August 2023

• Residential Property Inspection

I was hired to do a commercial property inspection of a Safeway in Lacey, WA. I’m actually very familiar with this property as I have stopped in there several times over the years. One of the shots required was a Nadir, which is when oblique images are captured in a 360 degree shot from the 8 different directions of the compass (N, NW, W, SW, S, SE, E, NE) that combines the overhead “Birds Eye” shot that looks straight down. There are also two or three connecting shots from the center of the building moving out to the first nadir shot. This gives a full 360 degree, 3-D image for customers.

Pretty standard for a residential inspection. The issue with this one was the 100 ft tall trees on the back end of the building. Usually, I will start my birds eye shot at 85 feet and then go up or down depending on the size of the property. This is a large store so 150 feet was the height to get the full property into view so up I went. As I was doing the two connecting shots, I was thinking forward about the 360 oblique shots and how those trees were going to block 25% of buildings 3D model. Before I engaged the point of Interest mode, I wanted to check the height of the trees. They topped out at 124 feet which meant 150 would suffice for the 360. I always make it a policy to check the tree height before trying to take pictures around them, above them or through them and although I had looked at the site on Google Maps the night before, that only provides a 2D top-down view, i.e. it does not give the pilot a good feel of the true altitude of any surrounding trees. 

Takeaway: Always check the height of the trees before initiating a 360-degree shot. As a single stem from a tree can crash a $2,000 drone into a parking lot or leave it permanently re-homed in an evergreen 124ft in the air.

May 2023

• Massive Prologis storage facility

• 4 buildings plus property , 106 acres

• Full 115 ft ortho

• Roof inspection on both buildings (20 ft above the building height)

• Wall Façade on all buildings

The day started off like all the rest. Planning and execution as always. I had spoken with the client about being there at 0900 to do the shoot and to make sure that all parties knew I would be setting up in the far corner. I set up, put out my charging table, landing pad, cones, and aircraft. I sync up and start flying.

About 30 mins  into the flight a security vehicle appears and is watching me from 50 or 60 feet away. I smile and wave and he drives up to me and asks what I am doing. I explain what I am doing here, show him my order and contract and my credentials. He seems like he is understanding of the situation and promptly leaves. 10 min later he comes back and tells me that his boss told him to call the police and have me arrested for trespassing and that I have one min to leave. I hit the return to home (RTH) button and land the aircraft. 

My POC started speaking with this local manager of security and telling him that it was ok, but the security manager thought we were all up to something and insisted that the police come and arrest me. At one point I heard him say, “That’s it, he’s arrested!”. 

Now, I’m no attorney, but I know that security can’t arrest, nor demand the arrest of anyone. However, I told my point of contact that we should reschedule, and he was in the process of doing that, when the Kent PD showed up. A young officer climbed out of his car and was asking what was going on. I showed him all of my info and credentials and he agreed that I had a right to be there and had the companies expressed consent. The officer came over to me and started asking me about my drone and how it worked. Then he told me to carry on and he left.

Takeaway: Always contact the security office - in advance of a shoot - so they are aware a drone pilot will be on site at a specific date and 3me. Typically, they are the last to know, but first to hassle you, although they are often friendly and are just doing their job as well to keep the property secure.

March 2023

• 75-acre facility, two buildings and huge storage yard 

• Full 115 ft ortho

• Roof inspection on both buildings (20 ft above the building height)

• Wall Façade on all buildings

With a facility this large, a lot of battery changes would be needed and I had purchased an Inverter and two, Mavic 2 triple battery charges so I could do 6 batteries at a time and have rapid turnaround. This really is a game changer as the batteries charge in 30 minutes meaning 3 batteries in 30 min so I always have fresh batteries! The mission was planned on Drone Deploy and would result in a whopping 4200+ pics for this facility plus wall facades

To start the mission, I synced the Mavic 2 Pro aircraft and watched as It started on its 115 ft Ortho of the property. As it neared the end of the first row it stopped and indicated a collision hazard; high tension powerlines that were not visible on the maps were at the far edge of the property. I switched to manual control and checked the altitude, which was 117 feet at the top. But I needed at least 20 feet clearance, so I initiated the RTH (return to home) button and landed the aircraft.

I immediately reached out to the client  and told them the problem and that I needed to be above the 115-foot standard height. I simply went into drone deploy and changed the flight parameters by 25 feet to 140 feet. This way I could complete the mission and do it safety.

Takeaway: Unexpected and/or unrecognized hazards on the job site can occur at any time. Be prepared for last minute changes to flight path to accommodate for the safety of the pilot, aircraft, property, and any persons present on the ground.