Waiting for CAA UAS Approval?

My Ops Manual has just been sent to the CAA. According to the CAA website, and my contact at EuroUSC, it takes approximately 28 days for it to be passed off and ‘permisson to fly’ to be granted. I’ve sketched the 26th May, into my mind, including weekends, so it might be longer.

So what do you do while your waiting. Or more appropriately, what can you do?

I have been toying with the idea of approaching a few local businesses, telling them about what i do, and what i can offer them. I decided on monday this week, that i would do just that.

Today i visited my first client, a prestigious Golf Course in my local Town. At 1pm this afternoon they gave me the keys to a Golf Buggy and gave to free run of the Grounds.

This is the only image of the Course, the Club’s website currently has…..

I have offered my Aerial Photography services free of charge. Why? Well, until i have received ‘Permission for Aerial Work – PFAW. Secondly, there are lots of Golf Courses in my area. Golf Courses have money and their members are generally wealthy. Its not about getting my grubby mitts on their cash, its about Networking, building a client base.

Filming a Golf Course will help improve my portfolio, i’ve tended to fly over fields and rivers of late. I spent over 4 hours on location today, this allowed me to conduct a thorough ‘pre’ on-site assessment. Using GoogleMaps on my Ipad i was able to spot local hazards. My Regional VFR Map to identified the Course is within Regional Class D Air Space, so i will need to contact my local ATC.

I cannot wait to get started in ernest. I plan on visiting the site again later this week, and the Course Manager has asked that i look to film in a few weeks, allowing the foliage to fully bloom, and the course to look its best. This gives me time to plan my shots and angles. Because i was given a Buggy, i was able to drive around the entire location, so i already have an idea of the shots i want to get.

An additional Camera Operator is going to be essential to get the best shots. Luckily the Course Pro is a UAS fan, he had already pitched the idea to the Board! He knows the shots he wants, so i will be taking some of my ‘direction’ from him.

I will post more when more happens!

Ever feel like you’re Late for the Party?

Sometimes, do you feel like everyone know something you don’t, and by the time you do, they have moved onto something else?

I sometimes feel like this with UAS. I have toyed with them for years, but never really thought about them as a career. Since i have, and established Overland UAS, i spend my entire life, eating breathing and sleeping UAS, i see them everywhere. Sometimes i feel like anything i try to film, has already been filmed! (I watch a UAS soar above the fields in a BBC or Channel 4 Program and i’m torn between appreciation and envy.)

This is of course rubbish, i’m just getting frustrated with the drawn out process of obtaining the relevant qualifications and permissions to fly commercially.

I have the skills, the contacts and the equipment, to start trading yesterday, but i simply cant accept any work that is paid, or could be construed as adding financial value to my company.

So i practice and blog. And read and practice and blog. And every now and again, i come across an article that convinces me, i have missed the ‘Glory Days’ of UAS Photography….

Feast your eyes on these stunning shots… http://imgur.com/a/J9iOB

Well done sir, you were a trail blazer!

TU