Hovershotz, our story – how we got started as an aerial drone operator, before quickly becoming the leading aerial drone operating company in the North West of England (Cumbria, Lancashire, Lake District & Yorkshire.
Hovershotz was formed in 2014 by our pilot, Andy Wills, when he saw a gap in the market for a professional drone operating company serving Cumbria, Lancashire and the Lake District. Andy had been building and flying remote control aircraft and helicopters for over 30 years before coming interested in UAV’s (now known as drones) when they first emerged – this makes Andy one of the most experienced drone operator’s and pilot’s in the UK. Andy is also a keen diploma qualified photographer & videographer, so the natural progression was to form a commercial aerial drone photography, video and filming company. This combination of 30 years remote control aircraft & UAV experience, coupled with being a professional photographer makes Hovershotz the leading aerial drone operator in Cumbria.
Prior to forming Hovershotz, Andy was an engineer working in the aerospace industry, working with clients such as Airbus, BAE Systems, GKN Aerospace, Ministry of Defence, Rolls Royce and QinetiQ, during this period, Andy was fully security vetted and CRB checked. While working with BAE Systems, the MOD & QinetiQ, Andy was involved in several military drone projects. Andy also has experience in flying fixed wing aircraft (Piper Cherokee from Carlisle airport) and as such, is experienced in speaking with local air traffic control (atc).
To gain permission for CAA permission for commercial operation (PFCO), Hovershotz studied and qualified for the UK recognised UAV drone qualification – Basic National UAS Certificate for Small Unmanned Aircraft (BNUC-S™). This involved ground school study, to learn all aspects of air law & UAV drone operations in the UK. Following passing the BNUC-S exam, a detailed UAV drone operations manual had to be created and written. The detailed operations manual sets out all of Hovershotz processes and procedures, lipo battery records, flight records, maintenance records and runs to over 60 pages. The operations manual then had to be submitted to the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) for them to review and approve Hovershotz operations, process & procedures.
The final part before the CAA issued permission for aerial work, was to pass a practical flight test. There were 3 levels of flight test:
- Class 3 – Autonomous flight only (pre programmed courses with the drone flying itself autonomously).
- Class 2 – GPS mode. All flight manoeuvres carried out in GPS mode (plus autonomous flight).
- Class 1 – ATTI mode. All flight manoeuvres carried out in ATTI mode (plus GPS mode & autonomous flight).
Hovershotz, opted to take the harder Class 1 flight test and passed with flying colours. Most drone pilots in the UK opt to take the class 2 test (because it is easier and it is recognised by the CAA as a pilot test), Hovershotz chose to do the class 1 test because we want to be the best.
Once Hovershotz were in possession of a BNUC-S UK drone qualification, Full insurance cover to EC Regulation No. 785/2004, a completed SRG 1320 form (plus the correct fee), we applied for CAA permission for aerial work (PFAW) – now known as CAA permission for commercial operation (PFCO). After 6 weeks processing our application – the CAA awarded Hovershotz with PFAW for aerial drone operations in the UK.
Our first assignment was to film the December 2015 storm Desmond floods that flooded Cumbria. This devastated the Lake District, particularly, Carlisle, Ambleside, Appleby, Cockermouth, Kendal & Keswick. The video footage that was uploaded to Hovershotz Facebook page has had over half a million views and 10,000 shares. The video footage was used by all UK news agencies and channels (including BBC, ITV news, ITN, Sky News) and was shown internationally via Reuters to news stations including News 24, CNN, Fox News, Al Jazeera, Euronews, NHK World TV, Russia 24). It was syndicated all over the internet and our stills photographs featured in virtually every UK national and local newspaper (including Daily Mail, Daily Express, Daily Telegraph, Guardian, The Times, Barrow Evening News, Cumberland News and Star & the Westmorland Gazette). This makes Hovershotz the most credible news aerial drone photography & video operator in Cumbria, the Lake District & Lancashire.
We have also completed a very diverse range of projects including:
- Property (real estate) aerial drone photography for a variety of estate agents & agencies across Cumbria (including Appleby, Barrow in Furness, Carlisle, Cockermouth, Keswick, Kendal, Penrith, Shap, Workington, Whitehaven).
- Documentary filming – aerial drone videos for the BBC across the Lake District & Cumbria (including Carlisle, Windermere, Ambleside, Duddon Estuary, Ravenglass, Foxfield, Penrith).
- Adverts – aerial drone videos across Cumbria, Yorkshire & the Lake District for a number of advertising agencies for TV, film & viral internet use).
- Cinema & Film – aerial drone filming and video across Cumbria & the Lake District for a number of films.
- Websites – aerial drone photography across Cumbria, Lancashire, & the Lake District for company business websites.
- Demolition filming – aerial drone video of chimney demolition in Yorkshire.
- Wind Turbine surveys and inspections – aerial drone wind turbine inspections surveys up the West Cumbrian Energy Coast. (Sellafield, Whitehaven, Workington, Carlisle, New Hutton).
- Solar Farm Inspection and Survey – aerial drone survey, inspection, photography and video of solar farm Old Hutton Kendal Cumbria.
- TV Game Shows – we have filmed aerial drone video for TV game shows across the Lake District (including Cautley Spout, Helvellyn, Ullswater, Striding Edge, Swirral Edge)
- Shows – aerial drone photography of agricultural shows
- Sporting events – aerial drone filming and video of swimming, running and mountain biking events. We are licenced to film night events.
- Forestry inspections and surveys across Cumbria & the Lake District (including Shap, Grizedale & Whinlatter.
We have been employed by the BBC as a pundit to talk about anything drone, particularly when they are running a news feature on some drone related incident or news piece.
We have filmed and photographed all over the UK including Carlisle, Newcastle, Castleford, Leeds, Skipton, Settle, Coniston, Penrith, Barrow in Furness, Penrith, Appleby, Keswick, Ulverston, Ambleside, Windermere, Kendal, Old Hutton, Whitehaven, Workington, Sedbergh, Tebay.
Recently Hovershotz have expanded our activities into 3d aerial drone mapping. We have used our tried and trusted formula of undergoing formal training and gaining a recognised qualification in 3d aerial drone mapping – unlike the many cowboy drone operators who just download a piece of free 3d software and then advertise themselves as 3d mapping experts.
Recently Hovershotz were the first professional aerial drone operator in Cumbria & the Lake District to receive permissiond from the CAA to photograph and film with drones at night and also operate EVLOS (extended visual line of sight) – another first for any drone operator in Cumbria. Our flight logs show that we operated commercially with over 400 hours of flight over the last 12 months – all this combined, make Hovershotz simply the most qualified and experienced drone operator in Cumbria, Lancashire & the Lake District. If you also throw in the fact, that we are formally trained and qualified in photography, videography & 3d surveys – it becomes clear why Hovershotz are the top aerial drone photographer, videographer & inspection professional in the North West.
Not resting on our laurels – Hovershotz are currently upgrading our fleet of drones to the very latest cutting edge UAV’s carrying cinema quality film cameras, stills photography cameras and thermal infrared imaging sensors. This we believe, makes Hovershotz the number one choice for any aerial drone application.
