Member Article

The sky’s the limit for Vantage Point Media

A service originally conceived to take all the risk and most of the hassle out of surveying buildings has opened up a wide range of exciting new business opportunities for Vantage Point Media, a new division launched by the Northern Bear plc family of building services companies.

In preparation for lift-off, Vantage Point Media acquired a fleet of the latest generation hexacopters - manoeuvrable and extremely-stable 6-engined helicopter/aeroplane hybrids - plus a smaller quadcopter for training.

It has been granted ‘Permission for Aerial Work’’ by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and appointed a number of qualified remote aircraft pilots, who have received professional training.

The original inspiration for the new venture came from the group’s health and safety consultancy, Northern Bear Safety, which was seeking an alternative to high-risk, time- consuming and disruptive traditional methods of conducting detailed structural surveys of buildings and difficult-to-access roofs.

In addition to providing an outstandingly safe and simple alternative for building surveys, and inspections, the advanced capability of Vantage Point Media to offer an aerial dimension in perfect safety from the ground has opened up a wide range of applications.

The potential not only in building but also in a number of other sectors is already apparent: environmental surveys, property presentations and sport and leisure events are three of the applications already under consideration.

Graham Jennings, managing director of Northern Bear PLC, commented: “Vantage Point Media is an excellent example of how we in the Northern Bear family of companies are prepared to adapt new technologies and work together to provide innovative solutions for our clients.”

In the hands of experienced professionals, hexacopters are fast and simple to set up, extremely versatile and very safe.

The pilot controls the aircraft from the ground and is assisted by a trained observer, with live video downlink systems giving clients the option of viewing what the camera sees in real time via a monitor. Subject to safety considerations, they can also direct the aircraft movements by instructing the pilot

The camera records everything it sees in full HD video and automatically takes high quality photographs every 5 seconds or via a handheld remote control at ground level.

On completion of the flight, Vantage Point Media edits out unnecessary footage and sends the video and photographs on a memory stick to the customer. The raw footage can also be supplied if required.

The limitations imposed for safety reasons by CAA permissions allow Vantage Point Media to fly to a maximum height of 400 feet (120m) - more than high enough to capture stunning aerial views - and up to 500m from the pilot horizontally.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Newshound .