redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Nice picture of central London, right in the middle of restricted zone R157 (fully permissioned, of course!) Queen Anne St. 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 10/08/2026Well ain't that lovely? "Best Drone Survey Company 2026 - East London" As it happens, we *DO* think we're the best drone survey company, and not just in East London either. Unfortunately, this 'award' is entirely about sucking money from the 'winners' and has no real world meaning whatsover. Sigh. 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 23/07/2026Drone surveys in central London have a problem: the Restricted Zones. These are 'Non-Standard Flight' (NSF), and are approved in advance, by the NSF Portal (around 7 days). We've done more than 20 missions in these zones and have only had 1 turned down (next to MI5 in Vauxhall). 010
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 12/07/2026Love this! Grabbed this image while roof-surveying an industrial unit at Westcott Venture Park near Aylsebury. The site was an old WW2 bomber base and is now a hot bed for drone and rocket development. The old runways are still visible, but unused: one of them is turned into solar panels. 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 22/06/2026When panoramas go bad. Made this weird monster while trying to shoot a wide angle of an industrial estate and got carried away. This is the low-res version; the original output was 600MPixels. Survey of industrial units in Essex. 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 12/06/2026Nice photo from the drone of the Albert Hall, London, taken at the end of a roof survey of the neighbouring block. This area is inside Restricted Zone R157, so all permissions were obtained in advance. 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 02/06/2026A zoomable picture of Brighton pier, taken after doing a roof survey at Barclays Bank. Spot the man taking a walk on his roof. 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 15/05/2026Whilst doing one of our regular Barclays Bank roof surveys (this one in Brighton), we noticed this unusual roof shape at the neighbouring building. Was the architect having a see-from-the-air joke? 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 12/05/2026A shot from the archives: our drone builder handing over our first and brand new drone to us, in 2012. Although it looks complicated, it was like flying a tractor compared to our new Mavics and Minis today. How the drone survey industry has moved on in 14 years! 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 26/04/2026Quite a hairy survey job at the LSE London this week. Lightwells, cut-outs, trees... And all going on in a live operating building full of students. Picture shows us flying the drone in one lightwell INSIDE the pigeon net, from a narrow fire escape. 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 05/04/2026We've just done a drone survey at Brompton Cemetery. What's interesting is the yellow sign - it's the first time in 15 years that a client has asked us to deploy one. Luckily, not too expensive at Screwfix 😊 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 31/03/2026Brompton Cemetery in West London has a pleasing symmetrical outlook. We were here surveying the roof of the cafe & visitors centre, and grabbed this one as an 'extra.' Assembled into a pano from 8 components. 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 24/02/2026One of our favourite sites to work from in London... Up on the roof of the LSE in the Strand (and see Dicken's Old Curiosity Shop in the background. Yes, it's a real place). Complicated roofs and elevations to survey; lots of fiddly bits for the drone and polecam to get stuck into. 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 16/01/2026I guess we all get a lot of junk email. Not sure what these people were aiming to achieve, but I love that their mail is actually sent to 'junk@....' 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 26/09/2025We rather like this. Enjoy the greeness of lovely Welwyn Garden City, main boulevard. We were doing a full drone roof survey of the church retreat centre on the right. 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 24/09/2025HOLY CRAP! Our Annual licence renewal has gone up to £500! That's a 213% increase. "Apply for a PDRA01 Operational Authorisation UK Civil Aviation Authority PDRA01 costs £500 per year. There's no VAT to pay. Your authorisation will last for 12 months."caa.co.ukUK Civil Aviation AuthorityThe UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the UK’s independent aviation regulator, protects people and enables aviation. Provides guidance and services for passengers, pilots, aerodrome operators,… 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 05/07/2025Another drone church survey today, in south London this time. Never seen damage like this before. Lead-eating woodpeckers? Mutant mice? Why does this lead have holes in it? 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 01/07/2025Another piece of church roof being drone surveyed by Redcopters! I wouldn't want to stand underneath this..... 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 30/06/2025Redcopters often receives SEO & web proposals; they are always annoying. Anyone who is actually *good* at social media has more work on they they need, and doesn't cold email. However this one entertained me. Remember to fill in the blank, guys. 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 20/06/2025Count the holes. Doing a drone survey of a north London church, seems no one wants to pay for the repairs. 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 18/06/2025When you thought you had enough things to worry about.... The CAA wants us to have an Odour event policy in place (applies to all operators). "SN-2025/008: Procedures for Addressing Odour Events " So, not smoke or fumes. The camera assistant has farted? 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 10/06/2025Would this make a nice jigsaw puzzle? Taken after a drone survey of two schools in Chelsea. 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 02/06/2025Oops! If your website is template-based, do make sure you're filled in all the sections, unlike this example below. We found this on our ISP's site, whose T&Cs don't quite make it clear whose law would apply...... We've notified them. . 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 13/05/2025Took this view of London while doing a house + church roof survey in Upminster. It shows how even from 13 miles, London dominates the skyline. Wouldn't have been like this even 20 years ago. 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 05/05/2025Surveying the rather lovely Pembroke Lodge in Richmond Park. Took this picture with the City of London in the distance. 001
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 13/03/2025There's always a football on the roof! 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 24/02/2025Whilst surveying the roof of the National Gallery in central London, we took advantage of our privileged location to capture this more unusual view of Trafalgar Square, with London Eye in the distance. #dronesurvey #aerialsurvey #aerialview #roofsurvey 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 16/02/2025Now there's a nicely stitched panorama, though I say so myself. We couldn't get up close to this London rail-side warehouse, because of, well, the railway. So 68 individual shots were taken with a telephoto and stitched together, to give the client the 'everything' shot he wanted. 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 06/02/2025It doesn't look much, but this crack was at the centre of a big row over repairs and responsibility, & held up a house sale. The view could only be reached by drone due to a neighbouring property. We took definitive photos that clearly showed the damage, extent and previous repairs. Sale on! 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 27/01/2025We do hospitals too! Tolworth Hospital, undergoing a lot of renovation. The drone was able to get all the way round this complicated roof and do a full survey of roofs, gutters and rain goods. 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 25/01/2025Love this.. Up on the roof doing a survey for LSE in central London, and that is the actual Dickens Old Curiosity Shop in the background. 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 18/01/2025Love this.. Up on the roof doing a survey for LSE in central London, and that is the actual Dickens Old Curiosity Shop in the background. 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 08/01/2025Good grief. New enterprise drone from DJI. Might change the way we do roof surveys.... no need to travel to the site if the drone can see cracks from 250km away...!😁 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 07/01/2025The kind of damage you can't see from the ground. School survey in London 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 07/01/2025We love surveying churches! Here's a lovely blocked downpipe and missing slate, taken from an angle that only a drone can see. 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 01/12/2024My goodness, this seems like a long time ago. Taking delivery of our first drone, 14 years ago. 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 26/11/2024Interesting to look at our assignment map. Obvs London is our home territory, but we do get around 🙂 The pins hide a lot of detail. Eg one pin in Kings Lynn conceals that we did 450 houses there. 000
redcopters.bsky.social @redcopters.bsky.social · 25/11/2024Redcopters, the premium drone roof survey company for London and the south-east UK saying Hello World to all the lovely people on Bluesky 🙂 Good also to be celebrating our imminent new website. Still the same familiar URL www.redcopters.co.uk but a shinier more modern look and lots of new content.redcopters.co.ukAerial Survey Companies | RedcoptersDrone survey operator London and UK 010
