Flying a drone in a city centre

Drone footage can be a really powerful addition to a promotional video or commercial video. However filming with a drone is not a straightforward process.

In this blog we break down the process of flying with a drone in Newcastle city centre. 

Prep: Permissions

It’s imperative to check that you have permission to fly a drone with landowners and local councils. You might think you are on public land when you are not, and you might be tempted to fly over roads and railways without being aware of restrictions. In Newcastle upon Tyne, you need permission from the local council to fly over roads, and you need to pay a fee in order to do so. You are not allowed to fly over railway lines, and if you are going to fly close to a railway, you need to contact network rail and complete their risk assessment. I’ve dealt with network rail twice for two different clients, and on both occasions they were very helpful and gave me advice on how to fly safely. 

The other important permission we needed was from Air Traffic Control. You can check if you’re in an aerodrome by using an app like Drone Assist or AirMap, that show you what hazards and flight paths you are in. You will need to get permission from ATC before you fly, and then you need to call them on the day of your flight and once you have concluded flying. It’s important to let ATC know the duration of your flight, your postcode and your altitude. 

Prep: Drone

I once had an experience that during a flight, my controller ‘updated the software’ and that destroyed the card in the drone. I had HD backups of the footage by the 4K footage was lost. I was devastated. Before every flight I spend two hours making sure all the software is updated and working correctly, and if there are any concerns, I contact the drone manufacturer straight away. 

As I fly a Mavic Pro 2 drone, I know that it has a single point of failure. So if a propellor or battery breaks in flight, the drone is likely to stop working. So I check propellors before and after each flight, and I change them periodically, making sure everything is in good working order. I also check the aircraft for any sand or grit that might stop it functioning correctly. I also check the battery status and temperature to ensure they are working correctly. 

Flight: Location and TOLS

There have been a few times when I was flying, where a member of the public wanted to talk to me or look at my monitor. While I appreciate the curiosity and it’s always great to share my work, distracting a drone operator is a really dangerous thing to do. That is why I fly with an observer, someone who understands drones and can be close by to politely discourage members of the public getting too close. I also mark out my Landing and Take Off site with red cones, and where a Hi Vis vest, asking people not to distract me. 

One of the biggest factors when flying a drone is the weather. It’s really important to know the IP number of your drone and the maximum wind speed it can fly in. Getting detailed weather reports before you fly is essential, as well as using an anemometer to measure wind speed on the day. 

Flight: Drone

During the flight, it’s really important to know what restrictions you need to keep to in terms of proximity to people and buildings, as well as speed and altitude. I make sure I input these restrictions into my controller, and ensure all the censors are working correctly. That way the drone will stop itself once a specific height or proximity is reached. It’s important to check if you’re close to any building or structure that is emitting frequencies that can disrupt these controls. You don’t want to fly in Atti mode over a busy city centre, and I would advise having really good control over the aircraft at all times. If you don’t the best thing you can do is abort the flight. 

During the flight, I also make sure I can see the status of the battery - it’s temperature and how much flight time is left - and set the drone to return to home when the battery reaches 25%. 

Post Flight: checks and footage

After landing the drone, I note any changes to the flight path and the reasons why they were necessary. I also check over the drone to ensure it hasn’t been damaged during the flight or on landing. If I need to call ATC or the land owner I make sure they are aware that we have stopped flying. 

After each flight, I back up the footage to an external hard drive. Assuming everything has gone well, I can get started on editing the footage. 

This blog was written Maria Caruana Galizia and edited by Atticus Carter.