ScoutHawk

We are looking for an individual pilot/photographer willing to base in Watertown SD, or near by, for this summer. You must own or rent a plane, high wing. We take aerial photos of farms and ranches which are then taken door to door to attempt to sell them to the owners. Season is June to mid-October. Pay is per photo and you pay all your own expenses. Great time builder. You set your own schedule. You must be motivated to work and be organized.
Email me with any questions and your contact information. [email protected]

tanker

So you want them to pay all your non-camera expenses and you make all the profit. Why would anyone want to pay to build their time and bring you along so that you can make money?

JohnBurke

I don't know if they're still in business, but a helicopter company played this scam for some time and called it "time building."

Hopefully this gem doesn't also involve the pilots doing the door-to-door sales. Scum, or scam? Not much difference here.

fasteddie800

This.....can't be a sustainable business model, right?

Back in the day, before the internet was widespread, and when the Midwest was full of small farm operations run out of quaint little farmsteads, pushy salesmen entrepreneurs would get access to aerial photos taken by the USDA and other government agencies. They'd print and frame them, and take them door-to-door and sell them to locals.

An aerial photo of your little homestead was something neat to see, and nice to hang on the wall. Even better if it came already framed. I don't think anyone was ever flying aircraft expressly for the purpose of getting these photos to sell, though. These folks were just leveraging what the USDA and other agencies were already doing.

Today, anyone with a little time on their hands can track down an aerial image of their homestead on the internet. Not that it matters that much anymore; so many of those little 500 acre farms have gone under over the last ~40 years, with the houses either abandoned or torn down and reclaimed by the farm field.

shuom

This is effectively a charter operation is it not? You're looking for both the plane and pilot, flying you + team around for a specific purposes that is not sightseeing.