Flying High In The Legal Sky

When I became the MD of Alias Hire last year, I knew that I needed to take Alias into other directions, writes Danny Dawson.

As a pure dry hire company we were okay. Not doing bad at all in fact. But new brooms do sweep clean and I was keen to make my mark. So, what directions?

There's the obvious of course; crew and diverse kit. As I kept looking around the trade shows of BVE, NAB, IBC, I realised that I was looking in the wrong place. Instead of 'looking around', I should have been looking up! Every trade show attended was displaying the most amazing flying technology and it became obvious to me that Alias needed to be part of this.

So, after many months of research of kit, manufacturers and of course staff to fly the things, we initially decided on DJI S100 and we were very lucky to appoint a staff member who was at the time on the verge of being fully qualified/licensed to fly. Boxes ticked!

It's moved on so much since then of course. We now have three drones and we now have three in-house pilots. We've also produced a lot of imagery that looks utterly amazing (if you're reading this online you can find it here), and on top of lots of agricultural surveyance, we also have credits for Bestival on the Isle of Wight, and a commercial for a national mobile phone provider. We have also been contracted to provide crew with drones for production company with a commission from a national broadcaster (sorry, no names allowed!).

The perceived downside is, of course, the legislation that surrounds the drones. And there's a lot to it! For example, in most cases flying in London is a general no-no, certainly for not commercial use, and in all cases, every drone pilot should be at least aware of the air space they intend to use.

To do this they need to check a multitude of things:

Weather? Rotor blade drones can't fly in the rain. And if the wind is stronger than the speed of the drone you can fly, then wave goodbye to your equipment!

Airspace? On a flight path for planes or helicopters and the commercial permissions licence for the pilot will go sooner than they can land the drone. Flying near buildings, public roads and of course people who aren't aware that you're flying at all has the potential to be dangerous to fatal. No one wants +10kgs falling on them from 400ft. All of these subjects and a lot more need to be considered by the pilot before they can perform the work as required.

All of which means that if you're a potential client to use this wonderful technology to create an aesthetic that looks like no other, here are a few things to bear in mind when planning a shoot…

• Always ask for the credentials of the pilot. Show reels look great but that may not mean they're legal to fly. Request certificates and crucially check the status of their Permission for Aerial Work (PfAW). If they don't have this PLEASE do not hire them! You don't want to be indirectly responsible when things go wrong!

• In most cases the responsibility for insurance for flying drones is on the pilot. Again, check the validity of their insurance and compare how it matches with your own production insurance.

• Be patient. It can takes days or weeks to get permission to fly in certain areas of the UK and no doubt the pilot or company that flies will certainly want the work, but time should be allowed to see if it's possible at all.

• Trust the pilots judgement at all times. They're the ones that have the training; they'll have the experience and they're the ones that will be wanting to get the best shot as possible for you. If you trust them, they'll do it!

Image: Still from Alias Hire drone clip.

www.aliashire.co.uk

This article is also available to read at BFV online.

(JP/LM)