What Being a Drone Outlaw Means to Me

The operators I respect have experience and still ask questions. That combination is what I want at the center of Drone Outlaws.

By Matt Garcia, Founder of Drones on the Fly

My favorite experts have put in the hours and still have a beginner's attitude. They can explain what they know, ask a good question, and get excited when they find something they have not seen before.

That is the kind of person I want around Drone Outlaws. To me, being an Outlaw means having the independence to question the usual way of doing things and the humility to learn from somebody else.

I like building things and figuring out how they work. Sometimes that means getting excited about an idea before I have answered every question. Being around people who will challenge me helps me work through it. I want that exchange to be part of the community we are building.

Drone cleaning brings together different kinds of experience. A window cleaner, a drone pilot, a pressure-washing operator, and someone who builds water systems will notice different things on the same job. I see value in getting those people into the same conversation.

A video can start that conversation. The useful part often comes afterward, when someone asks about the surface, the setup, the water, the result, or the work that happened outside the frame.

Sharing those details takes effort. It also takes some confidence to post your work when you know someone might point out something you missed. I respect the people willing to do it, and I want us to make that willingness worthwhile.

For me, that means being specific when we question something and fair to the person who shared it. Ask what happened. Explain the concern. Give them room to respond. If better information changes the answer, change the answer.

I hold myself to that too. I want people to tell me when I have missed something. I would rather learn it while there is still an opportunity to improve the plan.

This matters to me because I am an owner-operator. I know what it feels like to have your name attached to the work and to be the person responsible for figuring out the next step. Equipment decisions, customer expectations, staffing, and production all land somewhere. In a small business, a lot of them land on the same person.

I want those operators to have a stronger voice as drone cleaning develops. Sharing useful information is one way we can build that voice. So is showing up, asking better questions, and helping each other understand what the work actually requires.

I am grateful for the people who have already supported Drone Outlaws. The operators sharing their work, the people asking questions, and the industry people taking the conversation seriously have all helped it move forward.

For the next stage, I want more useful job information, more shared lessons, and more opportunities for operators to learn together. Those are things we have to build through participation. A community becomes useful because people contribute to it.

If you follow Drone Outlaws, bring a question, a job breakdown, or a lesson you think another operator could use. You do not need to have everything figured out. Being willing to learn and contribute is a good place to start.