Tel: 07980282245
Email : contact@ne-drones.co.uk

We cannot say Yes, but we take every precaution necessary?

We take every precaution necessary to ensure any risk is at an acceptable level before we start. This includes:

​

• Pre-site survey – To ensure we can safely fly at your location and there are no hazards that will cause us concern. This consists of checking aviation charts for airspace, NOTAMS (Notice To Air Men) to see if any manned aviation activities are taking place in the area, Google earth, local press in case of any events nearby, weather and weather warnings.

• On-site survey – This is conducted on the day; if we have identified anything in the pre-site survey that causes us concern we will make a prior on-site assessment. This will back up our pre-site survey findings.

• Safety checks – We carry out before flight operations, and after flight operations to satisfy ourselves the drone is capable of undertaking any flight in a safe manner.

• Fail safes – The drone is fitted with several fail safe systems. In the event of a radio transmitter failure the drone will land itself at its take off point. If the drone has more than 6 motors, in the event that a motor should fail we are still able to control the drone and land it. We can initiate the fail safes at any time to return the drone to its landing area.

• Emergency procedures – We regularly practice our emergency procedures. To ensure we are calm and under control in the event of a system failure. Our drones which have 6 or more motors will still fly in the event of a motor or propeller failure.

• Safety in general – We will never fly if it is not safe to do so. We will never compromise the safety of others to get the imagery.

• Air Space – Although it looks like there is lots of places that have controlled airspace, most of the time all it takes is a phone call for permission to fly in some of these areas.

Yes we can. 

Our CAA permission & operations manual allows us to fly day and night. Our pilots are trained to fly at night.  

On average the drone is in the air for 20-25 minutes per battery. We carry a number of batteries along with on site charging, so we can stay airborne for any duration. It takes about 10 minutes to land change the battery and carryout safety checks, before taking off again!

Yes!

Under CAA regulations we are allowed to fly from ground level up to a maximum altitude of 400ft.  The airspace for manned aircraft is over 500ft so this leaves a separation zone of 100 feet.

​

We also must maintain Visual Line of sight of our drones, this means we can only fly 500m away from the drone operator (pilot)

Yes – NE Drones has the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) “Permission for Commercial Operations” PfCO which means as a licensed commercial operator of UAV’s (unmanned aerial vehicles) we are governed and regulated by the CAA.

The Civil Aviation PfCO is mandatory for anyone flying drones for commercial use in the UK. We are happy to show you our approvals.

​

Please see our Drone Law section for more information 

Each project will be different, so will require varying amounts of pre-planning and site survey work. Shooting material for a TV programme carries with it a set of disciplines that will vary enormously from those required to capture data for aerial survey work. Therefore, a quotation will be generated for all commissions and include all pre-deployment planning, a site survey, a trained observer when appropriate and any travel expenses that might be incurred.

 

No, there are restrictions and laws

​

The CAA imposes strict rules to ensure public safety, we are bound by these rules under our license conditions. This Permission is granted subject to the following conditions, namely, that the said aircraft shall not be flown:

​

• Above or below height of 400 feet from the operator.

• Over or within 50 metres of persons, structure or vessel not under our control. (30 meters during take-off and landing)

• Over or within 150 metres of an open air assembly of more than 1000 persons.

• ​

Key point in the approvals is the statement is “Under our Control”. Although these rules may seem restrictive we can fly closer to people and property if they are under our control in accordance with our operating procedures. We will also require approval from the landowner for the take-off and landing site(s). These are our standard permissions but these can be negotiated with CAA with the appropriate risk assessments. For large events we can apply to the CAA for extra permission or exemption, based on a thorough risk assessment and site survey. This takes time and would require plenty of notice and planning.

Yes, it is a legal requirement and we are covered up to £5 million public liability insurance.

Date, Time, Location and some basic details

Before you go too far in your planning stages, contact us first. You may be in a geographical area where it may not be possible to provide our service. We will need some basic details of your requirements so we can carry out an initial survey to see the suitability of your requirement.

​

• Location where the work is required.

• Proposed date and time.

• Details of your requirements

• ​

With this information, we will be able to work out if we could deploy the drone, or if we would need to seek additional permissions. We will let you know if your requirement is acceptable so you can continue to fine tune your plans.

Rain

We can’t normally fly in rain, as rain does not mix well with our equipment especially the camera; any water on the camera lens will spoil any imagery.

​

Wind

​

The maximum wind speed we can fly in is approx. 25kts, anything more is beyond the drones safe working limits.

​

If we cancel operations due to bad weather we will not charge you and will look to re-book on an alternative day.