Drone Etiquette, What is It and Why is It Useful?

In a nutshell, Drone Etiquette is the art of using consideration and good manners so you are able to successfully fly your mission without offending or pissing anyone off.

There are going to be many times when a customer will ask you to fly a mission in places they don’t fully control.

Let’s look at a real life example:

A commercial real estate agent asks you to get ground and aerial video and images of a strip mall at a really busy intersection in a smallish town…the kind where the local first responders can keep a close eye on things and the locals don’t mind calling in what they perceive as a nuisance. You also don’t want to cause and accident or have someone call in and interrupt some really good shots. What to do?

SAFETY FIRST! Hi Vis Vest with FAA Remote Pilot info, cone off an area to fly from and keep bystanders away from harm. If you are flying long shots, get in and out quickly and if you are doing close-ups, introduce yourself to the managers, give them a little rundown of your operation, and answer any questions they may have.

After scouting the location, depending on where it is, you can go to the local precinct, introduce yourself, let them know where and for how long you will be shooting in case they got a call about a person flying a drone around a busy intersection. This way they would be forewarned and could reassure the caller as well as knowing ahead of time a professional operator was doing a job and it wouldn’t cause extra work for them. Some people are worried about bringing attention to themselves with law enforcement however if you are professional, have your credentials and paperwork in order, they are your best advocates.

In general, when you get a job, good rule of thumb is to find out if there is a contact you can reach out to ahead of time who can pave the way for you…when permissions are in place and people can see a professional is at work, they can relax and so can you. If not, see if there is someone you can reach out to when you get there and Voila!, the job will get done and you will have a satisfied customer.

A little bit of drone etiquette goes a Lonnng Way!

Drone on!

Kerry – Part 107 Remote Pilot since September 2016