It is not magic
In sales I capitalize on my extensive relationships from
former Navy SEALs, former boxers, trainers and fans that I know and their
referrals. Recently a surveyor in Texas who has been following from the
beginning of my endeavor with the unmanned industry. He used to work for a very
good friend of mine in San Diego but he as the company they both worked for had
a shakeup, he left California and back to Texas where he had an opportunity to
work in the in the oil industry and raise his kids in Texas. When I came to
Texas I looked him up and he introduced me to the GSR survey applications. Now
moving the clock forward, with oil prices dropping, things are hard for him now
and he decided to jump in and buy a UAS and Pix4D. The survey company he works
for supporting the oil industry let him go. I reached out everywhere and looked
for someone to hire him but before I could line anything up our mutual friend
in San Diego snapped him up and hired him and he is headed to San Diego right
now. The three of us got on a call and our San Diego connection told us how a
real-estate development company asked him to survey an area where the terrain
would make it very difficult and expensive job to do and then he realized our
buddy was coming and he told the developer “I have someone coming to work for
me with a drone and he can fly over this problem area, gather the data with his
drone and save you time and money.” The real-estate developer said “I’m in,
let’s do it”.
Getting comfortable
and finding the need
I had been talking with my friend in San Diego since the
very beginning and we have never done any business. Now this other surveyor,
made the plunge, bought a system and got the training, researched Pix4D and got
excited about it. That was enough to make our buddy in San Diego to consider
it. We were on the call talking about all of the possibilities. Aerial image
gathering for commercial architects and developers, ALTA mapping for title
companies, flood plain mapping, bridges and overpasses. Then our buddy in San
Diego has an account with the trolley and rail systems where the terrain would
be difficult for a man on the ground but would be a snap for a UAS.
Red tape
Under the current FAA guidelines, they say “No commercial
use” but there are hundreds of certifications issues and exemptions authorized.
These 333 exemptions require that the UAV pilot hold a privet pilot’s license
which has no bearing on what it takes to fly a UAS. Then the rules presented to
congress to be passed into law does not require the operator to hold a pilot’s
license. I have a list of over 100 UAS pilots that are making money but do not
hold any type of pilot’s license. They are flying over private property with
the property owner’s written permission. The current FAA guidelines and restrictions
are problematic because the FAA’s authority is limited to airports, runways and
their approaches. Municipal code supersedes FAA guidelines. So when someone is
found to be violating the FAA regulations they have to get the local law
enforcement to site them. Law enforcement officers do not enforce guidelines,
only laws. There is no federal laws and that means that the state, county or
city has to have passed a law for them to enforce. All states have left it up
to the federal government which they haven’t. In some cases the cities have
laws in place for RC hobbyist that apply. Now these guys brought up that they
have retired pilots that they can list as the “Pilot in Charge” which is a
concept that had been brought to my attention from someone working with the FAA
rules committee. This would be a solution for DOT and operations over public
property, until congress finally rules on the FAA rules.
Duplication
I have a lady who owns an LED manufactures rep company that is fascinated by
drones and their imagery and I told her about this situation and she referred
me to the small survey company next door to her business and I have contacted
them. Then I started calling surveyors in the Dallas area and what I found was
some interest but no follow through. I will spoon feed them information on the
capabilities and I have asked my two buddies to give me their insight. I have
had some of the gate keepers, receptionists who answer the phone telling me
that they are not interested and I asked them “So you’re not interested in saving
time, money and have more accurate data?” and they said “No” and hung up. We
will just see what their customers say when another surveyors calls their
clients and leads with the time and money savings with a better quality data.
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