Essential Advice for Novice Commercial Drone Operators in UAE
There’s a big difference between a commercial drone operator like Sky Vision and someone with a DJI Mavic Mini who’s just tooling around in the garden. It’s like watching a match between Roger Federer and a member of your local tennis club. There’s a Grand Canyon sized gulf in expertise.
Today, there are more drone pilots operating across the UAE than ever before. What was once seen as a hobby has now become a viable career path, and it’s not hard to see why. Demand is increasing all the time, and with entry level salaries starting at 125,000 Dirhams per year and senior pilots able to take home 220,000 Dirhams plus a bonus every year, it’s not hard to see why.
Are you a drone pilot with twenty hours of flying experience under your belt and want to see your career take off? If so, keep reading to learn our essential advice. First up is the most important factor.
Professional Drone Operators in Dubai Get their Drone’s Serviced
You need to make sure that your drone is always in tip-top condition; you need to service it regularly. Think about it this way, what if you have a hardware problem and you don’t even know it? You could lose control of the drone mid-flight and crash to the ground!
There are some amazing buildings in Dubai and the rest of the UAE. There have been multiple occasions when unprofessional drone operators have crashed into even the most famous of buildings. There is no quicker way to lose your licence than to have a mechanical failure cause an incident.
There’s a plethora of ways that you can get your drone serviced, but the best way to do it is to take it to a professional drone servicing company, equipped to perform comprehensive servicing. This ensures that you get the right certification.
Why would you choose a dubious drone servicing company? You could end up coming back in a week or month with the same problem? Don’t cut corners when it comes to drone safety in Dubai.
How to Be Professional Drone Operators in the UAE
Buy a Spare Drone
Now, here us out. You’ve got one drone, why would you buy another? Well, if you can it’s important for professional drone pilots to have a back-up in the same way that it’s important for remote workers to have a spare laptop.
What would happen if you had a booking, let’s say your dream job, and you arrive only to find that your ever reliable DJI just isn’t working? Well, for starters, you can kiss goodbye to being paid. Also, if you’re forced to cancel a job on short notice it doesn’t look good. Would anyone hire a drone pilot in UAE and Dubai with a reputation for cancelling jobs?
The DJI Mavic 2 Zoom or Parrot Anafi are often considered good back-up drones if you don’t want to break the bank. If money’s no object, you could have a DJI Inspire 2 or, if you really want to splash out, you could choose to buy two of the DJI Matrice 210 drones.
Learn Video Editing Software
Now here us out, you don’t need to turn yourself into a video editing whizz overnight, but if you’re one of those drone operators in UAE that wants to create stellar videos for clients, understanding how to use video editing software is a must.
You can always present clients with raw footage, but wouldn’t it be much better to shoot and edit a video yourself and then present it to your client?
Thankfully, there’s a handful of software programs that are intuitive and easy to master with a little practice. If you’re stuck, you can always visit skillshare.com where you’ll find classes that teach your everything you need to know about video editing.
Better still, there are drone apps, like DJI GO that have basic editing software that you can use on the go. Want a tip from us? Don’t just shoot aerial footage, capture ground images too! This will give all your videos an interesting dynamic.
Carry Spare Parts
All drone pilots have accidents, whether you’ve less than ten hours flying experience under your belt or have spent hundreds of hours flying your drone in the sky. Accidents can cause damage to the propeller, gimbal, camera or just about any part of your drone, so it makes sense to carry spare parts, right?
Remember too, you won’t be able to soar in the skies for more than five or ten minutes without sufficiently charged and spare batteries. Even top of the range drones have limited flight times and entry level drone batteries only last between 20-30 minutes. What if you’re intending to fly in the sky for hours at a time? Well, you need to bring spare batteries for your planned flight time.
Also, don’t forget to carry any tools that you may need to do any repairs. On any given flight, you could have a collision and you don’t want to cancel the flight and go home just because you don’t have the tools needed to make a few adjustments and get back in the sky!
Practice, Practice, Practice
Now, if you’re thinking of flying a drone professionally, the odds are that you’re quite good compared to most drone operators in Dubai. But there’s a difference between being proficient and being an expert. And, if you want to get the good flying gigs, you must be an expert.
Like anything else, the only way to become an expert drone pilot is to practice, practice, practice. This means getting out there any flying as often as possible. Challenge yourself, always seek to hone your techniques, be bold.
If you’re intent on becoming the best drone pilot that you can be, you can use a drone simulator like DJI GO to hone your skills in intelligent flight mode. Remember, even Tiger Woods, arguably, the best golfer who’s ever lived, has worked with a coach throughout his entire career to be the best that he can be!
Advice to Follow to Become Great Drone Operators in UAE
The bottom line is that there are a handful things that not just novice drone operators can do to elevate their expertise. If you take the attitude that you’re always looking to hone your craft, you’ll have the right attitude, and will hopefully evolve into one of the best drone pilots around.
Interesting in learning more about why Sky Vision is the go-to drone business in Dubai and across the UAE? Contact us today!