Flyte

Symetric Productions: Commercial Drone Operations in Ontario, Canada

kerr@flyte.ie (Kerr Mackinnon) — Tue, 24 Oct 2017 13:42:02 GMT

Brandon Sloan and Joe Jones, head up drone operations in their Canadian-based marketing and web design business Symetric Productions. The company, located in St. Catherines, Ontario, was founded 15 years ago by Joe as a Web Design and Marketing Agency. They began their drone operations in the last three years and according to Brandon, are now seeing this side of the business rapidly grow:

“By bringing aerial capabilities into the fold, drone operations have evolved from being a marketing add-on, to often the main service we provide our clients. It’s differentiated us from our competition, and allowed us to meet our client’s evolving needs.”

Operations are carried out by lead-pilot, and VP of Sales and Marketing Joe. Both Brandon and Joe utilise Flyte’s Web App to assess and manage their drone operations. Most jobs are located within southern Ontario’s Golden Horseshoe; a region which has a high density of airports and airfields varying in size and traffic volume. Most significant is Toronto Pearson International Airport; the busiest in Canada and 33rd busiest globally.

To perform commercial work or research with a drone in Canada, you must adhere to this guide published by Transport Canada. gain a Special Flight Operations Certificate (SFOC). The regulations commercial operators must adhere are comparable to those seen throughout the USA and UK but with some interesting variations:

Transport Canada must be notified by filling out the "exemption notification form"
Built-Up areas should be avoided by 5.5.km
9km distance must be maintained from registered airports/airfields. 5.5km from heliports
Rulesets are split between sub-1kg and 1kg to 25kg. If <1kg, max distance is 500m, if 1-25kg, max horizontal distance is an enormous 900m.
90m max Above Ground Level.

With increased potential for airspace incursions, and large 9km avoidanace zones around airports, Symetric Productions rely upon the data Flyte provides both pre-flight in the office and before take-off once on site:

“Flyte saves us time in understanding the airspace above us and helps us plan safe flights avoiding nearby airfields or restricted areas.

“Not only are the skies above very busy, there are many airports and airfields which are more challenging to identify when operating further north.”

As a Marketing and Web Design company first, they attract a broad variety of clients. These include verticals in which drone use is already quite prevalent such as construction or real estate, but also as part of promotional videos for local businesses who simply want epic aerial footage to promote their products.

Their process involves initial discussion with prospective clients to fully understand what the client wants out of the project, as well as to ensure the client understand any potential contraints and safety concerns the drone operations could incur. Often this involves,

“It's very important our client's appreciate the safety requirement we ahhere . To ensure the most versatile content, our filming process often involves moving between up to 3 or 4 individual take-off or landing locations.

"At each we quickly reassess flight safety. Flyte fits neatly into this workflow recording any hazards and mitigation before taking off again."

Symetric Productions carry out their drone operations using their DJI Phantom 4 Pro, shooting in 4K and provide full direction and post-production services to their clients. Thanks for checking in.

Interdrone 2017 Perspectives

kerr@flyte.ie (Kerr Mackinnon) — Fri, 15 Sep 2017 17:02:24 GMT

Another enormous drone conference has come and gone bringing together a diverse range of innovation and perspective. This blog is currently being written from a peaceful downtown San Francisco location in heavy contrast to last week’s location!

Sectional Charts

olivia@flyte.ie (Olivia Henry) — Fri, 11 Aug 2017 13:05:50 GMT

Flyte Introduces Digital Sectional Charts; here’s a brief history.

Flyte are proud to announce the inclusion of Sectional Aeronautical Charts in the latest version of our flight planning and drone operations management platform.

Our digital airspace data, Powered by Airmap, punctuates the traditional sectional charts with TFRs and NOTAMs as well as unprecedented interactivity to add to your flight planning methodologies. Flyte can now quickly alert pilots to additional topographical hazards such as powerline locations and HIRTA or CTAF transmission frequencies.

Alongside our comprehensive hybrid and satellite imagery provided by Mapbox, sectional charts can be easily toggled on or off within the flight planning dashboard. They allow any pilot, especially one with a Part 107 trained eye, to quickly identify any other potential airspace users throughout the wider area.

GIS Fundamentals

kerr@flyte.ie (Kerr Mackinnon) — Fri, 30 Jun 2017 20:49:10 GMT

Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are central to the enormous growth of the drone industry, allowing it to permeate into the high-growth verticals seen today. As the drone industry does now, GIS has a long track-record of transcending industries, creating standards and enabling processes for large-scale management and analysis of location-based data.

K-Index FAQ

kerr@flyte.ie (Kerr Mackinnon) — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 17:47:38 GMT

What is K Index?

Drone Businesses in Ireland

olivia@flyte.ie (Olivia Henry) — Tue, 09 May 2017 09:18:00 GMT

Thinking of starting a drone business? Here’s why we think Ireland could be a great place to do so! If you are reading this and would like to promote you business, make sure to get in touch with us and we'll be sure to showcase it here!

Flying in Colombia

kerr@flyte.ie (Kerr Mackinnon) — Fri, 31 Mar 2017 10:25:00 GMT

Flying in Mexico

kerr@flyte.ie (Kerr Mackinnon) — Wed, 29 Mar 2017 16:57:51 GMT

Flying in Latin America? Check out our blog

kerr@flyte.ie (Kerr Mackinnon) — Wed, 29 Mar 2017 14:17:07 GMT

Introduction:

We thought we would build up the online knowledge-base covering drone use and regulation throughout Latin America, with a focus at first on Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Chile - we will continue to grow this with Brazil next in our scopes. If anyone would like to contribute please to not hesitate to get in touch!

So far we have found some unusual pieces of legislation (especially when compared to the U.K. and U.S.), we have found one country in particular to have highly specific regulations and found where if your drone is below a certain weight there is virtually no restrictions on what you can do!

Why you should consider flying your drone in Latin America?

Broadly Central America is a hill country complimented by deep valleys with the world’s longest continuous mountain chain (the Andes). This creates spectacular and vast extents of scenery; unique on this planet.

However many also consider the complex geography hampering connectivity between the region's economic centers to be a key challenge towards wider development. Drones are therefore an in-demand solution due to their ability to remedy connectivity issues by connecting rural areas where road and rail do not, whether it be through rainforest or desert, or over mountain or river.

Because Flyte is Powered by Airmap, the data and services we can provide within the region are constantly developing. Check out our map below detailing the airspace and ground hazard data we currently provide. This is available and accessible within our 30 day free trial.

Travelling with Lithium Polymer Batteries

olivia@flyte.ie (Olivia Henry) — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 04:00:00 GMT

It will come as no surprise that a lot of drone enthusiasts will want to take their drones with them on holidays. As well as ensuring you follow all the rules and regulations surrounding safe flying when you arrive at your destination, there are a few issues to think about when travelling with your drone and it’s batteries.