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Find Dallas Drone : Professional Drone Operator

Gretchen Mikulich: This is Gretchen Mikulich.

Thomas Crosson: And this is Thomas Crosson with fullpackagemedia.com. To learn more about what we’ve talked about today, you can find us online at fullpackagemedia.com or give us a call anytime at 972-885-8823.

Gretchen: Full Package Media is the home of the most professional real-estate media you’ll find in Dallas. Today, we’re going to talk about how to find Dallas drone services, like Full Package Media and some important things you should know about the company you choose or in regards to the FAA and as far as their insurance policies go. So let’s get kicked off with the FAA. Thomas, what’s FAA stand for and what do they do? What do they regulate?

Thomas: So the FAA stands for the Federal Aviation Administration and they regulate everything in the National Airspace System or the NAS, as pilots refer to as, and that includes anything from your low-flying sport and recreational pilots to your high-flying commercial airliners and everything in between. Now of course, they are dealing with the regulation and air-traffic control for consumer and commercial drone usage, which is of course a new thing in the past couple of years. So that’s kind of the basics.

Gretchen: Awesome. So what does it take to be able to fly a drone?

Thomas: Really not much. Which is not scary, but the real reason why they have to have the regulations and stuff that they do, because anyone can go buy a drone from Best Buy or from Amazon or something like that. When you’re looking to find a Dallas drone operator or pilot, you don’t wanna have someone that just randomly bought one and just flying it for the first time or maybe they don’t have the right experience or licensing or insurance.

Gretchen: Okay. What’s the process that a person has to go through in order to become a pilot for the FAA?

Thomas: So, you have to — It’s used to be called the Section 333 Exemption, which you had to have your pilot’s licence for, which was the same pilot’s licence to fly an actual plane. So of course, that was kind of difficult for people to obtain just to fly drones for business or that sort of thing. So they recently launched, announced the Part 107 to get your small unmanned aircraft systems pilot’s licence, and that is just a 50-question test that you can take after studying. It’s not an easy test, but no flight component or anything like that, just pass a background check and take that test.

Gretchen: So what do realtors need to know about the FAA and what are the main things that they should really know about any type of Dallas drone service before they hire someone?

Thomas: So when they’re looking to find a Dallas drone service or pilot, you should check to make sure that they do have their Part 107 or their Section 333, which those are kind of going by the wayside now because of the Part 107. But, make sure they have their Part 107. Make sure their aircraft are registered as well. Now, all drones, every single drone that’s sold has to be registered whether it’s used for

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recreational purposes or commercial purposes. It doesn’t matter. It has to be registered with the drone and there is a registration card that that must be accompanying with that drone at all time, as well as a registration number that’s on the drone that must be accessible without any tools or equipment.

It must be fixed to the drone. So you make sure they have that and then make sure they have insurance that covers them and covers you and your clients in case something happens . A general photographer liability insurance policy won’t necessarily cover that. You have to have a drone endorsement to have that coverage. So that’s something to check and make sure they have.

Gretchen: So regarding insurance– I mean how much insurance should I look for? What type of policy should a pilot have? I mean what do you recommend?

Thomas: Well, when finding a Dallas drone pilot, it’s really hard to say and it depends on how many drones you’re flying and what your level of risk is, and what you’re flying. It depends on the insurance industry in it of itself who’s trying to figure out the best way to insure the drones and the standard is a million dollar per current. That’s kind of standard for any just general liability insurance.

Gretchen: Wow, a million dollars. So as far as damage goes with the drones, what possible things you think could happen with drones and accidents?

Thomas: Well, really unfortunately, the possibilities are endless. Potentially, if you hit a commercial airliner or something like that, obviously that could result in the death and destruction of a lot of property and a lot of people. Hopefully, that never happens and it’s up to the drone community as a whole to not ever let that happen, so that regulations can be pushed in our favor and not have more restrictive regulations. Then of course, you can have — obviously, damaging the drone is a huge thing when it crashes, if you just crash in the ground or hit a tree. But you can hit a car and damage a car, maybe wreck a windshield or scratch the paint or break a window or potentially if it fell on someone, that could hurt them.

Gretchen: So it’s really important to work with a trained Dallas drone provider. Is that correct?

Thomas: Yes, absolutely. Like I said, when you’re finding a Dallas drone operator, make sure they’re trained. All of our pilots go through a training program and they have to pass that training program with us, and then they have to go get their Part 107 to do that and fly for us. They’re continuously evaluated to make sure that they’re flying safely and they’re not just flying — get their training get out of our sight, so to speak, on their own, and start doing stuff they’re not supposed to be. We’re always looking to make sure they’re doing what they’re supposed to do.

Gretchen: Has Full Package Media had any major crashes today?

Thomas: Nope, not today. That is definitely not a daily occurrence. We’d probably be out of business if it was. There has been a tree occurrence.

Gretchen: A tree. What happened? Tell us about the tree.

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Thomas: Well, sometimes these trees just come out of nowhere and we’re looking

to find a Dallas drone, they just get you.

Gretchen: All right. So to recap, when you are trying to find Dallas drone services, you want to insure that the company has pilots that are all FAA Part 107 certified. If not, your pilot, one, is operating illegally, and two, they might not know the rules of the FAA, that they’re required to fly– that are required to fly commercially.

Thomas: Yes. Really, if that person has the Part 107 as well, ideally that person is keeping up to date with new rules and new regulations. In the next month or so, the FAA is expected to release some new regulations that are actually going to help the drone community and allow some more things, hopefully, like instant airspace authorization, flying over people and flying out of line of sight which are some restrictions that we have right now. But, since the drone community as a whole has been behaving themselves, they’re going to let us start doing those things.

Gretchen: Great. Then jumping back to insurance, so also when you’re trying to find Dallas drone providers, we want to ensure that they have insurance, and you said starting at a million dollars per currents.

Thomas: Yes. You want to insure that they have insurance. That’s important. It’s okay to ask your photographer, your pilot for proof of that because it’s easy for anyone, especially an amateur or a semi-professional person to say, “Oh yeah, I have insurance,” but maybe they have a general insurance policy that doesn’t cover their drone activity. Even industry experts in the insurance community will tell you that they’re still working out the kinks and the numbers and trying to figure out how much is appropriate for premiums and deductibles.

We’ve already seen a big change in that and being able to get equipment and warranty coverage for our drones. Initially, it was super easy and super cheap and lasted for three years. But now, we’re not able to get such good deals on protecting our drones in terms of if they break or get crashed and damaged.

Gretchen: So yes, that’s definitely some for realtors to look out for. As these policies become harder to find, a lot of companies are skimping out on it. But Full Package Media is fully insured. They’re insured with their liability policy as well as drone and accident coverage. So, you as the realtor and your client are protected.

Thomas: Yes, that’s exactly right. We are insured and we have an insurance that protects you and protects your clients. If you’re a realtor, that can protect their home, their cars. So again, when finding a Dallas drone officer, really when you want to find that Dallas drone operator, you want to check these things, like we said. Check for their insurance. Check for their drone registration. Check for their Part 107 small unmanned aircraft systems license and just make sure they have that.

Gretchen: Great. Thank you guys for listening in. Again, this is Full Package Media. You can find us at fullpackagemedia.com or give us a call at 972-885-8823.

[00:10:28] [END OF AUDIO]

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