FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

So much tech… so many questions! This should help, else get in touch.

  • Aerial Photography (up to 360 degree panoramic)
  • Aerial Filming (up to 4k)
  • 3D & 4D Mapping (Aerial & Ground)
  • Ground Based Photography & Filming
  • Professional Audio & Video Production

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We are based in Plymouth, UK and undertake work throughout the UK.
We can legally fly between dawn and dusk.
We are unable to fly in precipitation, and in winds above 25MPH.
We also may be restricted if there are other aerial events taking place in the vicinity on the day of filming, but we should have some notice in advance.

For the best results we need winds of 10-12mph or less. UAV’s cannot fly in any kind of precipitation due to the electronic components so we recommend scheduling weather contingency dates.

In the lead up to your shoot we will provide you with regular weather updates and the day before, or in advance of travel, we will confirm whether the conditions are good to go or not. If not, we will not charge you for that day and we set a contingency date. However if conditions are changeable we will assess the chances of being able to make a flight and you can choose whether to take the risk and have us on standby. In this instance if we are unable to fly at all you will be liable for our full fee.

The battery time on our UAV’s determine the flight length for each run. They vary from between 10 to 20 minutes depending on the UAV, conditions, ambient temperature and how aggressive the flight is.

We have plenty of batteries and the means to charge on site to keep work in progress throughout the day.

Worst case scenario with no mains power supply or access to vehicle or our ‘leisure’ battery station, around 3 hours flight time before a recharge is required.

Yes you can. Our Camera Op has independent control of the camera and gimbal which can rotate 360 degrees under the UAV, giving unrestricted views, so you can direct him to what you would like to capture.
For cinematic productions where the shutter speed / frame rate ratio is key, the manual camera settings can also be adjusted in real time from the ground in a matter of seconds without having to land and make adjustments, for example following a change in light levels.
Yes we will.
Video:

4K 25 FPS & 1080P 50 FPS

Photography:
24MP RAW & Jpeg

Ground station
1080p Full HD monitoring and live broadcast quality output

We have been in the audio visual media industry since 1992.

Besides aerial filming we have post production audio and video facilities so if required, we can offer a wide range of services and produce your entire production in-house.

We are creative, passionate and enthusiastic and our attention to detail and customer service is first class.

Our work speaks for itself.

We mostly work as a two person crew as the gimbal (with pan, tilt and lens control) is operated independently of the UAV which means we can create dynamic, exciting moves in the air.

Sometimes we need additional ground support depending on the shoot.

Our services include:

  • Skilled BNUC-S qualified pilot, Director/camera op with expertise who will liaise with your production to achieve the shots you need.
  • Aerial platform with direct drive camera stabilisation.
  • Live SD or HD downlink depending on the circumstances of the shoot which can be fed to multiple monitors.
  • Ground safety management.
  • Production vehicle with recharging station.
  • Advance aviation checks, remote site assessment, location agreements, risk assessment and weather updates.
  • Public liability insurance
We are legally qualified to operate anywhere within the UK.
There are however certain restrictions set by the CAA as to where we (or any other commercial UAV operator) may fly which we must adhere to.

We must also make a judgement on if it is safe to fly which we will do in a risk assessment report at a pre-site survey. For example, we may not be able to fly close to an active airport, close to roads, overhead power lines, over crowds, or where we consider there is a potential risk of danger. We also must adhere to any flight restrictions on the day of the shoot, for example there may be no fly restrictions in place for certain airspace on any given day.

We are legally required to operate at a 50m radius from the general public and buildings/vehicles/vessels outside of our control – so we must ensure that the area is cordoned and we are not flying over roads or public spaces that are not secured from the general public.

We have experience in finding ways to achieve aerial sequences safely so please feel free to consult with us in your pre-production planning.

Legally we are restricted to 500M distance and 400 ft (122M) vertically from the pilot. We must also be able to maintain a visual line of sight with the aircraft at any given time.

In reality we rarely need to go anywhere near those distances to get you the shots you desire and we find safe practice is to assess the conditions and risks of individual scenarios.

If you want to work outside these distances, for example at higher altitude, we can put an individual safety case forward to the CAA.

Yes we do. We have live visuals at ground level so you can watch in real time and we can playback instantaneously after each take.
Yes. We have an HDMI 1080p camera feed output which can be used to send to broadcast.

We can also live stream to YouTube.

We take safety seriously and by taking care of everything on the ground we can be really creative in the sky.

We have a license to operate called a Permission For Aerial Work issued by the CAA. This and the BNUC-S pilot qualification are legal requirements to operate remote aerial platforms in the UK and are recognised qualifications in many countries abroad.

In accordance with CAA regulations, we will undertake a pre-flight survey and create a risk assessment in advance of the shoot and send this to you after your booking is confirmed.

Yes. We are covered for £5M public liability.