No email gate, no sign-up. Move the sliders, get a number. The model behind it uses the same benchmarks Australian contract drone operators actually charge — and we show you the whole calculation, not just the total.
Most contractors won't show you this. We will, because a price you can sanity-check yourself is a price you'll trust.
The benchmark Australian contract drone operators work to is roughly $1.80 per litre-per-hectare applied. Spray 20 L/ha and you're near $36/ha; 40 L/ha and you're near $72/ha. It sounds crude, but it tracks the real driver of cost — how many times the aircraft has to come back and refill.
Orchards and vines carry a higher multiplier because the water rates are higher and the flying is slower and closer to obstacles.
Charging per hectare on a gully full of blackberry punishes whoever guesses wrong. Spot spraying and steep or timbered country runs at $275–$325 per hour with a two hour minimum, billed on actual flying and setup time.
You get the flight log, so the hours on the invoice are the hours in the air.
Open flat country flies fastest. Undulating ground adds around 12%, and steep, timbered or obstacle-heavy country adds around 28% — slower flight lines, more repositioning, more care around hazards.
We'd rather show you the loading than bury it in a padded per-hectare rate.
Within 100 km there's no travel charge. Beyond that it's a flat fee — $350, $750 or $1,400 depending on distance — not a per-kilometre meter running while we drive.
Minimum job charge is $850 ex GST. That covers getting the trailer to you, setting up and flying, and it's what applies to most jobs under 15–20 ha.
30 × 1.8 = $54/ha → $9,720. Flat country, no travel fee. Estimate: $9,720 ex GST — about 1.5–2 days flying.
6 hours at $300 = $1,800, plus 28% steep-country loading = $2,304, plus $350 mobilisation. Estimate: $2,654 ex GST.
60 × 2.4 = $144/ha → $1,728, plus 12% undulating loading = $1,935. Above the minimum. Estimate: $1,935 ex GST.