I checked with CASA... http://www.casa.gov.au/scripts/nc.dll?WCMS:STANDARD::#SESSION_#:pc=PC_100374
Are they having a f'ing laugh?
All up some $5500 in license fees, excluding insurance.
So in order to do professional aerial photo/videography (and be compliant) you're looking at.
Private Pilots Licence
$10-30k equipment
$6k licenses
$3-23k insurance
+ ongoing yearly costs of $8000 (license + ~insurance), excluding equipment... one little mishap and there goes $20k.
Am I missing something? Are there any shortcuts?
So what, your going to pilot it AND take pics at the same time?..... I hope not.
Why not just charter a plane / helicopter and get the client to pay or get a go-pro helicopter? There are some guys making SERIOUS $$$$ using toy helicopters and selling the videos to TV stations and video producers.
If you use any aerial vehical to make money then you require an OC from CASA. Doesnt matter whether it is pro gear or a toy.
FlySurfer you dont need a full PPL, just the theory. But all the other expenses and CASA crap, yeah its a bit excessive and it only gets worse as the machines get bigger.
Select to expand quoteFlySurfer said..
Am I missing something? Are there any shortcuts?
Yes, don't tell anyone you're not authorised and cross your fingers that nothing goes wrong...
I worked on a doco recently with a UAV crew. they had one flying and the other doing the video/stills. we were overflying roads/powerlines etc so you needed to know what was going on.
at one stage, the flying are was in the path of the microwave network that goes from Klagoorlie to esperence, and in mid shoot all control was lost. the UAV held position ,waiting for the battery to run out, directly above the highway, with road trains and car going underneath.
the crew had to stand underneath with a catch net for 15 minutes, and pray it didnt fall when a truck was coming.
their kit included a custom fit out vehicle AND a second UAV , so probably 35k to your estimates.
they did a great job www.altitude-imaging.com
Select to expand quotelandyacht said..
www.altitude-imaging.com
That was pretty much my idea.
I've got a quad, that can carry point and shoot cams, with 1080p video, but it's unstable and doesn't stream it... little gusts will also knock it over and smash the blades/motor supports.
I was doing the calculations to see what my break even costs would be, and from there profit... unless I charge a relatively huge amount per hour, and had significant project demand there's just no way to make a living from it.
Btw the UAV should have self landed.
Select to expand quoteFlySurfer said..landyacht said..
www.altitude-imaging.com
Btw the UAV should have self landed.
It did. Landing/Falling with style - same thing? 
You've got it right. If you want to operate commercially you've got to jump through all those expensive hoops, no short cuts. Once you've done it, you can easily make $5K a week if you are willing to travel, doing pole top inspections for electricity distributors.
Select to expand quotelandyacht said..
at one stage, the flying are was in the path of the microwave network that goes from Klagoorlie to esperence, and in mid shoot all control was lost. the UAV held position ,waiting for the battery to run out, directly above the highway, with road trains and car going underneath.
the crew had to stand underneath with a catch net for 15 minutes, and pray it didnt fall when a truck was coming.
sounds like time to break out the archery gear
stephen
Select to expand quotelandyacht said..
at one stage, the flying are was in the path of the microwave network that goes from Klagoorlie to esperence, and in mid shoot all control was lost.
Quite a common occurance. A clever operator would have had 'Return to Home' set up so that the quad would have flown back to the original take off point when signal was lost.Select to expand quoteMark _australia said..
So my quadcopter carrying a shotgun is legal as long as I don't get paid?
Maybe, but no match for this one.
Select to expand quoteHarrow said..landyacht said..
at one stage, the flying are was in the path of the microwave network that goes from Klagoorlie to esperence, and in mid shoot all control was lost.
Quite a common occurance. A clever operator would have had 'Return to Home' set up so that the quad would have flown back to the original take off point when signal was lost.
It had all those things. they had demonstrated that function earlier in the day and and had done some flyovers of hannan st and the superpit, so it was all working fine. on this particular spot it simply stopped responding and held its posn really well, even when big roadtrains were driving underneath
Select to expand quoteHarrow said..
Once you've done it, you can easily make $5K a week if you are willing to travel, doing pole top inspections for electricity distributors.
Pole inspection is fraught with danger especially on windy/thermally days... and $5k a day, while possible is hardly the norm. The norm is cold calling and begging for contracts, and mostly waiting for the next poorly paid role.
A lets not forget insurance... f'ing ridiculous and you can't get day to day policies.
The big unknown to me is equipment... pretty much every time I take my RC gear out I don't pack up until something breaks; 1-30 mins.
Select to expand quoteFlySurfer said..Harrow said..
Once you've done it, you can easily make $5K a week if you are willing to travel, doing pole top inspections for electricity distributors.
Pole inspection is fraught with danger especially on windy/thermally days... and $5k a day, while possible is hardly the norm. The norm is cold calling and begging for contracts, and mostly waiting for the next poorly paid role.
A lets not forget insurance... f'ing ridiculous and you can't get day to day policies.
The big unknown to me is equipment... pretty much every time I take my RC gear out I don't pack up until something breaks; 1-30 mins.
That's $5K a week, not a day. 
The guy I know is booked out months ahead, but he lives on the road, and is almost never home. That's the price you have to pay if you really want to earn proper money from it. Plenty of people happy to do the local work for a pittance. That's the difference between trying to make a few dollars from your hobby compared to carving out a career.
Why do you have a failure every time? Sounds like you probably need a lot more experience before trying anything commercial. Pole inspections are easy if you have the right gear AND know how to set it up right. I don't just mean know to fly, but how to properly tune the stabilisation and other auto-pilot features.
Think about it....you say you something breaks (crashes??) every time you fly. Is that the sort of thing we want flying around in public with maybe a large SLR camera, etc. That's exactly the reason CASA have set up the hoops.
Select to expand quotelandyacht said..
It had all those things. they had demonstrated that function earlier in the day and and had done some flyovers of hannan st and the superpit, so it was all working fine. on this particular spot it simply stopped responding and held its posn really well, even when big roadtrains were driving underneath.
Had all those features available, and may have even demonstrated it earlier in the day, but not using them later in the day. If it hovered in one spot after losing signal, then the stabilisation system was obviously working, so Return To Home must have been disabled. My guess is he did not bother to reprogram it for the new location, instead just turning it off. Usual complacency and laziness applies.
CASA - apparently have some updated regs coming through on sub 2kg craft that will be interesting .
BUT - they sure are taking their time.
I can totally understand them wanting to make sure that the skies arent full of under qualified cowboys crashing left right and centre over every event and festival throughout summer
i suspect its a legal minefield with multiple competing interests. Quite a few operators (about 30) have stumped up the 15-20 g for full OC - and they WONT be happy if the market is suddenly flooded with 500 operators - as the market rate for aerial work will plummet
There is a lot to learn to be a good operator.
its a VERY complex situation!
Select to expand quoteReflex Films said..
.......
I can totally understand them wanting to make sure that the skies arent full of under qualified cowboys crashing left right and centre over every event and festival throughout summer
......
Me thinks CASA left it a bit late. Them kiters seem to be everywhere already.
Select to expand quoteHarrow said..landyacht said..
It had all those things. they had demonstrated that function earlier in the day and and had done some flyovers of hannan st and the superpit, so it was all working fine. on this particular spot it simply stopped responding and held its posn really well, even when big roadtrains were driving underneath.
Had all those features available, and may have even demonstrated it earlier in the day, but not using them later in the day. If it hovered in one spot after losing signal, then the stabilisation system was obviously working, so Return To Home must have been disabled. My guess is he did not bother to reprogram it for the new location, instead just turning it off. Usual complacency and laziness applies.
Just tie it to the end of your rod and reel. When you want it back then just reel it in.
I don't see what all the fuss is about.
That could be fun, playing it in when it wanted to go somewhere else. 
Select to expand quoteHarrow said..
That's $5K a week, not a day.
Why do you have a failure every time?
Typo, I meant week.
Bcos every time I fly the damn thing it flies different... as the battery depletes it flies different, different batteries fly different, different placement of battery, the gyros sometimes get the shakes, and sometimes it just does weird sh!t... I always have to adjust the trim, and that will take ~8mins, which leaves 4mins flying time!
Just a little hit... and bang goes a prop, or 2... and the mount/s.
Little gust can equal disaster.
My next build will be semi custom hexa with 17" props... and a DJI A2 controller.
But the bigger they are the harder they fall.Select to expand quoteReflex Films said..
its a VERY complex situation!
CASA is farking joke just like every other Aus agency, over bureaucratic and incompetent... they said they would have a syllabus for UAVs in March 2012. FFS all they have to do is copy the Yanks or Brits, and double the cost.
... and you're right there's so much to learn to get a lawnmower in the air with a camera attached... programming, battery theory, electronics, aerodynamics, photography... let alone actually flying the lawnmower.
something funny is going on with your set up - i have a dji fw450 with NAZA , gimbal and Futaba 8 fj radio
its been rock solid every flight since i started 7 months ago - and i'm getting 9-11 minutes of aerial videography time
problem is i cant really charge for my aerial services - so its all fun and freebies until CASA finds the right fit for the regs.
Yeah, definitely something odd going on with your setup. Maybe it's a very samll quad, or you've used cheapie components. Plenty of quads at our club, and once they are set up properly they hold position like a rock. Even in gusty wind conditions they do amazingly well. You can even walk up to one, give it a huge shove with your arm, and it will recover and come straight to the same position in 2 or 3 seconds.
A hex with 17 inch props? Woe, I'd love to see that. Pictures please if you ever do. :-)
And if you ever really want a challenge, start flying 700 size RC heli's, THEN you'll find out what set up and repair is about. Instead of replacing a couple of $2 props, it's $500 of parts and a whole weekend doing a rebuild. You don't want that happening every time you go to the field!
It's a GAUI 500x... I bought it July 2011 1st batch, with some Sunnysky 1250KV motors... it will lift ~1200grs with a 3S/11.1v.
It's either the 344 controller or the ESC causing the random oscilations... but I don't feel like investing any more in it.
Also it swarms bees... I kid you not, 5mins in the middle of a field and I've got 100's of bees being sliced by the props... just goes to show they've got amazing sense of vibration.
It sounds like your solid state gyros are the cheap chinese ones and the early versions were not that good.
Unfortunately they do exactly what you say above. They are somewhat erratic in stability.
They are used a lot in heading hold for model helicopters and you can see the tail flicking around when in the hover.
For helis it's not that critical because you're always on the controls to correct or ignore, but if the same thing was used in conjunction with an autopilot on a quadcopter, I think you could run the autopilot electronics into overload trying to compensate fot the variations, and end up with a stack-in.
They have got a bit better lately but the cheaper ones are still a mixed bag. i.e. in the same brand and type, some are excellent and some are not.
Today at Toys R' Us, I spotted 2 helis with cameras in them for about $80 and $120... can't believe how cheap the toys are!
Anyone have any comments on the DJI phantom quad copter for a newbie? I know you wouldn't learn much but it looks decent to film amateur stuff with friends?
Select to expand quoteHaydn24 said..
Anyone have any comments on the DJI phantom quad copter for a newbie? I know you wouldn't learn much but it looks decent to film amateur stuff with friends?
IMHO, the only thing going against it is the look... but apart from that it's an excellent 1st quad, and pretty solid.
If it was available when I was looking for my 1st, I would have bought it.
I'd skip the radio and get my own, unless you're sure you won't progress to something else.
Select to expand quoteFlySurfer said..Haydn24 said..
Anyone have any comments on the DJI phantom quad copter for a newbie? I know you wouldn't learn much but it looks decent to film amateur stuff with friends?
IMHO, the only thing going against it is the look... but apart from that it's an excellent 1st quad, and pretty solid.
If it was available when I was looking for my 1st, I would have bought it.
I'd skip the radio and get my own, unless you're sure you won't progress to something else.
Yeah looks like a cheap chinese toy, but all reviews seem tops, especially with the gimbal (although expensive). Do you just buy a different remote that works on the same frequency and use the stock transmitter? Sorry just learning.
Cheers
Select to expand quoteHaydn24 said..
Yeah looks like a cheap chinese toy, but all reviews seem tops, especially with the gimbal (although expensive). Do you just buy a different remote that works on the same frequency and use the stock transmitter? Sorry just learning.
Cheers
No you get a radio transmitter (Tx) you like JR/Futaba (8 channel), and it will either come with a receiver (Rx), or you'll need to get one (4-8 channel). Then you just replace the unit inside and connect it to the NAZA flight controller.
You can have ~20 aircraft paired with 1 Tx
RC forums and youtube are sure to have examples... it's very easy.
Using the DJI Tx will be fairly useless for anything else, and I read it's crap too.
Select to expand quoteHarrow said..
A hex with 17 inch props? Woe, I'd love to see that. Pictures please if you ever do. :-)
Still needs a bit of work, the ESC placement is a little tricky and I want the batteries attached to the legs.
It's 1005mm diameter.
thanks, makes sense to upgrade.