We have been missing for a while, but there is an explanation: the last few weeks have consisted of planning and executing several operations, some of which are still in the coordination phase. The purpose of this post is to share with the reader three operations that have coincided during the last week. All of them consisted of filming services with drones and, for the most part, with a heavy load of aeronautical coordination.
Camino de Santiago filming with drones in Galicia
At the moment we can not provide more specific information. We only can say that we have participated in a filming project of the French Camino de Santiago, from O Cebreiro to Santiago, for an important television channel of international prestige and under the baton of an Emmy award winner. We have joined the team of our partners and friends of Fixers City to provide the drone solutions that the project required.
At the operational level, the execution of the drone shots that the Director needed. But, as you can imagine, guaranteeing to be able to fly a total distance of 160 kilometers, whatever the Director’s wishes, involved a great deal of aeronautical coordination work with drones:
- Portomarín Fire Fighting Heliport (managed by the Forest Fire Defense Service of the Xunta de Galicia).
- Ancares-Courel MITECO Zone(managed by A Coruña’s Territorial Department of the Regional Ministry of Environment and Climate Change of the Xunta de Galicia).
- Serra do Careon MITECO zone (managed by Lugo’s Territorial Department of the Department of Environment and Climate Change of the Xunta de Galicia).
- Ten urban areas, agreed with the client, for notification to the Ministry of Interior. One declaration per day and drone, since in a filming you never know exactly which drone is going to be used, when it is going to be filmed in each location or even if it is going to be filmed at all).
In this case, we were unable to coordinate with CTR in Santiago because we did not have the necessary 20 working days to do so as soon as we received the work request from the client, which created a non-flyable blank space of a few kilometers. Drone operators will identify with this.
In summary, it has been a great project that we are very proud to have been part of, which has been a challenge in terms of aeronautical coordination (covering a potential area of 160 kilometers is already saying something) and with the usual demands of professional filming. We would like to thank our partners at Fixers City for having counted on us for such a big project.
Indoor filming of dirt bikes with FPV drones
As part of our collaboration agreement with Motocrossity, in Torrejón de Ardoz, the first indoor motocross circuit in Europe, we went to film an event of the company, in which there was a DJ session, motocross tracks, dinner and concert.
For this, we sent two experienced FPV drone pilots from our team to cover the event with tinywhoop and toothpick low risk drones, which was a requirement of the client, especially for the shots of the top floor where people were enjoying the event.
In this case, as it was a 100% indoors operation, no aeronautical coordination was necessary. Even so, as is logical, the operation was carried out trying to get as close as possible to zero risk and with civil liability coverage.
Star Wars parade filming in Zaragoza (cancelled)
As part of our usual collaboration with the Legion 501 Spanish Garrison, a non-profit association of which we consider ourselves friends, we prepared the operation to film with C0 drones the parades of the Legion 501 in the city of Zaragoza for this past Saturday April 11th. For this, not only we had to mobilize a pilot to Zaragoza, but also, to ensure that he could operate in the planned flight zones at a maximum of 45m AGL (Plaza del Pilar, Palacio de la Alfajería and Feria de Zaragoza) we had to coordinate with:
- Photographic Flight Restincted Zone of Zaragoza (CECAF)
- Photographic Flight Restincted Zone of Alagon (CECAF)
- Urban flight (Ministry of Interior)
The height limitation was due to the proximity of the Zaragoza CTR and, again, the lack of 20 working days to coordinate with them. As potential customers reading this post can see, sufficient advance notice is essential to be able to operate with drones, especially in Spain.
Finally, the operation had to be cancelled, so we notified the National Police (who requested information and documentation about the operation) of this eventuality, as well as the CECAF, so they could close the two related dossiers.
In summary, we are tired but happy to have work to do and grateful for the trust of all our customers, partners and friends, who count on GOAT Drones Solutions to provide solutions to their needs with drones, whether bureaucratic or field level. Of course, we also appreciate the work of the aeronautical coordinators with whom we deal and who always assist us with professionalism and efficiency.
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Totally appreciate the amount of work the job in Galicia has given you all. That amount of coordination on its own is a full time job. The difficulty we all face with clients is managing their expectations when planning operations whilst satisfying the legal requirements to fly here in Spain. The 20 working days to operate in controlled airspace can be really tough to make clients understand, and sometimes we just have to get creative with altitude limits in other zones to satisfy the clients needs. Keep up the great work!
Good to see you, Craig. As the professional that you are, we appreciate your comment and appreciation. And we agree with you that the time to coordinate operations with the aeronautical managers in Spain sometimes results either in having to cancel operations or, as you say, having to get creative with distances, heights or alternative areas. Thanks for stopping by to say hello!