Drone filming FAQs

 

A few useful facts for you about our drone filming services. Of course, we’d love it if you would pick up the phone and chat to us to find out more!

Does drone filming require a licence?

Yes, absolutely it does if you want to operate commercially within the law. As a company, we are Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) approved - we have issued with a CAA Permission for Commercial Operations (PFCO, formerly called PfAW), and our drone crews are all fully qualified. This means that, as a company, we’ve drawn up a rigorous operations manual to manage the safety of our flights. It also means that our drone crews have passed both theory and practical examinations. If you’re considering commissioning aerial filming, please make sure that the company you choose are fully certified and approved – unfortunately a lot of operators are not.

Are you insured?

Yes  - it’s a legal requirement for us to be insured to fly our drones. We’re covered by up to £5 million public liability insurance. 

Where can you fly?

How long can you fly for?

Our drones fly for around 15 to 20 minutes per flight. There’s around a 10 - 15 minute turnaround time between flights, and if we have access to mains electricity then we can fly all day. While you can view what we are filming during each flight, in between flights we can more carefully review the footage from the previous flight and decide what to do next.

What impact does the weather have?

Ah, for blue skies and sunshine on every shoot …! Of course, we can fly under grey skies, although we might decide together to wait for better light. What we can’t do is fly in the rain (at all) or in wind speeds of over 22 mph. Flying in cold temperatures (and snow) is possible but our flight time is reduced due to the chemical effect of the cold on batteries.