As much as the branding suggests that this operation is one man and his drone, many missions have huge involvement from a lot of other parties – observers, camera operators, marshals etc. Let me explain with a few examples. These are just hypothetical scenarios and the actual number of people required will be discovered during the initial site survey.

Real-estate shoot

These can quite often be completed by one person – the pilot. If there is plenty of land around the house, no public rights of way and no roads to contend with then I can arrive on my own, fly the mission and leave.

If we want to get shots from, for example, the front of the house which leads onto a quiet road, we would need people watching for oncoming traffic and warning the pilot so he can ensure the aircraft never gets closer than 50m to the uninvolved occupants of the vehicle.

This all becomes apparent very quickly during the initial site survey – I can see what problems we are likely to face from a Google Maps satellite view.

So get in touch, let me know the exact address and I will have a look and give you a quote.

Commercial Promo Video

Let’s take a large office block for this example. There are people coming and going all the time. We would need to place marshals on all access routes to make sure anybody entering the operating area is “under our control”. It’s also very likely we would need either a camera operator or an observer to ensure the aircraft is always monitored while shots are lined up and flown.

This could mean a team of 6 or more. The real number will become apparent after a site visit.

Roof or Building Inpection

Depending on the location of the object being inspected, the process may either be very similar to that of a real estate shot as mentioned earlier. Or if it’s in a congested area, it might follow a similar path to the promo video example above.

As always, send me the exact address and I will be able to see how large a team we will need and the costs of that.

Film or TV

Generally, film sets are secure so we most likely wouldn’t need any of our marshals. However, an observer or a camera operator would probably be required depending on which drone is being used and what shots we are looking for.

Agriculture

With so much space around, this is usually a one-man operation. The flight path is often pre-programmed, leaving the pilot available to spend 100% of the flight time looking directly at the aircraft.

Conclusion

So how many people do I need and how much will it cost?

That depends on the nature of the job – every flight is different and we go through an initial survey before even quoting for the job. By looking at the site on the map and with discussions with the client, I can get quite an accurate estimate of the crew requirements. This will all be clearly communicated during the quoting process. Of course, we can arrange for you to supply the marshals in a bid to reduce costs – its just a matter of giving them a comprehensive safety briefing before the flight – which we have to do anyway.

So get in touch and have a chat about your operation and I will be able to give you a definitive quotation.