Confined Space Drone Inspection
Confined space entry is the highest-consequence routine task in industrial maintenance, and a large share of entries happen so that somebody can look at something. Removing the looking removes most of the entries.
- Free to post
- No commission on the job
- Part 107 certified pilots
118 inspection pilots ready to quoteAcross 37 states & regions
No entry to inspect
No permit, no atmosphere monitoring for an occupant, no standby attendant, no rescue plan for a person inside. The risk that entry procedures exist to manage simply is not taken.
Days of scaffold you do not build
Inspecting the inside of a tank or a vessel conventionally means scaffolding it out or rope access. A flight is measured in hours, which is what makes internal inspection something you can afford to do more often.
Surfaces nobody was reaching
The upper shell of a silo, the underside of a tank roof, the top of a vessel — these get inspected sparsely because access is hard. From inside the air they are all equally reachable.
Free to post
Posting and receiving quotes costs nothing, and SkyLog takes no commission and adds no markup. You pay the pilot you hire, at the price the two of you agree.
What this settles
- Tank and pressure vessel interiors, once cleaned and gas-free, without scaffolding out the vessel or sending people in on rope.
- Silos, hoppers and bunkers including build-up, bridging and liner condition; boilers and furnaces during an outage.
- Sewers, culverts, penstocks, ballast tanks, cargo holds and void spaces; mine workings and shafts; ducts, flues and chimney interiors.
- A photogrammetric model of the interior where you need to locate a defect precisely, not just see it.
What it does not
- Remove the preparation, only the entry. The space still has to be isolated, drained, cleaned and made gas-free.
- Fly a hazardous atmosphere unless the equipment is rated for it — which is a much smaller set of aircraft again.
- Measure thickness, take samples, clean anything, or see behind scale and build-up.
- Be done by an experienced outdoor pilot with ordinary kit. No GPS, no light, useless compasses and attenuated radio need caged aircraft and specialist practice.
Ask what atmosphere the operator's equipment is rated for and expect a specific answer. A 600mm manway is a very different proposition from a roof hatch — describe the access route when you post.
How it works
Three steps, no account needed to start, and nothing to pay at any point in it.
- 1
Describe the job
The form opens with this page's answers already filled in — service, deliverable, site access. Add the location and anything specific to your site.
- 2
Pilots quote it
Every pilot whose service area and services match is notified. You get itemised quotes back with their credentials, kit and sample work attached.
- 3
Compare and hire
Pick on price, proximity or portfolio, and pay the pilot directly. SkyLog takes no cut and adds no markup to what you agree.
Inspection pilots with published profiles
Real published profiles. Open any one to see credentials, kit, service area and sample work before you post.
chris aldridge
Texas, United States
20 work samples
I’m a commercial drone pilot providing aerial mapping, property line overlays, topographic mapping, construction site data, radiometric thermal inspections, 3D modeling, real estate listing photography and video, property marketing, and professional aerial imagery for businesses and landowners.
Real estateWeddingEventInspectionMapping / surveyFilm / TVConstructionOther- George Benes
Oregon, United States
13 work samples
I've been a Part 107 drone pilot since 2019, working with Pacific Northwest clients on Real estate, construction progress, mapping, telecom inspections, architectural photography and events. I am very flexible and can provide deliverables within 24 - 48 hours. I take great pride in my work and having a photography business, my delivered photos are edited and culled to the best of the best. I worked for 30+ years as a commercial construction Superintendent, managing multi-million dollar construction projects and this experience allows me to be very safety oriented and knowledgeable on construction sites, providing the construction companies with usable deliverables that they can share with all stakeholders involved in their building project.
Real estateEventInspectionMapping / surveyConstruction 
Andy Jones
California, United States
12 work samples
FAA Part 107 Certified Remote Pilot based in Southern California, specializing in construction documentation, infrastructure inspections, mapping, orthomosaics, and aerial imagery. With more than two decades of experience managing complex federal construction projects, I understand the importance of accuracy, safety, and delivering actionable data—not just photos. I operate professional DJI Enterprise aircraft, including the DJI Matrice 4E, DJI Matrice 4T, as well as the DJI Air 3S for high-resolution imaging and the DJI Neo 2 for specialized close-range operations. My services include construction progress documentation, roof and property inspections, land development, infrastructure photography, photogrammetry, mapping, and custom aerial imaging. I also conduct search operations for lost pets using aerial search techniques and thermal imaging. Every mission is conducted in compliance with FAA regulations, with careful mission planning, clear communication, and a commitment to delivering high-quality results on schedule. Whether you need a single inspection or recurring project documentation, my goal is to provide reliable aerial data you can confidently use to make decisions.
Real estateEventInspectionMapping / surveyConstructionAgricultureOtherFilm / TVWedding
George Colonna
Maryland, United States
12 work samples
Started flying drones for General Dynamics Robotics Systems in 2009 as the subject matter expert and lead test engineer for RCTA and a program called the Soldier Machine Interface. We developed leader/follower code for up-armored autonomous assets a full decade before Google fielded their driverless car "train" and a UI that let soldiers/marines plan missions on the ground and in the air. My job was to ensure the software worked, more importantly, met customer requirements. Working in the field afforded me a wealth of experience regarding process and implementation, but also how to think critically and resolve issues on the fly. If interested in learning more about my credentials, please see my website. My current fleet is primarily DJI and Autel. I have RTK capability and a complete field kit to sustain remote operations for several days.
InspectionMapping / surveyConstructionOtherFilm / TV- K Enagonio
Tennessee, United States
10 work samples
I've been flying since 2015 and specialize in both cinematic filmmaking as well as surveying, construction, sensitive infrastructure capture, and music videos and events.
Film / TVConstructionInspectionEventAgricultureReal estateMapping / surveyOther 
Casey Jones
Arizona, United States
9 work samples
FAA Part 107 commercial drone pilot specializing in RTK mapping, aerial photography, thermal imaging, property documentation, construction progress, and detailed site capture. I operate professional DJI aircraft including the Matrice 4E and Matrice 4T, with RTK capability for repeatable, high-quality data collection. I approach each assignment as a complete mission, from airspace and site planning through safe flight operations, field verification, data handling, and final delivery. I serve clients throughout the California, Nevada, and Arizona tri-state region and am available for both individual assignments and multi-site projects.
Real estateEventMapping / surveyConstructionAgricultureOtherInspection
Inspection pilots by state
This is different equipment, not a normal drone indoors
Everything a standard aircraft relies on is absent inside a steel vessel. There is no GPS, so positioning comes from visual and lidar-based systems or from the pilot flying manually on the camera feed. There is no ambient light, so the aircraft carries its own — and lighting a curved reflective steel surface without blowing out the image is a real part of the skill. There is no room for error, so the airframe is caged or shrouded so that contact with a wall is a bump rather than a crash. Compasses are useless near that much steel. Radio links attenuate badly through a metal shell, which is why many operations are tethered or use signal repeaters lowered through the hatch. The result is a small pool of operators with genuinely specialised kit, and it is worth screening for that directly rather than assuming an experienced outdoor pilot can do it.
What gets inspected this way
Storage tanks and pressure vessels, internally, once cleaned and gas-free. Silos, hoppers and bunkers, including material build-up, bridging and liner condition. Boilers, furnaces and their internals during an outage. Sewers, culverts, penstocks and other buried or submerged conduits. Ballast tanks, cargo holds and void spaces on vessels — marine class inspection is one of the more established uses. Mine workings and shafts. Ducts, flues and the interiors of chimneys. Building voids, roof spaces and lift shafts. The common thread is a space that is enclosed, hazardous or hard to reach, where the inspection is fundamentally visual, and where getting a person in is the expensive and dangerous part.
What the site still has to do
The drone does not remove the preparation, only the entry. The space still has to be isolated, drained, cleaned and made gas-free to whatever standard your procedures require before an aircraft goes in, because a flight through a flammable atmosphere is not a flight anyone should take — and if the atmosphere is hazardous, the equipment has to be rated for it, which is a much smaller set of aircraft again. Access still has to be opened. Someone still needs to be at the hatch. A permit is still likely, even for an unoccupied entry, and your own procedures may treat introducing equipment into a confined space as a controlled activity in its own right. Ask a prospective operator what atmosphere their equipment is rated for and expect a specific answer.
Scoping and limits
Describe the space: what it is, its internal dimensions, what it held, how the drone gets in — a 600mm manway is a very different proposition from a roof hatch — and what surfaces need covering. Say whether the asset can be taken out of service and for how long, and what condition it will be in. Ask what the deliverable is: indexed imagery, a video walk-through, or a photogrammetric model of the interior, which is increasingly available and much more useful for locating a defect precisely. On limits: it is a visual inspection. It does not measure thickness, it does not take samples, it does not clean anything, and it cannot see behind scale or build-up. What it does is tell you what the inside looks like and where an entry, if one is still needed, should be directed.
Common questions
Does the space still need to be gas-free?
In almost all cases yes. Standard equipment is not rated for a flammable atmosphere, and only a small set of purpose-built aircraft are. Ask what any operator's equipment is certified for and match it to your procedures.
How does it fly without GPS?
On visual and lidar-based positioning, on the pilot's manual skill flying from the camera feed, or both. The aircraft is caged so contact with a wall is survivable, and it carries its own lighting.
Can it measure wall thickness?
Not with a standard inspection aircraft. Some specialist platforms carry ultrasonic probes that make contact with the surface, but that is a distinct and much rarer capability. A visual survey tells you where thickness readings are worth taking.
What does it cost?
More than an equivalent external inspection — it is specialist equipment and a much smaller operator pool. Against the alternative of scaffolding out a vessel or a full entry with a standby team, it is usually far cheaper. Post the asset and compare real quotes.
Do we still need a permit?
Very likely, since most procedures treat introducing equipment into a confined space as a controlled activity even with nobody inside. What changes is that there is no occupant to monitor and no rescue plan for a person in the space.
Can we get a 3D model of the interior?
Increasingly yes, and it is worth asking for — locating a defect precisely inside a large vessel is much easier against a model than against a folder of similar-looking images.
Related drone services
Post your confined space inspection free
Describe the space, the access route and the atmosphere. Operators with caged indoor aircraft will quote directly.
- No commission, ever
- Part 107 certified pilots
- No obligation to hire
Prices and guidance on this page were last reviewed .