FAQ'S

FAQ’s

1. Are your pilots qualified?

Yes, all the pilots engaged by Skypics Limited hold a CAA UAV recognised qualification. Whenever we are working in conjunction with other operators, we always make sure that they hold the required CAA qualifications and fully insured.

1. Are Skypics Limited insured?

Yes, we hold insurance on our UAV’s and cameras and £5 million public liability insurance for flights within the UK.  Skypics Limited – Unmanned Aerial Services are also members of ARPAS-UK, the UK trade association for Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems.

1. What are the limitations to your flight operations?

We currently operate under a standard CAA permission for aerial work which means we can fly up to 500m from the pilot horizontally and 400 feet(120m) vertically. It is possible to request exemptions to fly further and higher, but this is likely to incur extra costs and such permissions can take up to 21 – 30 days to organise. The standard limits are generally more than sufficient for the majority of client projects.

1. What are the flight times?

Flight times vary depending on the UAV and the camera payload but typically around 12 – 20 minutes per battery set. Larger cameras may have flight times down to around 6 minutes and some lightweight cameras can have a duration of over 20 minutes. While these times may seem short with good pre planning a lot can be achieved, we do carry plenty of batteries.

1. Can you fly a UAV in London?

While flying in London is possible there are a number of restrictions involved with flying in London. The first is most of the City of London is a restricted area (CAA EGR160).  There are also two additional restricted areas (CAA EGR157 and EGR158) within the City and another a non-standard nearby. Any UAV, no matter how small has to submit a non-standard flight application to the CAA to fly in these areas.  Requesting permission can take up to 30 days and this is not guaranteed. London is a congested area which can limit the size of the UAV that can be operated. Therefore while working in London is possible you need to allow around a month to organise the project, this may incur extra administration costs and Skypics Limited cannot guarantee permission will be able to be obtained.

1. Can you fly poor weather?

Unfortunately we cannot fly in the rain as there are exposed electrical points on the UAV and water on the camera lens will spoil the shot, also we recommend that the wind is under 15mph. We are flexible and will work with you to find a suitable day.

1. Copyright and Usage?

Skypics Limited – Unmanned Arial Services, retains the copyright of all filming content unless a buyout of footage is specifically agreed and contracted. The Client purchasing the services of Skypics Limited – Unmanned Aerial Services, will be given full use of the material, however they will not be able to sell the footage or allow a 3^rd party organisations to use it without the proper agreement of Skypics Limited – Unmanned Aerial Services.

 

Skypics Limited – Unmanned Aerial Services actively promotes its work and reserves the right to use any of our footage or stills for internal promotion, be this inclusion on our showreel or for PR purposes to promote Skypics Limited -Unmanned Aerial Services. We also reserve the right to supply the footage to stock libraries at a later date.