Rent a drone

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Say you are going on vacation and will be kayaking in the Everglades or hiking in the Rockies or anything big and outdoors.

Would you want to rent a drone all set up for video and picture taking from the air to catch things you can't see? Or things too far away that you want to see better. I would have used on hiking the Rees-Dart tramp in New Zealand years ago for some amazing rushing river footage.

Only a few pros and some big cons to this idea. Would it work as a company?

We'd send you a drone in a box specially designed for vacation use. We could ship it to your destination so you don't have to travel with it, with return label.

[GH85Carrera]

As I understand it to do commercial work with a drone, and renting one out is the definition of commercial, requires a pilots license in the USA. It may work in other countries.

I don't know if you could do it legally.

[stealthn]

There's tons of companies that do this already

Here's one: https://www.blueskiesdronerental.com/

[Seahawk]

Glenn, they get around the part 333 Exemption since the "flying" isn't commercial, rather being done by a hobbyist who is renting the drone. I see the insurance industry getting involved with this soonest.

There are a lot of Commerce regulations governing drone rental and sales internationally. Do some ITAR homework and you'll find it gets pretty daunting for the average person. Best to contract the services in the country you are visiting, at least for now.

Also, every country has their own drone regulations, some open, others very constricted in terms of commercial operators. The penalties are severe.

If you are just getting into the commercial drone world, your are late to the party. I do this for a living, speak at a lot of conferences and trust me, the opportunities are being vetted everyday and exploited by very creative people.

I also sit on a lot of boards and work with the FAA is helping scope the next round(s) of legislation.

The drone industry used to be, to quote P.J., "teenage boys with whiskey and car keys". Not anymore.

There are still a lot of opportunities but you really have to understand the rules, the markets and the people in those markets.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Shaun @ Tru6

Would it work as a company?

We'd send you a drone in a box specially designed for vacation use. We could ship it to your destination so you don't have to travel with it, with return label.

Always thinking, aren't you Shaun! I love it!
But -
Would you rent a car to someone who's never driven before? UAVs are easy to fly, but they do take training and practice. I'm not sure I would turn a complete novice loose with one. As several people have learned, using the flight controls properly seems to be the easy part, learning when/where it is appropriate to fly it seems to be more challenging for some people. It's not a venture I would risk anything on.