DroneBento is a commercial drone operator, or a commercial unmanned aerial systems, operator. Small unmanned aerial vehicles are aircraft in the eyes of federal regulations, insurance companies, and law enforcement agencies. To fly legally, UAV company had to do many things in advance, and many things for you - or your business - that create a safe and legal flight:
- Secured the proper FAA authorization to fly commercial missions legally. This means they are either Section 333 Exempt or adhere to all NPRM 107 (starting August 1, 2016) regulations. In both cases, significant time and effort has been spent on legal issues associated with obtaining this privilege and any necessary waivers to conduct flights for work or business.
- Obtained necessary insurance including business, liability, property damage protection, and also aircraft hull insurance at a significant annual cost due to the risks associated with damage to aircraft, property, or people.
- Purchased and registered (for commercial operation) small unmanned aerial systems. Professional grade aircraft start at about $3,000 and often cost twice that when you factor additional batteries, parts, and camera gear.
- Employs, or contracts, FAA certificated pilots. A private pilot's license, in the USA costs about $10,000 between instruction and aircraft rental., while a commercial transport pilot's license can easily cost a person $120,000. DroneBento uses only certificated pilots that fly manned airplanes, maintain currency requirements, and pass biannual flight reviews.
- Invests significant time, effort, and resources in ongoing maintenance and training.
- Invests significant time and effort in battery performance testing critical to safe operations.
- Assigns considerable time to evaluating customer needs, and conducting research into your mission request to determine hazards, legality, and potential issues associated with the project.
- Conducts onsite or remote review of the flight, prepares equipment, and practices mission flight parameters ahead of the scheduled project.
- Files Notices to Airmen and notifies all applicable agencies of flight operations.
- Prepares aircraft systems.
- 24 hours before a project the operator conducts battery maintenance. Unlike batteries for most electronic systems, UAV's rely on high capacity smart batteries with onboard computers. These batteries self-discharge when not in use, require frequent software updates, and repeated testing.
- Conducts a safe and responsible flight while meeting project requirements.