THE skies of Cirencester could soon be buzzing with the sound of tiny rotors as the town’s first remote aerial photography business is soon to open its doors.

Lance Watson and Dan Reglar are the co-founders of SkyCo Imaging, which uses a drone or unmanned aerial system to take photos and videos from the air.

Although other companies operate across the country SkyCo Imaging is the first Cirencester based organisation to pass BNUC-S flying test, and is only waiting for a license to arrive from the Civil Aviation Authority to begin flying.

Dan Reglar, the pilot and chief technical officer of the company explained how he got interested in the idea.

He said: “I bought my son a toy helicopter and duly spent a lot of time playing with it.

“I flew it into a snowdrift, the electronics got wet and it died. On Christmas day.”

After building a more sophisticated craft, drawing up a 48 page operations manual and passing a rigorous safety and flying test their business is now ready to take photos and videos commercially.

Speaking about their competition Lance Watson, the company’s sales director said: “Lots of little companies are popping up but most of them are unlicensed. They are getting a cheap drone off the internet, charging ridiculously low prices and flying without a license.”

Most companies are getting wise to this illegal flying but not everyone goes to the effort of getting qualified as these two have.

SkyCo Imaging was registered as a company in Feburary of this year and has a group of investors including from the former head of BT Sport and BT Vision, the owner of Netgun Solutions, a high level director of Cisco Systems, a successful entrepreneur and a chartered accountant.

The potential for growth is huge as the market has very few serious investors and is expected to snowball in the next few years.

Dan and Lance are hoping that SkyCo Imaging has entered the market at just the right time.
As well as the moneymaking opportunities the pair are also passionate about their craft and the potential future applications it could have.

Dan said: “It’s great to be part of a business where tomorrow I could go into work, have an idea and it could be a world beater.”

Having filmed with the BBC, Cirencester Golf course, several estate agents and more the business seems to be going from strength to strength, with a promising new project lined up for the coming months.

Because of their ability to film at lower altitudes and the comparative ease of flying and landing the craft the pair can offer aerial photos and video more cheaply than a helicopter.

The pair’s six armed craft, Littlebird, operates a GoPro camera mounted on a three axis gimbal for added stability while filming.

For more of their work or to contact Lance and Dan visit http://www.skycoimaging.com/