A UAS Photogrammetrist Rant

For the life of me I don’t understand why companies are purchasing $25,000 fixed wing drones. Positives 1. You have something to show off. 2. If in the desert on a calm day you can capture many acres quickly. Negatives 1. Good luck in wind. 2. Good luck paying it off. 3. Good luck capturing obliques to actually create a quality 3D model and capture building facades or under vegetation. 4. Good luck when you “hand launch” it straight to the ground. 5. Why pay $25k to save an hour or acquisition time? Take the Delair UX11 that is making the rounds… Yeah, I might have to switch batteries and fly an extra hour but I just saved myself tons of cash and don’t have to to overcharge my client to pay off my drone! 6. It will take years of flying it to make the time savings on acquisition worth the cost… and by then another drone the price of a nice car will be out for you to buy. As a photogrammetrist who has been in this game for quite some time now I feel like the whole industry is in a gold-rush frenzy to have the slickest, most expensive gear… but the question is… DO YOU REALLY NEED IT TO PRODUCE QUALITY DATA? The only reason I would ever consider it for my business is when I gain BVLOS permission. I will continue to focus on the highest quality data, captured with prosumer hardware and will happily pass off that cost savings to my clients as well :). This isn’t a dig at anyone, it is just a rant based off what I keep seeing in sUAS news.