Drone magazine UK eye in the sky how to get a new perspective with first person flying april 2018

Of course, the main talking point was the introduction of a set of standards that will help to shape the future of the drone industry.. GoinG nuclear DRONEs DRIvE sAfEty At DEcOMMIssION

May 2018 · No 32going pro • Flying Fpv • DJi X7 • rEviEWS

EyE in thE Sky

how to Get a new perspective with first-person flyinG

on the edge

pushing the limits of the law

to get some amazing photos

goLd StandardS

how a new code of conductcan shape the future of Uavs

FLight, Camera, aCtion

a pro pilot talks about working withthe BBc and the new X7 camera

ViFLy X150

a Giant amonG mini-qUads?

Drone Show iS Back!

First inFo on the new and improved UK showcase

105MPH! How swift is tHe GePRC MX3 sPaRRow?

dji mavic air

tested to the limit

1-2 DECember 2018

Ninh Binh, Vietnam

Photo by Damian Sadowskiwww.dronestagr.am/author/falconmx

AdAm

Juniper

Andrew spends his time

monitoring the globe for drone

news stories, testing to death the

things people send him (mostly

drones), and hoping his cats won’t

moult all over his quadcopters He's

a graduate of the Freedonia Flying

Academy and has never failed to

walk away from a UAV landing

You can follow him on Twitter at

@raggedydrones

Andrew

wAtton-dAvies

GemmA Cox

Lee sChofieLd

rob CLymo

Rowan is cinematographer and drone fanatic with a passion for exploring new places and shooting them with his Xiro Xplorer He’s always looking for new places to fly and new ways to push his work, and you’ll often find him along the Pembrokeshire coastline on most sunny/non-windy days! You can follow his most recent shots/trips

on Instagram @RTBaileyMedia

rowAn bAiLey

Hooked from the moment he saw

the AR.Drone at CES, Adam has

spent the years since building,

crashing, sinking, losing and

occasionally flying drones With

a background in photography

publishing and over a decade

writing about video and still

photography in his rear-view

mirror, he was the only choice

for Ilex’s book The Drone Pilot's

Handbook (on sale now!)

Our launch editor for DRONE, Gemma has worked at the helm of NEO magazine for over ten years

Spending over a decade immersed

in Asian pop culture, she recently branched out into the world of technology to take on UAVs She’s most excited about the future of FPV racing and the prospect of drone deliveries! Can drone racing

go prime time? She certainly hopes so! Follow NEO at @NEO_Magazine

Rob has been covering tech topics for more years than he can remember, most recently in his role as editor of Digital FilmMaker magazine He loves nothing more than hitching a ride in light aircraft or anything autonomous and has been keeping an eager eye on all things drone-related ever since he got his first glimpse

of an early, slightly primitive, DJI creation a few years ago

Known online as Painless360, Lee has a YouTube channel and business dedicated to making RC technology easier to use An RC pilot for over eight years and with a 30-year background in electronics he became hooked on quads when he was bought one in as a present The rest, as they say, is history! By now

he can probably strip a quadcopter and rebuild it blindfolded

Wayne was drawn into the world

of RC and FPV after chancing on a tricopter video in 2011 Determined

to understand how to construct his own flying machine, he’s been building, flying, crashing and fixing multirotors and planes ever since

Known online as CurryKitten, he runs his own a YouTube channel and blog focused on helping new pilots into the air more smoothly

wAyne Andrews

robin evAns

Robin is an airline captain with over 7,000 hours logged and when he’s not ferrying people across the skies is also a freelance writer and photographer It was two years ago that his father asked him how much crossover, in theory, there was between flying drones and airliners and that set the propellers turning! Since then he's always on the lookout for ways to get the best

of both worlds…

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Editor: Ian Collen dronemaguk@gmail.com Managing Editor: Gemma Cox Design: Imran Kelly Contributors: Wayne Andrews, Rowan Bailey, Robin Evans, Adam Juniper, Damian Sadowski, Lee Schofield, Andrew Watton-Davies

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DRONE is published monthly by Uncooked Media Ltd All text and layout remains the copyright of Uncooked Media Ltd DRONE is a fully independent publication and its views are not those of any company mentioned herein All characters and artwork shown

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Another quality cold cut from

EST 2003 DRONE © 2018 Uncooked Media Ltd ISSN 2059-2876

WELCOME

TO IssUE 32 Of DRONE MAGAZINE!

Having spent a day in Monte Carlo last issue I had an equally illustrious trip

this month, having been invited to the House of Lords in London for the announcement of the British Standards Institution’s upcoming Drone Standards Admittedly the weather was considerably colder as the ‘Beast from the

East’ gripped the capital, but it was still a hugely intriguing and enjoyable evening

Firstly, it was great to see so many leading figures brought together, not just from

the drone industry but a variety of related fields as well These people may get the odd

chance to chat at trade shows, but with everyone packed into the same room it was

almost impossible to avoid being drawn into an interesting discussion at every turn

I started the evening discussing the merits of drones in harbour management and

ended it on the topic of data control and crypto-currency!

Of course, the main talking point was the introduction of a set of standards

that will help to shape the future of the drone industry As echoed in the article on

page 26, these are not regulations; instead they are a set of guidelines to establish

minimum safety and quality standards that manufacturers and operators can choose

to adopt They appear in almost every other industry, so they shouldn’t be surprising

or feared in any way

Indeed, having these standards come into effect could go a long way to restrict the

potential for more obligatory regulations that could impact on everyone So rather

than having the government telling us what we have to do, the BSI can tell us what

we should be doing – and it’s up to you whether want to adhere to that and receive

the recognition that comes with it Either way, having a code of conduct that we can

all aspire to on our terms – and further alienate the small minority not interested in

playing by the rules – can only be a good thing

Enjoy the issue!

IAN COLLEN, EDITOR

facebook.com/DRONEMagUK twitter.com/DRONEMagUK instagram.com/DRONEMagUK

may 2018 • Issue 32 www.dronemagazIne.uk

26

contents

10 // AIR RESCUE

We hear from the Special Constable who was

able to use a police UAV to find a missing person

on a freezing cold night

12 // PLANT HIGHER

Drone are lending a hand just about everywhere

these days, most recently at a decommissioned

nuclear power plant in Scotland

14 // VIDEO TO GO

Parrot has introduced the Flight Director

editing software to its FreeFlight Pro app,

offering up auto-edited videos on the fly

20 // UK DRONE SHOWNow under the expanded guise of the UK Drone and Technology Show Live, it’s back for business in December

26 // NEW STANDARDS

We speak to the Chairman of the BSI committee behind the new code of conduct coming soon to the drone industry

17 // HOT TOPICSSome environmentally unfriendly reports, with drone deliveries needing to reduce its carbon footprint and a UAV fire-starter

18 // PUBLIC OPINION92% of people think there needs to be some restrictions on drone use, according to a new study of both pilots and the public

SUBSCRIBE TODAY FOR ONLY £14.99!

TURN TO PAGE 90

40 // CITY SLICKER

How one pilot has played by the rules and still

been able to get some memorable shots over the

skies of London that skirt the law

46 // HEAD IN THE CLOUDS

One of our experts takes you through

everything you need to know in order to take

your first steps into flying FPV

52 // TAMING ACRO

Essential advice that will make life a lot easier

for any pilots looking to ease off self-levelling

flights and go fully manual

70 // GEPRC MX3 SPARROWThe creators are claiming a top speed of more than 100mph, so is this FPV flyer punching above its weight?

74 // FORMAT WARSIt’s not quite VHS vs Betamax or PlayStation vs Xbox, but choosing the right format for sharing your videos online can still be crucial

80 // SHARP SHOOTER

We chat with Florian Ledoux, winner of the recent SkyPixel Photo Contest and a man on a mission to bring the Arctic to your laptop

58 // FLIGHT SCHOOLOnce qualified there aren’t too many other places to learn new skills but a new drone academy aims to change that

62 // DJI MAVIC AIRWe’ve teased it; we’ve had some brief test flights with it; and now it’s time for our full in-depth review of the drone everyone’s talking about

66 // VIFLY X150When one of our experts says this is his new number one choice for quads of this size, you might want to find out why

Sparrow as fast as its

creators say it is?

discover how a passion for wildlife and a flair for flying combined into

an award-winning career

L incolnshire Police has used a drone

to help to find the missing driver

of a crashed vehicle in sub-zero temperatures The incident happened on the

A16 near Ludborough in the early hours of 25

February, during a night with temperatures

reported as low -2°C when the weather

was both foggy and snowing Officers were

responding to a call after a member of the

public reported seeing the car upside down in

a ditch with smoke coming out of it The driver

had been spotted walking on foot away from

the crash site towards a nearby village

We spoke directly with the pilot involved

in the search, Special Sergeant Kevin Taylor,

about the incident He confirmed that the

search of the area had started at 2.24am with

four police officers on the scene, which he

described as a “pitch black night, freezing cold,

on an unlit section of A-road with no moon.”

They were further assisted by the local Fire Brigade who had attended with a hand-held thermal camera

Whilst the fire crew was able to check under the vehicle and in the area close by

to ensure no one was trapped or had been thrown out of the vehicle, they had not been able to find the driver As a result the decision was made for Kevin, a full-time Subject Matter Expert for Metis Aerospace with 15 years of experience with fixed wing and rotor craft, as well as a PfCO holder, to travel from Lincoln to the site as part of his voluntary role

as a Special Constable

Special Sgt Kevin arrived at the scene at 3.26am and was airborne and searching by 3.33am When we asked how this seven-minute deployment time of the Lincolnshire

Police’s DJI Inspire 1 with XT thermal camera was achieved, he said: “We go through all the checks but we pre-plan en route as to what we’re doing, the area we’re going to and anything that might affect us.”

As for the flight itself, Kevin explained that

“the section of road we were interested in searching was a kilometre long, and obviously the interest was in the road, the dykes and the surrounding fields Lincolnshire is a very rural area, so a thermal drone search can be ideal I did a flight out from the location of the accident

to the village; there were various heat sources showing, particularly from the water in the dyke at the side of the road I had officers check out two other heat sources first, which proved

to be water When you look at the thermal results back there were a couple of areas that were a little bit bigger and a little bit warmer, and they were ruled out.”

Search

and reScue

MIssING DRIvER fOuND wIth DRONE suppORt

Words by: ANDREw wAttON-DAvIEs

Hot Spot

As the drone continued its flight back, Kevin

spotted a third source, about 150 metres

away, emanating from a ditch “I didn’t

know that it was a person at that stage, until

I guided the officer in He couldn’t see, even

when he was within twelve feet of where the

chap was I had to tell him to go forward a bit

and then back a bit and then turn right a bit,

because he still couldn’t see He was six feet

down into the ditch and you really had to get

down to see him

“There was that element of talking him in,

going backwards and forwards, interrupted

by other operational radio work at the same

time, so he went back past the location that I

wanted him to check So I had to ask him to

go back and keep going into the ditch, then he

confirmed back to me (at 3.45am) that it was

the chap in the ditch who was unconscious.”

Kevin confirmed that whilst the other officers

and the Fire Brigade had performed thorough

searches, the missing driver “was so far down

in the ditch they simply wouldn’t have found

him The only way they could have found him

was to go and walk down into the ditch, but

due to the water in there it was not a possibility

“As soon the officer was with him I returned

(the drone) home, because I was approaching

the end of my battery life Being a cold evening,

even with 12 minutes of flight time I didn’t

have a lot of battery left I didn’t want to

leave the heat source in fear of not finding it

again, so I stayed airborne and by the time

the officers got to him the battery was at 30%

However, the drone was about 140 metres

from my location with no wind so there was

no complication with the flight back.” Once

the craft had landed, Kevin began assisting the

other officers, with an ambulance arriving on

scene at 3.52am to take the driver to hospital

Speaking about the incident to the press,

Sgt Mike Templeman commented that without

the drone this search could have taken much

longer and that the deployment possibly saved the man’s life He also referred to the response

as “a great team effort”, and, whilst praising all those officers involved, he made specific mention of PC Logan-Glover, PC Smith and drone pilot Special Sgt Taylor

Lincolnshire Police’s drone project started

in March 2017, with full approvals being given for operations in October 2017 The

programme was started by Chief Constable Bill Skelly, who had previous experience with the technology in the Devon &

Cornwall force, and was supported by Crime Commissioner Marc Jones The team currently consists of four pilots, with a further six officers currently undergoing training You can follow their daily operations on Twitter via their handle @lincsCOPter

“I didn’t know that it was a person at that stage…

He was six feet down into the ditch and you really

had to get down to see him”

GoinG

nuclear DRONEs DRIvE sAfEty At

DEcOMMIssIONED pOwER plANt

A lthough the winter weather hitting

the UK in March wasn’t good news for most drone pilots, it did give one aerial team the chance to demonstrate the positive benefits of UAV use

for inspection work at a decommissioned

nuclear power plant With only a few flights

the team was able to demonstrate both the

financial savings and the speed and safety

aspects of using drones over traditional

on-foot methods

The drone programme has been initiated

at the Dounreay plant on the north coast of

Caithness in Scotland It was opened in 1955

and until 1994 was the home to five nuclear

reactors Following the closure of the facility (and the passing of the site through a number

of government bodies), the maintenance of the buildings, management of the potential environmental harm of the radioactive materials and the safe decommissioning of the site has fallen to Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL)

As part of these works, 50 building inspections a year were previously carried out using traditional techniques of putting people

on roofs and up ladders that could be 55 metres off the ground Following a project initiated by senior electrical engineer John Moar, and an outlay of £6,000 on a drone, the inspections

are now being carried out with a pilot safely on the ground As well as estimated manpower savings of £100,000, the risk of serious injury

or even death from falls has been removed as a result The savings made on the very first drone inspection, which targeted two 20-metre tall ventilation stacks, are reported to have covered the cost of the craft

John told us that his awareness of drones and reasons for initiating the drone programme come from a long-time interest in aerial photography “I had a hobby background in self-built RC model aeroplanes and helicopters, mainly during the 1990s, and first took aerial views using

a modified auto-wind film-type camera mounted in a wooden plans-built model aeroplane I started flying light aircraft

in 1999 and began taking a lot of aerial photographs from then onwards Drones were a natural progression and I only started operating these recently for the purpose of

my work as I saw the opportunity emerge.”

Knowing the potential benefits of drone technology, the next step was convincing DSRL of the benefits of using such systems

The nature of his work environment gave John some assistance as “innovation is key

to our decommissioning programme and, as

an engineer, we are encouraged to constantly innovate and stay in touch with new technologies,” he explained

As for the ground work, John says it was

“a self-driven initiative as a side-line to my

Words by: ANDREw wAttON-DAvIEs

day job Nuclear safety case considerations,

security, training requirements, cost and

conventional safety were all considerations

rather than obstacles

“It was a matter of assessing, mitigating and

balancing these risks and other factors The

balance of risk compared to ‘conventional’

access methods spoke for itself and I did

not need to work too hard to convince the

management of the benefits once I had done

my homework and presented the facts and

implementation plan.”

Power ranger

Convincing the company of the benefits was

one thing, but getting permission to fly at the

plant was complicated as, due to the nature

of the site, there is a strictly enforced air

exclusion zone “The area is a flight prohibited

area, as regulated by the CAA, in force

around the site So the application included

permission to use the airspace with security

controls considered.”

With a PfCO and specific exemption finally

secured, John was able to get to work using a

DJI Inspire 2, operated with the dual TX

set-up and chosen for the task “because of the

functionality and support.” John explained

that “general surveys are our main focus, such

as asset inspection, condition monitoring

or storm damage surveys Provided in line

of sight, the drone is able to get very close to the area being examined, much closer than

a mobile elevated work platform can, for example They cannot necessarily perform as well as a person up close with the benefit of all senses but the difficulty is in getting the person

up close in the first instance, and so the drone

is a clear winner.”

The success of this early use of the technology has been made evident by the amount of work the team have been able

to perform “We have successfully carried out around 20 inspections over the winter period and after the recent strong winds we

managed to conduct two months’ worth of storm damage surveys over a period of just a couple of days,” John says “This would have previously required the hire of mobile work platforms costing several thousands of pounds each week and would have been more resource intensive In addition to saving the taxpayer money, we are increasing the quality and timeliness of the inspections.”

John says everyone seemed happy with the results “The project manager was delighted

at the quality and detail of the images and how easy and safe it was to get them It also gives us 360 degree inspections, which often isn’t possible when doing the inspection manually.” With a team from the site’s maintenance department now involved in the drone works, John has said the system

“also has the potential to develop applications

in other areas, such as 3D modelling, thermographic, environmental and land remediation surveys, and PR footage.”

Further proof of the benefits of drone use can

be found in a number of similar initiatives that are being undertaken at other nuclear facilities

in the UK and beyond For more details on the Dounreay facility and the drone use there, head over to dounreay.com.

“After the recent strong winds we managed to conduct two months’ worth of

storm damage surveys over a period of just a couple of days”

Parrot, the developer of the Bebop drone

series, has announced the addition of Flight Director to its FreeFlight Pro companion app The program, powered by

algorithms developed by Singapore-based

video editing software company Muvee,

identifies the “optimum sequences” in a user’s

captured drone footage and then presents them

with a ready-to-share montage of between 15

seconds and 3 minutes

The software’s algorithm automatically

identifies the best moments of the operator’s

footage by analysing the drone’s flight

telemetry and then synchronises them to the

beats of the selected music track Users can

choose tunes from the app’s library or from

their own playlists In addition, three editing

styles are available to select from

Talking to Parrot about these pre-set

selections, a spokesperson explained that

Story “follows the chronological order of the

shots” and is “great for following a journey or

storytelling.” Trailer is a “fast-paced editing

style which uses fast motion and quick cuts

to the most exciting moments to crank up

the impact and drama.” And finally there’s

Cinematic which “automatically finds the

most awesome sweeping smooth shots,” with

the intention of being “great for making epic

landscape aerial movies.”

Videos can be further customised with a

choice of seven ‘Themes’, which are overlays

that add flight telemetric information to the

video The software then uses your smart

device’s built-in share systems to post the

videos to any and all compatible platforms,

including Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram

When asked what the design goal was for this latest addition to the growing library

of software for the Bebop series, a Parrot representative commented that Flight Director

is “part of our efforts to create a user-friendly ecosystem around FreeFlight Pro

“Our goal is to provide our users with an exceptional, multi-purpose tool to accompany them during their journey with our drones

Flight Director was specifically designed to offer the opportunity to quickly edit drone footage and create amazing content with minimal efforts and editing skills thanks to its intuitive interface and automated processes.”

Whilst Flight Director is usable with all three craft in the Bebop range, when asked if the software will be made available for users of the Disco fixed wing craft, we were told that it

is currently “designed to work on quadcopter drones only.”

Flight Director is available now and requires the FreeFlight Pro application from version 5.2 onwards and either iOS 9.0 or Android 4.2 or higher The Premium version, available on a 15-day free trial, is listed at £19.99 in the App Store and £14.99 on Google Play A free version

is also available, enabling operators to use the

‘Best Of’ feature which will select videos from your drone to create a 15-second compilation of the “best moments shot by your drone.”

Android users should note that Parrot has confirmed that the software is only compatible with devices with the rm64-v8a and armeabi-v7a binary interfaces This means that a small number of older devices will not be able to use the app, and will therefore not be able to purchase the software from the store More information on Flight Director, FreeFlight Pro and the company’s range of aerial solutions can

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NEW

Skydio, a drone development start-up based in Redwood City,

California, has announced the launch of its 4K R1 autonomous drone after four years of development and boasting some impressive obstacle avoidance tech The drone’s key feature, the

Skydio Autonomy Engine, has been demonstrated in a series of launch

videos showing the craft following runners, skiers, bikers and skaters

through a variety of densely forested areas The technology has also

been demonstrated ‘in the wild’ by a number of vloggers, including

Casey Neistat who considered the autonomy “a quantum leap” when

compared to DJI’s technologies

Talking about the launch of the R1, Adam Bry, CEO and

co-founder of Skydio, stated: “The promise of the self-flying camera has

captured people’s imaginations, but today’s drones still need to be

flown manually for them to be useful We’ve spent the last four years

solving the hard problems in robotics and AI necessary to make fully

autonomous flight possible We’re incredibly excited about the creative

possibilities with R1, and we also believe that this technology will

enable many of the most valuable drone applications for consumers and

businesses over the coming years.”

The craft is 13 x 16 x 1.5 inches, weighs in at 2.2lbs, has a top-flight

speed of 25mph and a flight time of 16 minutes The camera allows for

4K at 30fps (or 1080p at 30 and 60fps) with live streaming also available

at 720p at 15fps It has a maximum range of 300ft (depending on your

smart device) and twelve navigational cameras, with five tracking

modes available

This isn’t a cheap piece of fun, though, as the R1 Frontier Edition

is currently available for the not insignificant sum of $2,499 (plus

shipping) More information can be found at skydio.com.

Words by AndreW WAtton-dAvies

Follow the Leader

HigH-end automation targets

tHe prosumer market

T he UK Airprox Board (UKAB) has confirmed that on 01 January

2018, a glider on its landing approach to Dunstable Downs Airfield

in Bedfordshire was involved in a near-miss incident with a drone

The drone was reported to have been “20-50m in front of the nose of the glider and a few metres below” the Schleicher ASK 21, as it was at 550ft and making its final turn for approach With both the weather and the UAV being described as grey, it is reported as having been difficult for the pilot to see it “against a backdrop of Dunstable town.”

The report states that with the drone passing rapidly by the glider, there had been no time for the glider pilot to take avoiding action The report concluded that “had the drone been on a collision course, it was unlikely that the glider would have responded to control inputs rapidly enough to allow avoiding action to be effective,” and thus the Risk of Collision was given as “High” It added that it was “a situation where providence had played a major part in the incident” and that a definite risk of collision had existed

The incident was the highest risk of the seven drone-related reports reviewed at the January meeting of the UKAB The other incidents included reports of UAVs being flown beyond practical visual line of sight, in the vicinity of airfields, above cloud cover, and on approach paths for landing planes More details on the incidents can be found at the website airproxboard.org.uk.

Words by: Andrew wAtton-dAvies

Aresearch team from the Lawrence Livermore National

Laboratory in California has concluded that the additional warehousing needed for drone deliveries, and the longer travel distances being planned by developers, reduces the previously

championed environmental benefits of the technology when compared

to traditional ground-based vehicle delivery

In the paper, ‘Energy Use and Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions

of Drones for Commercial Package Delivery’, the team found

that the drones themselves potentially consume less energy per

package-kilometre than delivery trucks, provided that the craft are

flown at an energy-efficient speed and distance However, savings

are undermined when the electricity and natural gas needed for

maintaining additional storage facilities are factored in The paper

concluded that to realise the environmental benefits of drone

deliveries, regulators and firms should focus on minimising extra

warehousing and limiting the size of drones

Co-author Joshuah Stolaroff (and team leader along with

Constantine Samaras) told us: “Finding ways to use existing retail

space to store and stage goods is one way they might limit the need

for extra warehousing For regulators, placing limits on package

weight and drone weight seems straightforward Both parties should

assess the full life cycle impacts of their proposed system before

implementing it.”

As for the potential dangers of not taking such action, he said: “In

the worst case, widespread drone use would moderately increase

emissions in the transportation sector at a time when we need to

make dramatic reductions for climate reasons We are not aware that

any developers or drone users have systematically considered the

drones’ environmental impacts before Our paper is an important

first step.” The full study can be found and analysed at the website

nature.com/articles/s41467-017-02411-5.

AeriAl Footprints

environMentAl iMpAct of

UAv deliveries Assessed

The US Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service has reported

that a fire on 06 March in the Kendrick Park area of Coconino National Forest, Arizona, was caused by a drone battery igniting after a crash landing and setting fire to dry grasses The fire is said

to have burned more than 300 acres of forest land and required the efforts of around 30 firefighters and a water tender truck to get under control, driving smoke across the nearby Highway 180

The craft is reported to have been 16 x 16-inch hobby drone, with the pilot having been identified and charged with starting a wildfire

The exact reason for the battery starting the fire has not yet been established (though a hot battery and dry grass is a bad mix), but

if found guilty the drone operator can face anything from a fine or community service to jail time

The flying of drones in the National Forest is permitted, provided the pilot follows FAA rules, does not take off or land in a wilderness area and that there are no wildfires in the vicinity The Forest Service itself provides maps and supporting information for those wishing to fly

in the area The incident is believed to have been the first time that a wildfire has been caused by a drone

Fire Starter

crAshed drone spArKs blAZe

Nominet UK, the uk domain name

registry since 1996, has released research into public opinion on drones and their use as part of its Digital Futures

Index Aimed at “identifying consumer

sentiment around drone ownership, while also

exploring trends among drone owners,” the

results show that 92% of respondents believe

there should be restrictions on who can use

drone craft, 90% want drones registered with a

central body and 72% support “the equivalent

of a driving licence for drone operators.”

The results were based on a representative

sample of 2,002 UK adults and 500 drone

owners, who were surveyed over a ten-day

period in January 2018 by Opinium Other

data released included the findings that 83%

of respondents believe that drones pose a risk

to the public when out of controller range and

79% having concerns about the safety of flight

paths, roads and properties

The public were also concerned about illegal

use of the craft, with 71% of respondents

thinking drones could be used for criminal

activities and 58% saying that UAVs pose a

danger to their privacy, with 49% considering

camera drones “a major privacy risk.” How

the public believe registration should be

handled is not as clear an issue, though, with

42% supporting the creation of a new central

body, 37% in favour of registration with the government, 30% with the aviation authorities and 25% wanting drones to be registered with the police (we’d assume it was a multiple choice section before you question the maths!)

Of the 500 drone users surveyed, 66% said that their drones are fitted with a camera but the same percentage claimed there is “a lack

of clarity over filming permissions.” 62% of users said that they had filmed persons or places without permission and 9% said they didn’t think filming permissions are ever needed On the issues of safety, 53% admitted

to having crashed a craft under their control, 37% admitted to having lost drones under their control and 26% said they didn’t know the range of their devices, “despite knowing the potential dangers.”

Commenting on the study, Russell Haworth, CEO of Nominet, said: “At the moment drones are largely extravagant toys, but the reality is that they have the potential to revolutionise many aspects of our lives… What’s needed is a centralised database and flight path mapping tools that allows these drones to communicate with each other That way, accidents are less likely to happen, as collision avoidance systems would take over in the event of an emergency

City infrastructure would also need updating

to accommodate drones, including things like

landing locations for drone deliveries No doubt

as cities become smarter, drones will play a wider role.”

When asked how much the views of drone operators differed from the general public, a spokesperson added: “On the whole, drone owners and consumers were aligned on their thoughts when it came to regulation and restrictions or who should be able to purchase

a drone One area where they did differ is about the potential of drone use in the future for deliveries Drone owners were much more open

to receiving deliveries via drone, with a quarter saying they think it is the future of deliveries, compared with just 10% of consumers.”

More details on Nominet’s research, covering

a range of technological issues, can be found at nominet.uk/DigitalFuturesIndex – although

we were told that there are no current plans for the full results of this study to be released

NEw suRvEy bAcks DRONE REstRIctIONs

Public order

Words by AndreW WAtton-dAvies

ads.indd 1 27/09/2017 17:06

H aving launched in 2015, the UK Drone

Show enjoyed two great annual shows before taking a break in 2017 Now it’s ready to return under the expanded guise of the UK Drone and Technology Show

Live 2018, being held over the weekend of 01-02

December back at the NEC in Birmingham

Although the change in name suggests a

shift in focus, the core is still very much on

the ‘drone’ side of things But with an

ever-growing range of crossover industries such as

photography, virtual and augmented reality, RC

cars, gaming, robotics and smart technologies

it makes sense to open those doors a little wider

and embrace a potentially larger audience

The event is being organised by DTECH

Show Limited, a joint venture

between the UK Drone Show

founder, Oliver O’Brien (who’ll

be project manager on the 2018

show); the former CEO of the MCM

ComicCon events in the UK and

current owner of Malo Events, Bryan

Cooney; and the managing director

of Activate Communications, Luke

Galliana, who’ll be heading up the

Brand Partnerships

In terms of the show itself, you

can expect the same wealth of

major exhibitors, display stands and

presentation areas that we saw in

2016, but with a plenty of intriguing

newcomers and much more packed

into an NEC hall space that the team

expects to be slightly bigger and certainly more compact than those previous shows, and with even more on to get your hands on

The headline features include the returning iSeries FPV race event, boasting a whopping

£10,000 prize pool – and the team hopes to entice some major international pilots to the

UK to take on the best of British over two intense days of frenetic racing

There’s also a £4,000 prize pot up for grabs in the ‘Perfect Capture’ photography competition, with two categories on offer:

Aerial Photography for the drone owners out there, and Nature Photography which is open

to more traditional hand-held photographers

As well as seeing many familiar faces from the drone world on the show floor, plus some other potential big hitters from the worlds

of photography, gaming, technology and beyond, there’ll also be the very nicely timed

‘Christmas Gadget Fair’

Oliver explained that this will include

“presentations of all the latest gadgets” and that they were “looking at getting some well-known hosts involved.” We can certainly imagine it providing a very handy shopping centre for many a festive gift this year!

The Show GoeS on!

The UK Drone Show returns in 2018 with a new and expanded format – and big

plans for the future Ian Collen spoke to the organisers to find out more…

Bigger and Better

The joint venture seems to be a nice piece of

timing all-round, with Bryan Cooney selling

his stake in the UK MCM ComicCon in October

last year, and Luke, who’d previously worked

with Bryan on those MCM events, told us

they’ve been keen to get involved with the

Drone Show for a while And when Bryan

was free from the responsibilities of the many

ComicCon shows held across the UK each year,

Luke says it “gave us the perfect opportunity

to get the ball rolling with Oliver and try to put

some plans in place to get the show going and

get the partnership going.”

On announcing the event, Luke added: “It’s

going to be the largest showcase for drones

and technology in Europe We’re looking to

have as many interactive areas as possible over

the course of the two days There’ll be lots of

exciting competitions, lots of new product

launches and lots of new technology.” This was

echoed by Oliver who says it will be “the most

unique consumer technology show in the UK.” Oliver also explained how expanding

his original premise into the UK Drone and Technology Show Live made sense “With things like photography, it crosses over into a whole new world, as with eSports and so on So it’s a natural progression for the show to grow…

but it’s still the Drone Show and we’ll still have all of the right drone elements.”

To this extent you can still expect to see large sections of the show floor given over to the likes

of drone training, development, insurance and all things CAA-related Plus we’ll see the return of the popular Tiny Whoop area and the RC cars will once again be tearing it up on their own track – and with talk of underwater UAV technology joining the fun, we’re also dreaming about the possibility of a giant fish tank as well!

With the likes of flight simulators, VR and eSports amongst many other things, the 2018 show certainly does have the potential to be a hugely hands-on and interactive experience “I think that’s key as well,” says Luke “Obviously coming from the ComicCon experiences, for us,

it’s all about having as many areas as possible that are interactive and that’s what helps to make the experience, as we’ve found in the past putting on these kinds of large-scale events.”

a new Beginning

What’s perhaps most exciting about this new venture is that the 2018 show is only the beginning The team already has a five-year plan in place to expand and develop the concept One potential avenue of growth could see the show follow in Bryan’s previous MCM footsteps, where ComicCons are held

in many different cities across the country throughout the year – and the UK Drone and Technology Show Live could also effectively

be taken ‘on tour’, albeit on a slightly smaller scale to begin with

“Obviously we’re used to having multiple events all around the country,” Luke explains

“So we see this event happening in major cities across the UK and worldwide as well So it’s not just about the NEC, it’s about multiple cities and we’re already working on that research

and those conversations have already started to

take place.”

In the short term, though, the team is focused

mainly on getting the 2018 show in place to act

as a foundation for those more ambitious plans

into 2019 and beyond, and Oliver says they’ve

already received an enthusiastic response to

the new event “Obviously we’ve got our core

people there, the main exhibitors, and we’ve

been talking to them before the launch So

you’ll have all the players there you’d expect but

obviously we’ll be bringing in manufacturers

from the photography side and things like that

and we’re certainly getting a lot of interest.”

With some 10,000 people likely to attend, the

expansion into the ‘and Technology’ side of the

name could also help to drive new customers,

including those who might not necessarily

attend a drone show but might be enticed by

the likes of virtual reality, eSports or the latest

Apple gadget “That’s the thinking behind it,”

Luke says, “and that’s obviously one reason

why we’re looking at having these categories

out there; it gives us the opportunity to market

those individually, as well as the crossover for

the drone sectors

“It’s one of those things where we know

that the market is there for us to enhance

it with the crossover of technologies We’re

playing it down a little bit, in terms of what

can be achieved this year I think if we base the

footprint on something just a little bit larger

than what the UK Drone Show was, then we’ve

got the scope to increase that as the uptake

comes in from the partners.”

We’ll certainly be at the NEC in December

and we’d encourage anyone else who’s tempted

to come along and join us We’ll keep you

updated with any major developments and

new announcements for the show during the

year In the meantime you can find out more

information about what you can expect to

see over the weekend and book your tickets –

priced at £9 for children aged 11-16 and £13.40

for adults (including admin fees, though a

further delivery charge may apply) – via the

website www.techshowlive.com.

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Photo by Phil Ovenden

A ReAdeR’s View

Given the wintry weather in the UK last month, reader Phil Ovenden was right on cue with this overhead shot of a beach in East Sussex he calls ‘Two Tides’ that had us dreaming of sunnier times Phil tells us it was taken with a Phantom 4 Pro and at a height of around 20m If it didn’t make the issue, he joked that the photo “makes a good screen saver” but we’re more than happy to include it in the magazine – and

on our desktop!

If you’d like to get one of your own photos into the magazine – and by submitting a shot for us to use, you are acknowledging that it is your own work and property – then email us at dronemaguk@gmail.com, along with

the image (the highest resolution where possible) and ideally with a little information about what’s in the shot and how you got it Perhaps your favourite photo could make it into our next issue!

Setting the

StandardS

With a new set of Drone Standards due to be

introduced both in the UK and across the world, Ian

Collen spoke with the BSI Committee Chairman, Robert

Garbett, to find out what exactly it could entail…

W ith the impending regulations set to introduce

things like drone registration and mandatory training for UAV pilots, the idea of having even more rules or restrictions placed upon everyday drone users might seem a little disconcerting So

while the work of the British Standards Institute (BSI) might

be familiar to many, it’s probably important to start off by

clarifying for those not quite so sure that standards do NOT

mean regulations (as some other outlets have reported)

Whether it’s in the drone industry or anywhere else,

these standards are purely a set of rules or guidelines for

best practice that individuals or companies can choose to

adopt – typically in areas involving safety or quality Those

that do so are, upon application, given due accreditation (such as the BSI ‘kitemark’) which serves to inform all potential clients and customers of their now-proven level

of professionalism

You’ll find it on everything from plugs to fire extinguishers, car parts and much more – because when you’re buying something and you want to be sure that it works, you’ll usually go for something that’s been approved for safety and quality over something that hasn’t, right?

It’s this same practice that is set to be introduced to the drone world, with standards to be established in an ongoing process across all different aspects of the industry

However, one very important positive for the drone community – and one that could make a notable impact

on actually restricting regulations – is that typically

regulations lead and standards follow But because the drone industry has grown and evolved so quickly, the standards have the chance to lead

According to Robert Garbett, Chairman of the BSI Committee on Drone Standards: “It means that things are standards-led and not regulation-led, which is good because it means that the industry is not choked by over-regulation,” although he does point out that the UK government is keen to avoid this anyway

There are a few instances where the government could decide to implement standards – for example in restricting imports/exports for products not meeting those standards,

WWW.DRONEMAGAZINE.UK 27

or possibly in future incorporating certain standards as part

of an operator’s training or qualifying requirements – but

that’s not to say they will ever be used in this manner

Quality Control

We’d previously spoken with Robert in Issue 26, as we

discussed the launch of the Drone Major portal for uniting

industry professionals Interestingly it was another of

his projects, SUAS Global (which is geared more towards

everyday operators), that possibly started the BSI ball

rolling He explains how a while ago these members wanted

some kind of standard in place, so he approached the BSI to

create a kitemark Although nothing was possible at that

time, Robert was directed to the International Standards

Organisation (ISO) and one thing followed another – and

so on 28 February 2018 he was standing in the House of

Lords addressing a room full of senior industry figures and

politicians (and one humble magazine editor) as Chairman

of the Committee preparing to introduce Drone Standards

to the country

In terms of what exactly it means Robert describes a

standard as “the industry’s best practice” – noting that

although UK-based, these proposals also work on an

international level as each standard is presented to the ISO

for discussion and potentially global acceptance As to what

it will entail, Robert explains: “There are two parts to this;

there’s the product and there’s the operation The product

is essentially: ‘Is it safe to use?’ And the operation is: ‘Is it used safely?’ When you overlap those two things in the air industry you get what we call airworthiness – and that’s what we’re trying to achieve, airworthiness within the drone industry.”

Although Robert was unable to give any specific examples of what the standards currently include, we were

All photos by Lee Schofield, except where stated

The announcement event was also notable for bringing together a wealth of leading figures from across numerous drone-related industries We spoke to people from Boeing, Parrot, Yuneec, universities and even port management!

able to get a fairly self-explanatory understanding of what

to expect In manufacturing terms it means that both those making drones and also those making accessories such as batteries or motors might have certain standards to adhere

to (if they want to be recognised as such)

“That’s talking to manufacturers to say ‘if you are building a drone for use in the air, these are the minimum safety considerations you should have’,” Robert says “An

example of that might be if you’re designing a battery

for use on a drone you should ensure that that battery is intelligent enough to check the temperature and alert the pilot before it runs out of power.”

In terms of the operation, that’s actually one part that Robert himself is a ‘convenor’ of “That’s the standards for the operator of an air drone So that’s going to be really exciting with all sorts of topics in there, from security, to how you operate at night, operations beyond visual line

of sight, training, competence, maintenance… all of those aspects are covered in there.”

It’s worth pointing to his use of the term ‘air drone’, as these standards will ultimately encompass all aspects of unmanned technology, taking in land, sea, underwater, air and anything else that applies – ‘space’ is mentioned but

in the short term that applies more to airspace and UTM systems (beyond that, who knows?!)

It’s also worth echoing the point that these standards remain optional – but it’s easy to see them being almost a necessary badge of honour for major companies “That’s quite important for a lot of organisations when they’re trying to sell their services overseas or to very large organisations,” Robert says “Once the standard exists it’s quite frequent that those organisations will ask: ‘Are you following those standards?’” For smaller individual operators who don’t need to operate at these higher levels,

or perhaps can’t justify the expense (as there are costs involved with receiving accreditation), it might not be quite

so important Although as a guide there’d certainly be no harm in at least aspiring to these levels of safety and quality

Standard time

In terms of a time frame, these standards are still some way off becoming ‘live’ so to speak The BSI and ISO don’t exactly operate in short turnaround times, with Robert quoting 1-2 years for the former and up to 3 for the latter

to get a standard into effect However, a lot of work has

The House of Lords

announcement event was

sponsored by Field Marshal The

Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank

GCB, LVO, OBE, DL Robert was

also joined by BSI Chairman Sir

David Brown.

already been done, with the operations side of things

(including Robert’s own contribution) up to what’s called

the ‘Committee Draft’ stage

This means it will be presented to the committee and all

other ‘mirror’ committees around the world in ISO member

countries, ahead of their next meeting in June The feedback

and comments will then be absorbed and responded to in

an “acceptable Committee Draft” before it goes out to wider

– and public – consultation later in the year “It is not then

an official standard but it is reviewable by government and

Mrs Smith from Glasgow if she so wishes and they can make

further comments on that

“We then take in those comments from the wider

consultation in order to release the final standard I’m hoping,

certainly from the operations standard perspective, that we

can have that at least at a stage where we know where we are

by the end of the year It may not be a formal standard by that

point but we will all know what is in that standard.”

Given the speed that these processes move at, compared

to the fast-moving world of drones and UAV technology,

it’s obvious that this will need to be a constantly evolving process – although in this first instance getting the foundations in place is an important first step “It does take time but we are moving as fast as we can and the restructuring of the committee at a national level reflects that,” says Robert “We will be breaking out some of the larger topics to separate sub-committees so that they can be worked on in a more efficient manner

“It will be a challenge but the BSI is very used to doing this and the industry will move as fast as the industry can move Whether it will be able to keep up with the requirements or the wants of the industry is another thing but we will certainly do our best.” Robert quotes unmanned traffic management systems (UTMs) as an example “That started as what’s called ‘beyond visual line of sight’, so we needed to address that problem That then moulded into

‘if we had a UTM that would solve that problem,’ And then that moulded into ‘hang on, if you have a UTM then you’d need integrated airspace’ So it’s evolved so quickly.”

It’s an example that does illustrate the breadth of the industry and the various challenges ahead but Robert and his team are excited to embrace the task in hand “The evolution of these safety quality standards is a very forward-thinking idea and we’re not restricting ourselves to just the classification of drones at the moment, or certain sizes that are being operated This is a standard which addresses all drones in the air, in all environments, anywhere.”

Safety firSt

Much like there are people with justifiable concerns over drone regulations, so there will be those who are apprehensive about the introduction of these standards

The truth is that they are an inevitable step, as they are in any industry where safety and quality are to be considered

“These standards are purely a set of rules or guidelines for best practice that

individuals or companies can choose to adopt”

As part of his speech Robert declared that “2018 is going to be the year of the drone,” and that it will

be “a pivotal year for the industry which is set to become a global phenomenon.”

of paramount importance – and the simple fact that the drone industry has the potential to put standards ahead of regulation has to be considered a good thing.

Whether you’re a high-end manufacturer, a commercial pilot or just a fun flyer, these standards could benefit everyone

The likes of DJI can take some solace in the fact that those numerous Chinese knock-offs won’t be getting the same accreditation of quality; trained operatives adhering to these standards will have a further seal of approval to support their PfCO as a selling point to clients; and casual drone owners will

be able to buy their next model and accessories with a little more confidence

“The industry is crying out for permission to do more with this technology and I think the regulations that are now being evolved will be informed by these standards and there will be not only an increasing awareness, but also kind

of a stabilisation,” Robert explains “Once the standards are in place, for example, investors will be more willing to invest in companies that are compliant with that standard

Governments and regulators will be more willing to allow things to happen if they are done within the confines of the standards and you get more acceptance of the technology.”

With the likes of the Drone Major Group and his work with the BSI, Robert has been dealing with key figures on all levels

in the industry – and he says he has their full support “We’re having nothing but positive feedback from all areas of industry all over the world Many organisations, such as DJI you mentioned earlier, are engaged in this process fully I haven’t witnessed any resistance whatsoever The government is doing

a fantastic job in ensuring the regulations are enabling and not restricting – and that’s really positive.”

You can keep track on any further updates on the standards

on the BSI website www.bsigroup.com You can also follow

developments and get involved via the Drone Major Group site www.dronemajor.net and at suas-global.com.

Standard Bearers

According to Robert: “The British Standards Institution is the

longest standing organisation responsible for developing the

national standard, or the British Standard Essentially what

they do is develop open and clear peer review standards So

they form a team of experts around a topic, those experts will

work to develop the content and that content is then reviewed

within the national committee

“Then it goes out to the wider community of experts in the

UK and even out to the public, so the BSI tries to get as wide a

distribution and as many comments as they can possibly get

to ensure that the standard is as close as they can get to the

industry view Every single comment is noted and that then

forms the standard which becomes the national standard on

any given topic.”

“Things are standards-led and not regulation-led, which is good because it means that the industry

is not choked by over-regulation”

Find a legal & qualified pilot today at:

DRONE PRO

Sky TV:

Jack Johnson is a freelance pilot who found a flight path into the television world Ian Collen discovered more about his time working with the BBC, DJI’s

new X7 camera, and Noel Edmunds…

Turning a passion inTo an

aerial advenTure

All photos by Jack Johnson

WWW.DRONEMAGAZINE.UK 33

DRONE PRO

s with many people who’ve established themselves

in the film and TV industry, Jack Johnson can trace his foundations back to an early age He developed

a love of video after his grandad gave him an old Hi8 camera, and that passion continued through to university (studying Media Production) and ultimately to the TV world where he’s been working for the past seven years However, his career really ‘took off’ around five years ago

“It was back in 2013 that I first started seeing videos for the DJI Phantom 1,” Jack explains “I remember seeing the promo video for the first Phantom and thinking ‘wow, this looks incredible!’ So I got my first Phantom.” As an interesting sign of the times, Jack says he couldn’t initially afford a gimbal for the camera, “so it was just bolted onto the bottom – but I instantly fell in love with flying.” He later upgraded to a Phantom 2 (with gimbal!) and hooked it up to an FPV monitor “I thought it was game changing.” he says “I then took my PfCO in 2014 and started to try and get myself out there with my contacts from

my TV work and I haven’t looked back since.”

Jack set himself up as a freelance drone operator and has been working commercially for more than four years – and his previous experience in TV gave him some good leads to get his aerial career off the ground “When I first started out,

I was lucky enough to be employed by the BBC in the Natural

History Unit on the Springwatch series So I started to build up

contacts there before going freelance a year later and taking on drone work properly Nearly all of my work comes from word-of-mouth recommendations by people I have worked with and built up strong working relationships with.”

The large majority of his drone work remains in TV, where

he says he’s employed as a drone operator, typically on term contracts such as one day at a time And with most shows working to limited budgets, he has to bring along his own kit, which these days boasts an Inspire 2 with an X5S camera (and 12mm, 25mm and 45mm lenses) As filming often takes him

short-to remote locations, Jack also points short-to a LowePro rucksack

as being a “total life-saver for me It means I can get all the kit I need for a day’s shooting on my back rather than carting around a giant hard case It opens up new modes of transport like being able to ride along on the back of a snowmobile or quad bike to reach places that were a nightmare before!”

Running Wild

Being a creative individual on what is often a scripted

TV show with its own director sounds like it could be an area of frustration, but Jack says it’s very much a two-way communication process “Before most shoots I will work with the production company to find out what they want to achieve from the shoot and the best way to go about getting what they want I always work with a director on site who will always have

Turning a passion inTo an

aerial advenTure

ideas for shots and together we work out a shot list of what is needed It’s a collaborative process and I get a lot of freedom

to get the shots that I think work.” One handy trick he uses

is to run an HDMI cable from the Inspire controller, so the director can follow the action for added peace of mind

Having made his break working on the BBC’s

Springwatch series, it’s unsurprising to hear that wildlife

and natural history shows are commonplace in Jack’s

portfolio – with the likes of Blue Planet II also appearing

on his growing CV He’s lucky that this is another passion

of his, even if drones don’t exactly blend into these environments “Flying drones near any wildlife is always

a bit tricky due to the noise they make, it would be great if someone made a silent drone!”

On a more practical note, Jack says he has worked closely with the likes of the RSPB and British Trust for Ornithology

to set out best practice and the required safety guidelines for operating in wildlife habitats “A few years ago I was asked

to film a heronry, which is an area of trees where herons nest together It’s amazing to see these almost prehistoric birds all nesting in close quarters high up in the trees I worked with a man who had been counting the birds there all his life from the ground but he had never had a chance to see them from above

“We started by taking off at a safe distance from the birds and then flying in slowly, making sure to come in from

a different angle of descent than their predators would usually take Amazingly the herons were not fussed in the slightest by the drone and we managed to get some amazing and intimate shots of the nesting environment from above Most birds, however, do get spooked by the noise, so it’s very important to be aware of where the nesting areas are so as not to scare them away or stress them out while they are nesting.”

To echo the point Jack admits to being chased off by red kites and buzzards: “While they have never looked like attacking, it’s unnerving being followed by such big birds!”

However, his hairiest moment was one he didn’t realise had happened until he reviewed his aerial footage later in the DRONE PRO

WWW.DRONEMAGAZINE.UK 35

day “I was filming in northern Mexico out in the desert I

was busy getting some top down shots of some plants that

come out only when there is a bit of moisture It wasn’t until

we got back to our camp that evening that the producer was

looking through the footage and said to me: “Did you know

you got a shot of a rattlesnake?”

“I ran over to look and as I had been flying slowly along

I had passed over a giant rattlesnake that was perfectly

camouflaged in the desert I hadn’t seen it and it was about

25ft away from where I was standing! I made sure I kept

more of an eye on the ground after that…”

Bright Lights

One of his more recent assignments saw Jack head off

to Finland for three weeks last November as part of a

documentary on the Northern Lights and the Sami reindeer

herders in the area – and it’s not exactly a natural habitat

for drones “We knew heading out there that it was going to

be cold, but nothing quite prepares you for standing around

in -30 degrees for hours on end!” Jack says Fortunately for

him, the Inspire 2 was up to the challenge “Once you start

DRONE PRO

Time and Time Again

One interesting and impressive side dish to Jack’s work is with time-lapse videography Last year he set about filming cherry blossom trees in Japan

to show just how their spring bloom really changes the landscape “It was an idea that had always intrigued me with the new automated flight apps coming out but it wasn’t something that I had seen done before,”

Jack explains “The theory was simple; set a flight path, save it and then

go back and keep repeating it as the environment changes So I spent a few months practicing the techniques and working out all the variables that can affect the accuracy of the repeat flights.”

Although the theory was simple, Jack did find lots of tricky variables and little niggles that meant things didn’t work out to begin with, plus it took a while to get the relevant permissions from the Japanese authorities – but eventually he got some great shots “It took us three weeks to get the results we wanted but I was very pleased with how the time-lapse worked out It’s not a perfect process and I’m still working

on how to get the success rate higher but I have a number of different shoots this year hoping to repeat the effect in different environments.”

You can see his efforts for yourself over at vimeo.com/214559440.

to get below -25, lots of the camera kit was starting to break;

monitors freezing and batteries dropping out, but mostly the drone kit worked very well I had full arctic gear on, so I had my batteries in the inner pockets to keep them close to

my body for heat.”

Another problem was the moisture in the air icing up the leading edges of the blades pretty quickly, meaning Jack had to limit his flight times to 3-4 minutes before swapping propellers and having the producer cleaning up the frozen blades Further adding to the complexity of the job was that

in order to fully capture the Northern Lights in real time, the crew would have to work in low-light conditions and predominately at night

“We were in a very remote part of Finland,” says Jack,

“and each location we filmed at night we had recced during the day so we knew where trees and obstacles were To

be able to pick up the Northern Lights on current drone

cameras, they have to be very bright After three weeks of

frustrating cloud cover, we were very lucky on one of the last nights to catch an unbelievable display and capture some shots on the drone as well as our other cameras It was one of the most incredible things I have ever seen and I highly recommend it to anyone to try and see them!”

His work was helped after he was able to get in touch with DJI to test out the new Zenmuse X7 camera, with the bigger sensor hopefully giving better results than traditional low-light cameras, at a time when the sun is

“As I had been flying slowly along I had passed

over a giant rattlesnake that was perfectly

camouflaged in the desert”

only up from around 10am until 2pm Fortunately it lived

up to its billing “The shots that came out of the X7 were incredible With the Northern Lights it was still a bit of a struggle and the lights had to be really bright to be able to pick up properly in video, but that’s to be expected as it’s a specialised low-light camera However, even when we got some shots that looked very grainy, in the post-production process we were able to clean them up very nicely and make them usable

“There was an example of shooting early one morning where the moon was still in the sky, and the unprocessed image looked very noisy and grainy However, the final product looked beautiful When the sun came out and I had some rare bits of nice lighting, the camera really came into its own Sunny days in Finland at that time of year is like perpetual sunset; it’s four hours of golden-hour sun so it was a pleasure to shoot in and the X7 helped give that extra bit of detail and colour depth that really stood out.”

GoinG Pro

Although the X7 is a very impressive piece of kit aimed at high-end professional use, Jack says that simply having the best gear isn’t the be all and end all of aerial filming “I’m

of the opinion that more important is ability to get a good shot It’s only really high-end TV productions like drama and high-quality wildlife documentaries that really need the likes of the X7 shooting RAW.” He adds that his existing X5S is still doing a great job, and he combines this with ProRes for his TV work – “as it’s much easier and quicker

to work with in post-production and still gets great results, especially when nearly all TV productions still deliver their final programmes in HD.”

As for what further additions Jack would like to see boosting his arsenal, he notes the aforementioned quieter propellers to avoid disturbing the wildlife He’s also keen to see some more lenses to make the X7 even better in the field:

“Both a special low-light lens, something around f1.8 would

be amazing, and I would also love to see a tighter lens The 50mm is great, but I would love to see something around

DRONE PRO

A Great Deal

Jack offers up many highlights from his career so far, including a trip to

Portugal last year to film the huge waves at Nazare for Blue Planet II

However, we can’t say we’d have imagined that filming Noel Edmunds

in front of the famous Flying Scotsman locomotive for a Deal or No Deal

special would have been one he saw coming!

“I grew up watching Noel’s House Party so it was very strange to

suddenly be in a train yard, instructing him on safety and then directing

him on where to walk After we finished I asked if I could get a photo of him

standing in front of the trains He said yes and asked if he should hold the

drone It was a weird thing to do, but I said yes and came away with this

bizarre photo of him almost hugging my drone stood in front of a train!” It

looks like Jack got the best deal…

the 100mm mark It would open up a whole new dimension

in observing wildlife from a safe distance.”

Taking this equipment into a professional arena such as

a TV set does bring its own pressure and challenges For

example, Jack says he often only gets one shot to get the

required take as the conditions might not be right for a

second chance – or it could be one of those single capture

moments that you have to be ready for “Quite often the

drone shots are an additional bonus, so it has to be done

in gaps when the main film unit are re-setting or having

a break You can be standing around for hours waiting for

your time to go, then you have to quickly clear the flight area

to make it safe and then get up and get the required shots.”

As for any advice for young pilots or those with

aspirations for getting into the TV and film industry? “Don’t

worry right away about having the top level kit and don’t

sell yourself as an experienced pilot until you are ready

Build up a showreel showing a variety of shots Build up an arsenal of shot types and moves that you can perform well and smoothly under pressure

“One of the keys with a good drone shot is making it look like a drone shot; to do something that couldn’t be achieved any other way The TV industry is a hard industry to break into so you have to be persistent Companies get so many emails that nine times out of ten they won’t respond, so trying to get a meeting in person and having a really catchy showreel is very important Most people won’t watch a showreel over two minutes long.”

Flying AheAd

Even though he’s only been working in TV for seven years,

as a drone operator for more than four of those he’s pretty much a veteran – and things have certainly changed even over this relatively short time “When I first started, there

DRONE PRO

The freezing temperatures

in Finland meant Jack had

to keep swapping blades to

prevent the ice from becoming

a major problem.

wasn’t a large variety of drones and the technology in them was very basic compared to now Back then productions were a bit nervous about drones because they were very new and it was seen as something really special if you could get some drone shots into a show Now, four or five years later, they are a standard feature in almost every TV show and they have become much more accessible.”

Unsurprisingly, and not just as a matter of job security, Jack says that drones in the TV industry are here to stay, delivering excellent production values in a more accessible and cheaper way than before (especially compared to using helicopters or complex rigging) “It’s going to be really exciting to see how the next five years go and what new advances are on the horizon,” he says “It would also

be great to see some more competition to DJI as I think competition between companies aids progression Unless you are after a drone that lifts heavier format cameras, in

my opinion there is no real competition to DJI in terms of quality of product, technology and ease of use So it would

be great to see some new companies come through and keep DJI on its toes!”

As for Jack’s own future, he says he’s got some exciting projects coming up in 2018, and is still working to perfect his time-lapse technique He’s also recently gained his Part

107 permissions for flying in the US, so that’s also opened up some new avenues for work – and he’s not stopping there

“I’ve been lucky enough to film in some amazing places, but there are number of dream locations that I would love to visit and film

“Filming wildlife in Africa has always been a dream of mine, and I’ve worked in the post-production of a number

of TV programmes about the ocean but never filming, so

I would love to get the opportunity to film some of the big whale migrations.” So the next time you see some great aerial footage of whales on a wildlife documentary, stick around for the end credits and you might just see Jack’s name in there!

If you want to see more of Jack’s work or follow his progress on any upcoming shoots, head over to his Facebook page www.facebook.com/JJAerialCinema.

DRONE PRO

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@coverdrone coverdrone coverdrone@johnheath.com

Core Coverdrone features…

Loss or damage to the drones and associated equipmentPublic/Products Liability insurance

In-house, fast claims serviceAviation Liability cover (hi-jacking, unlawful seizure of aircraft and other perils)Professional Indemnity (inc data protection and invasion of privacy)

Reinstatement of dataIncreased costs of working (replacement drone hire)Full reinstatement cover

Cover for operating at ‘high-risk’ premises, over water and indoorsWorldwide cover

‘In-training’ cover Compliant with EU Regulation (EC) No 785/2004

is a bespoke insurance product for the aviation industry

Whether your intended use is for Inspection, Surveillance, Photographic or other purposes we can help If you’re not sure what cover you need just get in touch and we’ll be happy to advise you

Coverdrone FlySafe

Coverdrone FlySafe is a companion application for all Coverdrone customers designed to help plan and conduct their drone flights quicker and safer than ever before Available on both iOS and Android