What drone services does CAV Aerial offer?

CAV Aerial provides drone roof inspections, thermal imaging, 3D models, and campaign video production. All flights are insured and GVC-certified.

Who are your typical clients?

We work with architects, conservation officers, builders, councils, heritage trusts, church wardens, and private homeowners across the UK.

Are your services suitable for churches and listed buildings?

Yes, we specialise in drone documentation for sensitive sites, including listed buildings and churches. We're registered with the National Churches Trust network.

How We Plan Safe, Professional Drone Flights for Roof and Building Inspections

29 Jul

Written By Constantine Callaghan

At CAV Aerial, safety and planning are just as important as the footage itself. Before we fly, we don’t just check the weather — we map flight paths, assess risk zones, and design our work to be non-disruptive, heritage-safe, and fully compliant with CAA regulations.

Whether we're surveying a listed roof or capturing footage for a conservation campaign, each job is meticulously prepared. Here’s how.

Site Recces and Pre-Flight Assessments

Before any job, we conduct a physical or virtual site recce to understand:

Line of sight for the drone and spotter
Potential hazards like trees, towers, footpaths, or power lines
Safe takeoff/landing zones
Emergency landing options

For our Bruce Castle project, for example, we identified three tree hazards, two tower obstacles, and adjusted our flight orbit to avoid direct overflight. The site was walked, mapped, and risk-assessed before arrival.

Flight Timing: Light, Safety & Minimising Disruption

We don’t just pick a sunny day — we choose the right time.

At Bruce Castle, we scheduled flight operations for 5:30 AM. Why?

Best light for east-facing elevations
Minimal public presence in the park
Reduced environmental disturbance

For heritage sites, early hours or Sunday mornings are often best. For urban areas, we may plan around timetables or request restricted access windows.

Risk Assessments and Emergency Plans

Every job has a custom risk assessment. We evaluate:

Altitude and clearance above structures and trees
Flight paths and their proximity to people
Wind speed limits and weather windows
Emergency failsafes: Return-to-home, manual abort landing zones, and CAA incident protocols

We always have a trained visual observer (VO) on site to monitor footpaths and pause the flight if anyone enters the area. We also rehearse our emergency procedures before each flight.

Mapping & Modelling Requires Structure

When capturing imagery for 3D modelling, our flights follow pre-visualised paths:

Grid-based flyovers for roof mapping
Vertical and horizontal sweeps for façades
Overlap and altitude planning to ensure photogrammetry accuracy
Consistent framing for before/after comparisons or monitoring over time

You can see this approach clearly in our St Mary’s Tower flight plan, where each elevation was sectioned with numbered photo points and directional flight paths.