Drone Filming Services

Yes, the Civil Aviation Authority has strict regulations on where drones can be flown.

However, these regulations do vary depending on a number of factors including the weight of the drone, the environment where it is to be flown, if there are any significant hazards nearby such as airports, to name a few.

It is technically possible to fly any drone almost anywhere, provided the correct permissions and risk-mitigating strategies are put in place in advance, but very often there is a type of drone that is most suited to a particular job, depending on the final use case of the imagery (eg. website, print, TV, etc).

As such, we have a range of different drones for use in different situations, and we will always discuss how you wish to use the final imagery in order to select the optimum drone for your project and keep costs as low as possible. For example, using a huge cinema-quality drone for capturing images of a project that will only ever be used on a website at 1000 pixels across would be unnecessarily complicated and expensive.

Yes. Horizon Imaging has held the relevant permissions for undertaking complex drone operations with drones up to 7kg in weight since the regulations were introduced in 2010.

Following on from the answer to question 1, this is determined by a number of factors, specifically the weight of the drone being flown and also whether the people are ‘involved’ with the drone operations.

Members of the public who have no knowledge / awareness of the drone operations would be considered ‘uninvolved’, and in this case, only drones under 250 grams in weight can fly over them.

If the people are aware of the drone operations (eg. they have been informed about where the drone will be flying) and are within earshot of the pilot so they can be told to move out of the way of the drone in an emergency, then they are considered ‘involved’ which means heavier drones up to 7kg in weight can fly over them.

But as a rule we always avoid flying over people if at all possible, even if technically we are allowed to do so.

As per the answers to questions 1 and 2, this also depends on the weight of the drone being flown as built-up areas almost always have members of the public walking around in them.

So if the area is full of ‘uninvolved’ people, then only sub-250 gram drones can fly over the area.

If, however, a certain segment of the built-up area has been cordoned off so the operator can be sure that no uninvolved people are walking around, then it’s possible to over-fly the area with heavier drones, provided the involved people are within earshot of the operator in case of an emergency.

Provided the relevant permissions have been put in place with the airport before the flight commences, generally yes flying close to airports is not an issue.

However, depending on exactly where the drone is to be flown, the airport might stipulate a maximum altitude above ground level that the drone must not exceed, and these restrictions are non-negotiable.

We are limited by the CAA regulations to fly no higher than 400 feet (120 metres) above the ground.

This might sound restrictive, but often only a small increase in altitude will yield a dramatically different viewpoint. Furthermore, photographs taken from 400 feet can capture a surprisingly large area of land.

We are limited by the CAA regulations to fly no further than 500 metres horizontally from the drone operator, but with the caveat that the operator must be able to maintain orientation of the drone at all times (they have to be able to see which way the drone is pointing).

Due to the difficulty of judging a drone’s orientation at a distance, for smaller drones this means flying the drone no further than approximately 150-200 metres from the operator.

Our drones can typically fly for approximately 25 minutes per battery before they have to land. We carry multiple sets of batteries to every shoot, and battery chargers can also be brought allowing the drones to fly almost continuously throughout the day. 

All the drones we fly transmit a live video feed to a screen on the ground which allows the operator and client to compose the footage in real-time. If required, a separate monitor can be setup for the client to watch the footage without needing to look over the operator’s shoulder.

No. Wind speeds gusting over 25-30mph will reduce the stability of the drone, and the resulting photographs / videos may suffer as a result. Rain would also prevent a flight from taking place, partly due to the sensitive nature of the onboard electronics, but mostly because the resulting photographs / videos would look very dull.

The decision whether or not to fly the drone ultimately rests with the operator and their decision is non-negotiable.

All our drones can shoot 4K at 50 frames per second, and our largest drone can also shoot 4K at 100 frames per second.