day rates are significantly better and the work is more consistent once youre in with a couple companies. i also do some mapping work for a surveying firm on a subcontract basis which fills gaps nicely.

the income is definitely seasonal in some sectors so having a few different revenue streams really matters. took me probably 18 months before i felt like i wasnt sweating every slow week.

not full time yet but ive been building toward it slowly and one thing i keep hearing from people further along than me is dont give up the day job until you've already replaced like 60-70% of your salary with drone income first. easier said than done obviously but that buffer seems to matter a lot for not making desperate decisions on pricing