A Guide to Becoming an FPV Drone Pilot
If you're looking for an exciting and unique hobby that combines technology, creativity, and adrenaline, then becoming an FPV drone pilot might just be the perfect fit for you. FPV, or first-person view, drone piloting involves using a remote-controlled drone equipped with a camera and goggles that allow you to see the drone's perspective in real-time. It's like being a bird in flight, soaring through the skies and experiencing the world from a whole new perspective.
FPV drones came into popular culture in a big way a few years ago with a viral video of an FPV drone flying through a bowling alley, and since then FPV drones have soared in popularity. V1DroneMedia also produces videos using FPV drones to bring a new aerial perspective distinctly different from a traditional drone shot. Check out a few of our videos below.
DJI FPV Drone Video with GoPro
Ohio Wheat Harvest Drone Video using DJI Inspire 2, DJI FPV, and DJI Mavic 2
But before you can take to the skies as an FPV drone pilot, there are a few things you need to know. In this guide, we'll walk you through the process of getting started, mastering the basics, building your skills, and joining the community of FPV pilots.
Getting Started: Familiarize yourself with the FAA rules and get your TRUST Certificate
While this may seem mundane, you don’t want to get in hot water with the FAA just as you start to fly your drone, so learning the rules for operating unmanned aerial vehicles in the national airspace is important. If you are just starting out with drones flying them for fun (as a hobby), you should study for and pass the FAA TRUST Test (The Recreational UAS Safety Test) to get your free TRUST certificate, required to have on hand for any person operating drones as a hobbyist. You can read and watch our blog/vlog post-FAA TRUST Test for Drone Pilots Explained to learn more.
Onto the fun part: Choosing Your First Drone
If you are motivated and handy (you don’t have to be an electrical engineer), you can build your own drone. Check out an FPV drone building guide from a local Cleveland FPV drone pilot, Elliot Spaudie.
There are also a wide variety of FPV drones available to buy, ranging from simple toy models to high-end racing drones. For beginners, I recommend starting with a basic model that is easy to fly and affordable. A couple of options for beginners, depending on your budget, would be the Emax Tinyhawk II Freestyle RTF Kit, the BetaFPV Cetus Pro, DJI Avata, or DJI FPV.
Learning to Fly: Mastering the Basics
Once your drone is set up and ready to go, it's time to start practicing your flying skills. There are a few fundamental skills you'll need to master before you can start doing more advanced maneuvers. These include:
Throttle control: Learning how to control the speed and altitude of your drone.
Pitch and roll: These controls allow you to move your drone forward, backward, left, and right.
Yaw: This control allows you to rotate your drone left or right.
To practice these skills, find an open and safe location to fly your drone. Often you can do this at a local park, but check the airspace you are in, and then municipal and park regulations to make sure they don’t restrict drone flying there.
Building Your Skills: Advanced Techniques and Maneuvers
Once you've mastered the basics of flying your drone, it's time to start pushing yourself and trying out more advanced maneuvers. Here are a few to get you started:
Flips and rolls: These are basic aerobatic maneuvers that involve flipping your drone forward, backward, or sideways while maintaining altitude.
Power loops: This is a more advanced maneuver that involves flipping your drone upside-down while maintaining forward momentum, then completing a loop before righting the drone.
Racing: If you're interested in competing against other FPV pilots, racing is a great way to test your skills and see how you stack up against the competition.
It's important to remember that these maneuvers can be dangerous if not done correctly, so be sure to practice in a safe and legal manner. If you're not confident in your abilities, consider practicing in a simulator before attempting them in real life.
Joining the Community: Networking and Job Opportunities
One of the great things about becoming an FPV drone pilot is the sense of community that comes along with it. There are a variety of local and online communities of FPV pilots (check out Cleveland FPV Drone Racing Facebook Group), where you can share tips, tricks, and experiences with other enthusiasts. Joining these communities can also open networking and job opportunities.
If you are still a student, one great option for you to meet like-minded people of similar age may be to attend a Drone Racing camp, such as Spire Academy Drone Racing Camp in a Cleveland suburb of Geneva, Ohio.
One growing area where FPV pilots are in demand is in the field of specialized aerial videography. While drone videography has been around for a while, FPV drone cinematography has really caught on in the last couple of years thanks to its stunning aerobatic aerial footage that puts the viewer in the middle of the action (check out the use of FPV drone cinematography in the 2022 movie Ambulance). FPV drones are becoming an increasingly popular tool for filmmakers, ad producers, and content creators. If you have a knack for capturing breathtaking footage and solid FPV drone flying skills, this could be a great career path to explore.
Note that if you are planning to fly your FPV drone for commercial purposes (i.e. get paid to fly your FPV drone), you will need to get your FAA Part 107 Drone Certificate to be compliant with the FAA rules for commercial drone pilots. Learn more about it in our blog post Drone Pilot License, and check out V1DroneMedia’s Cleveland-based drone training classes which include Part 107 License Prep.
Another area where FPV pilots are in demand is in the field of drone racing. As the popularity of drone racing continues to grow, there are more and more opportunities for pilots to compete in local and national races. In addition to the thrill of competing, many drone racers also earn money through sponsorships and endorsements.
Finally, there are opportunities for FPV pilots in the field of drone education and training. As more and more people become interested in drone technology, there is a growing demand for experienced pilots who can teach others how to fly safely and responsibly. Whether through online tutorials, in-person classes, or private lessons, there are a variety of ways that FPV pilots can share their skills and knowledge with others.
Being an FPV drone pilot can be a thrilling and rewarding hobby and a career. Whether you're interested in racing, videography, or just flying for fun, there are a variety of opportunities to explore So what are you waiting for? Grab your drone, don your goggles, and take to the skies – the adventure awaits!
V1DroneMedia is a Cleveland-based drone services provider, including producing aerial cinematography and drone fly-through videos (we also fly FPV drones!) for a variety of industries, and providing drone training for groups and individuals. Contact us if you are need a consultation!
Drone Mapping Advantages vs. Conventional Mapping Methods
Drone mapping is becoming a popular use case for drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles. There are several reasons why it is getting so much traction with various industries:
1. Cost-effectiveness: Drones can cover large areas quickly and at a lower cost than traditional survey methods, such as using manned aircraft or ground surveys.
2. High-resolution imagery: Drones can capture high-resolution images and data that can be used for detailed mapping and analysis.
3. Safety: Drones can access areas that are difficult or dangerous for humans to reach, such as steep terrain, hazardous sites, or structures.
4. Speed: Drones can cover large areas quickly, reducing the time required to complete a mapping project.
5. Flexibility: Drones can be easily deployed and controlled, allowing for mapping in a wide range of conditions and environments.
6. Data collection: Drones can be equipped with a variety of sensors, such as cameras, LiDAR, and thermal imaging, to collect a wide range of data for various mapping applications.
7. 3D mapping: Drones can generate 3D models of landscapes and structures, providing more accurate and detailed information than traditional 2D maps.
8. Regular updates: Drones can be used for regular monitoring and updating of maps at a fraction of the time and cost vs. traditional methods, which enables tracking changes over time possible for organizations that couldn’t afford it before.
9. Accuracy: Drone mapping can provide just as accurate maps as traditional methods, as it can use GPS and other technologies (such as including ground control points) to ensure precise GIS information.
Most of the drone mapping can be performed using drone photogrammetry, but other technologies such as lidar can also be used with the drone technology for certain use cases.
If you want to learn more about drone mapping, its uses, how much it costs, and how it is performed, read more details in our What is Drone Mapping blog post, and view V1DroneMedia drone services for AEC industries.
V1DroneMedia is a drone services provider in the Cleveland, Ohio, area. We service midwestern states, and our drone services include drone mapping, drone videography (including FPV drones), drone photography, full video production, virtual tours, drone construction services, and drone training.
V1Dronemedia’s Chief Drone Pilot has 20+ years of experience in commercial airlines, and 30+ years in remote control aviation. If you are interested in contracting drone mapping services and are looking for a quote, contact us!
Façade Inspections in Cleveland by Drone
Why Building Façade Inspection is Needed
A municipal ordinance was passed in 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio, to require façade inspections for buildings of certain age and height to be completed every 5 years – see the detailed ordinance here. Since this ordinance was passed in Cleveland, 2 other major Ohio cities, Columbus, and Cincinnati followed with passing similar ordinances the same year.
As with most ordinances, Cleveland's ordinance passing was a direct consequence of an accident: a parapet wall of an 1890s-era building in downtown Cleveland crumbled, releasing several bricks onto the sidewalk and the road, thankfully without human casualties this time (a parked minivan without passengers was damaged).
The ordinance that was passed requires buildings that are at least 5 stories or 75 feet in height above grade and are of a certain age (between 30-50 years old), to be initially inspected and re-inspected every 5 years.
How was the building façade inspections performed in the past
In the past, this type of inspection was done by inspectors needing to get close to the walls to visually inspect them and document the conditions, which meant erecting and installing the scaffolding, or elevating them by another method, which gets the person close to the source of inspection, but it is not very efficient:
1. It takes time for them to move within the scaffolding, or be elevated by a crane platform to every spot that needs to be inspected and documented
2. It is not the safest for the person involved (a falling accident is a possibility)
3. It can be expensive with the time and equipment involved, plus the addition of insurance costs when performing this work at dangerous elevations.
These types of inspections can be costly to complete when using traditional methods. Facade inspections can run into $10K-$20K, depending on the size of the building. The cost is usually made up by using large equipment or erecting scaffolding structures, inspectors' time that is necessary to visually inspect and document the conditions of the asset, and the report write-up within the guidelines of such inspection.
As one can see, a large proportion of the cost of such inspection is driven up by the resource and time used to visually inspect and document current conditions effectively. The use of autonomous inspection tools that don't require the investment of such resources can cut costs drastically. Drones do just that for such use cases as facade inspections.
Why Use Drone For Building Façade Inspection
A drone allows for the faster and safer acquisition of the visual inspection and documentation data of the current conditions of the façades. Equipment and personnel need is reduced to a drone capable of shooting hi-res photography, and a drone pilot who is qualified to fly safely and legally and can produce such photography.
This photographic output generated by a drone can then be viewed by a qualified design professional on their computer (engineer or architect), certified in the inspection of the specific elements that make up the façade of the structure, and licensed by the State of Ohio, or an inspection agency that is qualified under the Ohio Building Code for Special Inspectors (as per the ordinance).
In addition to basic aerial photography, drone imagery can be set up to be acquired with certain parameters (automated flight path and special photography settings) with an intent of being processed through software to generate point clouds and 3D models, that help capture the building condition overall. Such models allow the inspector to zoom in at any point for a closer look during the inspection, and even produce measurements between points for needed calculations. These models can be stored digitally and updated with a new model at any point in time.
Looking to hire a drone company for a façade inspection in Cleveland?
If a company considers hiring a drone pilot to perform a façade inspection data capture (whether the building facilities management, an inspector or agency), it will need to do its due diligence - see our article Hiring a Drone Pilot for details on how to do that, or contact us to provide you with the quote to perform façade inspection data capture by one of our skilled drone pilots.
If you want to train someone within your organization to fly drones to capture such data, check out our drone training page for drone training classes offered in Cleveland, and contact us to schedule, or sign up for our drone class notification list.
V1DroneMedia Drone Classes
V1DroneMedia offers a set of drone classes that V1DroneMedia’s Chief Drone Pilot (Jason Damman) developed and teaches regularly through local Cleveland community colleges and on-demand for individuals or organizations. Each class is geared toward a specific type of ‘drone’ knowledge need the students or organization is looking for, and we can develop custom classes by request.
Curious about the drone industry?
If you have heard of drones but are not sure how you can take advantage of this innovative technology, would like to learn about it, what it takes to work with drones legally, and what careers are available in the industries that are using drones, our 3-hour Introduction to Drones Class is for you!
What you will learn may spark an interest in a new career, or hobby, or inspire you to use the drone as a tool in your current job and will help you understand what to do if you want to get started. Since this is an in-person class with a drone industry professional, you will also have the ability to ask questions.
Want to learn to fly a drone with expert guidance?
Whether you are a drone hobbyist or an aspiring commercial drone pilot, the essential part of your drone training should be learning to fly the drone. That means being comfortable with operating the drone apps (such as DJI, Litchi, etc.), performing takeoffs and landings, learning to maintain and calibrate the drone, performing routine flight maneuvers, operate the camera to take pictures and video.
We have designed the Drone Operations Class to address this need for anyone who’s never touched a drone, and for those who know their way around a little, but don’t have the full confidence in operating it and want to advance their knowledge and skills.
This class consists of a 3-hour in-class portion that will introduce you to drone apps, how to calibrate, and maintain a drone, design a pre-and post-flight checklist, and introduce you to intelligent flight modes. The outdoor 3-hour portion will allow you to practice this knowledge with the guided expertise of a seasoned drone pilot.
We also have private 2-hour Hands-on Drone Flying Lessons that include only outside flying with hands-on practice, if you just want to practice flying.
While this class will equip you with the ‘know-how’ to operate a drone, it will be up to you to practice and hone your flight skills. That takes time and dedication, but it can pay off. Drone pilots are in demand in a variety of industries (as you can learn from us by taking our Intro to Drones class or watching the Drones for Business Webinar recording), and that demand is growing. A Drone pilot’s hourly pay rate can range from $50 - $250 or even more, depending on their skill set, experience, and the type of work they are doing.
Decided to get your commercial drone pilot license (aka FAA Part 107)?
You will need to get FAA Part 107 license if you intend to use drones for commercial purposes. That means even if you take aerial photographs to market your friend’s real estate listing, or if you want to do a flyover of a building for a roof or home inspection, regardless of the size and weight of the drone. Read my Drone Pilot License blog post for more details on this topic.
If you have decided to take the Part 107 Test, you will need to study FAA Part 107 Knowledge Test Materials and take the Part 107 Test which is similar to a private pilot test in the amount of knowledge covered. It costs $175 to take the test, so having proper preparation is important. You don’t want to have to spend that money again.
Our 2-day in-person FAA Part 107 License Prep Class breaks down the FAA prep materials (they are quite dense and full of aviation lingo) into easy-to-digest concepts for anyone. We cover only the information that is needed to pass the test and operate your unmanned aircraft safely. You will also receive additional resources such as materials to study and access to practice tests.
After that it will be up to you to study, take practice tests, and, when you feel confident enough, schedule and take the Part 107 test in a testing center.
Drone Classes Sign-up
If you’d like to stay up to date on our drone class dates and times, Sign Up to be notified when they get scheduled, and check out our Events page to register for upcoming drone classes.
Custom Drone Training for Organizations
If your organization wants to train its employees, we can design courses that suit your needs. Contact us for a consultation!
Why hands-on drone flight training is important for drone pilots
As a new year begins, many of us are making New Year resolutions. V1DroneMedia's resolution is to bring the most up-to-date and simple-to-understand drone knowledge to you: information about drone regulations, drone industry, equipment capabilities, flight skills, and other drone information to those interested in learning more about drone technology and getting started in flying drones safely and legally.
A lot of drone pilot schools are focused on education and compliance with the FAA drone laws and regulations and getting the Part 107 Remote Pilot License. And this IS where you should start your drone journey if you are thinking about getting a drone or just purchased one because you want to be aware of where and how to operate your drone safely and legally, avoid any negative law enforcement or 'well-wisher' attention, and can intelligently answer any questions about how and where you can legally fly. We have covered all these subjects in our blog post A Beginner's Guide To Drones and have regularly scheduled Drone Training Courses that you can attend to learn this information and get ready for the FAA Part 107 Drone Certification Test.
V1DroneMedia’s Chief Pilot teaching Traffic Patterns during an FAA Part 107 Drone License Prep Course
However, learning safe drone operations or procuring your Part 107 Drone Pilot Certificate is only a starting point (one should walk before they run). The essential part of your drone training should be getting hands-on time flying the drone. That means being comfortable with operating the drone apps (such as DJI, Litchi, etc.), performing takeoffs and landings, learning to maintain and calibrate the drone, performing routine flight maneuvers, operate the camera to take pictures and video. These skills cannot be taught in a classroom, and you need them to fly the drone proficiently if you are serious about becoming a drone pilot. You must get out there and learn to fly your drone, just like manned aviation pilots spend hours flying in a simulator or with an instructor before flying on their own (I spent hours and days in simulator sessions during my training as a commercial pilot, and had to do recurrent training every year in a simulator as well).
While flying a drone doesn't come with the liability of flying an aircraft worth millions of dollars with people on board, it is still very important to understand the systems that make a drone work and be proficient with your equipment to ensure safe operation.
A drone is usually needed to shoot an aerial photo or video of a certain subject matter or an object on the ground or even high up in the air, and you need to have skills to fly the drone to focus on a subject, position the camera of the drone to shoot video or photo from different angles while flying around the subject, maybe even track the subject and shoot continuous video or photographs.
V1DroneMedia’s Chief Pilot with students during a drone flight session
Many of these flight maneuvers are built into intelligent flight modes in the apps nowadays, but you would still need to know how the different intelligent flight modes work and become proficient at setting them up and incorporating them into your workflow (if needed). Learning to fly in a manual mode is also very important and can be beneficial in many situations – especially if you would have to manually take control of the aircraft for any reason.
To help fill the gap in hands-on drone flight experience for aspiring drone pilots V1DroneMedia is now offering Drone Operations classes with both classroom and outdoor time for learning the drone apps, flying procedures and hands-on time, and Hands-on Flying Sessions for individuals and groups tailored to individuals' skill levels and goals. If one of your resolutions this year is to explore a drone as a hobby, learn to fly a drone proficiently, or learn advanced drone flying skills to further your drone industry career goals, Contact Us to schedule your session today! And get on an e-mail list to stay informed about our group class schedules.
How to get started with Digital Marketing for any Business
If you are a small to medium business owner or marketing manager (oftentimes it is the same person), your marketing resources (budget and employees) are limited. Your challenge is to have that marketing budget work for you as hard as possible. You most likely already know that the best way to spend your budget to reach more people is through digital marketing (the exception to this rule exists, of course, if your target audience is not digitally savvy, which is increasingly hard to find nowadays).
Why Digital Media over Traditional Media?
It simply costs a lot less than traditional (Print, TV, Radio) media, it can be better targeted, and there is a lot of 'free' media exposure to be gained through search engines and social media, through what is called "earned media" in the communications world.
When I was in corporate marketing managing million-dollar budgets, the mantra always was to spend your budget most efficiently, and in many ways that meant reaching the most people possible for the cost of the media buy. Usually, this is measured in CPM (or Cost per Thousand) of individual visual impressions. So, even if you have large budgets nowadays, a large portion of it should go to digital marketing, since it helps you reach more people at a lower CPM.
Relevant Digital Content Increases Your Reach
Digital media revolutionized marketing in many ways. One of them is the ability of any business to be discoverable on the internet through the use of relevant content on the website that helps with Search Engine Optimization (or SEO), the other is putting out consistent content on a website and social media that is shareable and helps to build and keep your brand top of mind. The type, quality, and relevancy of this content will play a role in its distribution, sharing, and ranking in the Search Engine results.
A website with SEO-Optimized Content– Step # 1
If you don't have a website yet and have never heard of the term SEO (Search Engine Optimization) before, then you should stop reading this immediately and set up a website, and get educated on SEO as soon as possible! Because SEO is the #1 free marketing tool that is available to you. Through continuous SEO-optimized website copy, you can make your business more discoverable through Search Engines (such as Google, Bing, etc.), bringing your website up in the search results when a prospective customer is searching with a term specific to your business. This should always be the starting point to establish your digital presence: building a website that has SEO-optimized copy and content that will help your website to be discovered.
How to get started with SEO? Since you or your employees are most likely subject matter experts in the service or product you provide, and you have access to clients who you serve and who share their needs (pain points) with you, you are perfectly capable of developing some basic content (copy, photos) for your website. You should also have a plan to keep current on relevant keywords of how customers/consumers look for the services/products you offer, perform a routine (quarterly) audit of yours and competitive website keyword ranking, and update the copy and content accordingly.
There is a wealth of online information and tools on SEO and of course plenty of SEO professionals who can help you to manage this if you are not inclined to do so yourself.
Establish Social Media Presence – Step #2
If you have a website, you need to have a social media presence as well to help you get exposure to prospective clients via content you put out. You can also join and participate in relevant to your business groups on those social platforms, commenting and posting your content there.
The choice of which social media platform you should join depends on your target audience, and where it will be most receptive to your message. If you are a consumer-centric business (Business to Consumer, or B2C - think e-commerce or local services and products), you will most likely get more exposure on Facebook and Instagram. If you are a Business to Business (B2B) provider, then you should probably look into LinkedIn and Facebook more closely. There are other social media platforms (YouTube, Pinterest, TikTok, etc.) that could be useful, but, of course, their usefulness to you will be dictated by the type of product or service you offer, and the type of customers you are targeting.
Whatever social media platform you choose, you should have a consistent posting strategy (a few times a week on certain days, for example), and experiment with the type of posts to learn how you can engage prospective clients (and only your imagination is the limit of what you can try out). This is also something you can outsource if you have the budget to do so.
Video as Digital Marketing Content – Step #3
If you have a good grasp of SEO and have established your social media presence, you should seriously consider developing video content as the next step in making your website content easier to digest and more engaging.
It is not easy to keep your website visitors linger on the website and contact you for business, and video is one of those things that can help you to get there! Good video content on your social media channels will also help to break through the feed and 'earn' free media exposure through catching prospective customers' eye that may cause them to engage with it on a social network, making the reach of your content go further. Video is becoming one of the most effective ways to break through the social feed clutter, and you can read more about the reasons behind it in our Why Video for Your Marketing Content blog post.
But whatever industry your business is in, and whether you have an established marketing strategy or not, get started with a few powerful videos that help a prospective client understand what you do, how you do it, and whether you are trustworthy. You will need this type of basic information for your website anyway, and if you publish it in the video format, it will help to increase time spent with your content on your website (this helps with improving search engine ranking, as mentioned above), and you can reuse the footage you got by posting it on social media platforms to get that coveted 'word of mouth' through social sharing.
Video Production Investment
Video production requires an investment of considerable resources. Over the years the cost of video production has come down significantly with the democratization of video production when skilled video-makers with affordable high-quality gear are establishing video production companies, but it remains an expense, nonetheless. In the marketing communications field this is what's referred to as "non-working dollars', and what this means is it is dollars spent on creating content, i.e. creative development, video production, and agency fees. 'Working dollars" is the budget spent on actually 'showing' the content to prospective customers (i.e. dollars you spend on buying media in form of TV, Radio, Print, Billboard and Social Media).
The rule of thumb in the organizations that spend millions out of their budgets on marketing communications is that the 'non-working dollars' to 'working dollars' ratio should be no higher than 20/80. However, this isn't always realistic and depends on what type of content you are developing. If this content will be reused a lot (also sometimes called 'evergreen' content), and that will permanently on your website and other digital channels (i.e. one that will work for you longer than for 1 year, such as About US video, Product or Service showcase video, project documentation, customer testimonials, as examples), it is certainly worth investing more into producing professionally. If you don't spend any budget on advertising, then you should only think about developing 'evergreen' video professionally for the time being.
What kind of budget should you plan on for video production?
The cost of video production depends on the # and types of videos you want to make, and the number of resources needed to produce them (read # of the crew, equipment, days of shooting, and editing time). If you want to educate yourself more on what it takes to produce a video and learn about the stages of video production, refer to our Video Production 101 blog post.
If you are working with a small agile video production company, you can establish starting budget for your project at $2500 for a simple production with minimal editing and crew, and the budget will go up from there if you require specialized equipment, additional crew, and extensive editing in post-production. If you need creative support from a video production company, such as scriptwriting and ideation in the pre-production stage, then you should plan extra funds for that as well.
If your video requires hired talent (actors), extensive scriptwriting, built sets - this will require a much bigger budget and can run into tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars easily for a couple of days shoot.
Are there ways to reduce the cost of video production?
Yes, there are several ways to control the cost, and many of these levers are within your control. You can limit the cost with careful planning in the pre-production stage, which should dictate exactly the amount of resources (crew members, equipment, production, and editing time) you need to produce the video and give you an idea of what you want to do is within your budget. It will be most helpful to establish the expectations of the production process details between you (the client) and the video production company you hire and formalize them through a written contract.
So, if you are a small to medium-sized business with limited marketing resources, there is enough information here for you to jump-start your digital marketing efforts. If you are ready to get started with video marketing (and our specialty, aerial video), check out our video portfolio and contact us to evaluate and quote your video project.