So, first I'll dispense with any pretense. I am a "professional UAV (unmanned arial vehicle in FAA-speak) pilot" in the respect that I am paid for my work. I do have my FAA certificate and a fleet of aircraft (drones) that I use depending on the job. It's not my full-time job, but it's more than a self-supporting hobby too. Even with the crappy jobs I am doing, I make more per hour than I make at the job I've invested my adult life in.
The jobs in question came from a drone job aggregate board, so it's pretty low-brow, basic stuff for not a lot of money, but if it's worth my time, I'll take it.
Job one is video and photo assets of a 100-acre trailer park. It is being sold and the owner wants to capture the property for potential buyers. I'm given the shot list, review it, check airspace, and, after himming and hawing about the payout vs. time on site, I accept the job.
The next day another job pops up 6 mins down the road. Just a really quick job, maybe 12 minutes in the air for an additional $70. Absolutely I take it!
Fast forward to Thursday, the day before the jobs. I get just a little more info, including contact info for the client for job 1. You don't normally get that, it's nice though. The client provides his name and number and....adds more shots to the shot list.
NOPE! Not going to let you add shots for free any more than I'd do your front brakes for free because I'm already doing your rears. I contact the job board and they put the job on hold. Dang! That job was the real payout, job 2 was just icing on the cake. I'm hoping the job gets cleared.
Friday, the day for the jobs. Job #1 is still on hold, making job #2 not a great payout, but I'm a man of my word. I'll do it.
It's windy, really windy. The client requested a DJI Phantom 4 Pro, so that's what I have to fly, even though I have two others that will handle the wind better, one of them, much better. Anyway, I don't have contact info for job #2 to approve the variance, so I'm putting the Phantom in the air.
Job #1 is still on hold.
Arrive on-site for Job #2 and 5' off the ground I'm getting high-wind warnings. Ahh, I got this. Now, the shot list calls for 8 shots at 350' AGL, 8 shots at 150' AGL, and 3 at 30' AGL. I go up to 350' and start getting into position. I start hearing shots. Being in a rural area I'm not really concerned. But I notice the shots are frequent. Like a shot every 2-3 seconds. I'm too distracted by the wind to really get concerned by the shots and try to make my orbit around the property to capture the assets. Then as I turn into the wind the Phantom (not a feeble aircraft by any means) isn't able to make forward progress. Now and again the wind would let up for a second and I'd creep forward at 3, 4, 9 mph, but the wind would kick up and it'd start blowing the Phantom away from me!
All the while there is shooting. At that point I'm thinking someone is shooting at the drone. I know, you figured that out a while ago.
Due to the high wind I put it in sport mode as that ups my top speed to somewhere in the mid 40 mph range, but it turns off GPS positional assistance. I also drop down to 150' AGL just to get out of the wind. I'm able to make progress toward the landing point. At that point the shots stop. I figure I'll traverse at 150' to the point of the next shot, zip up to 350' and take the pic, and just do that. As soon as I get above 200' the shots start again, and, without GPS positioning, it's impossible to keep the drone steady for a shot.
I decide to cut my losses and head back. I put it in sport mode, drop to 150' and head to the landing point.
Most difficult landing ever. I got it to about 50' AGL, with GPS on so I could allow it to hover for a second while I checked my surroundings. The little Phantom was able to hover, but it was at a 30 degree angle just to fight the wind and stay still.
To illustrate how hard it was to fly, I'll include the flight path from a previous job, and the one from yesterday.
Here's a typical job. I manually flew an orbit around a property and took pictures from the locations requested. The yellow line represents the flight path.
Now here's yesterdays attempt at a circle:
Lastly, here's a shot from 350'.
Notice the crooked horizon? That's because the aircraft was hovering at a angle beyond what the gimbal can compensate for!
So, at the end of the day, I made no money, but spent the day with my son so it was a win in my book.
Oh, no I didnt' call the cops. I have no proof they were shooting at me, and when below about 200', there was no shooting. I have to go back Wednesday. I'll call the cops at the first shot and see what happens.
