Over 200 Historic Environment Scotland sites to offer ‘Once in a lifetime’ drone flights

The childhood home of Mary Queen of Scots, Stirling Castle, is one of over 200 sites across Scotland which will be introducing a new and revolutionary ‘request to fly’ platform which will give thousands of drone pilots the unique opportunity to apply to conduct ‘once in a lifetime’ flights from some of the country’s most famous landmarks.

Up until now, drone operators have had to file a request to take off and land at one of Historic Environment Scotland’s properties via the Historic Environment Scotland website - including Edinburgh Castle, Blackness Castle, and Doune Castle alongside Stirling Castle.

However, as drone use has increased as the technology has become more accessible and affordable, so has the number of requests to fly at these famous and picturesque sites in the care of Historic Environment Scotland. As such, the ability to manage and approve flights has outgrown the current system.

Using the new platform from Altitude Angel, drone operators can submit requests to fly at some of the world’s most famous castles, cathedrals and stately homes via the UK’s most popular drone flight planning app, Drone Assist, or via dronesafetymap.com. Historic Environment Scotland can then approve, decline, or offer alternative flight times, depending on the venue, its opening times, and events taking place on the ground.

Applications for the first tranche of sites, which include Tantallon Castle, Caerlaverock Castle and Huntly Castle are now being accepted with further sites due to come online in future phases.

Paul Spence, Historic Environment Scotland, Senior Filming and Photography Manager, said: “The ability to manage the use of drones around the properties in our trust, giving operators a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity to film in historic and famous locations and landmarks, is something we’re very proud to be leading on. By offering this platform to drone pilots interested in filming at our sites, we’re able to preserve our existing user experience whilst offering the chance to capture unique perspectives on Scotland’s historic sites.

“Filming with drone offers a unique opportunity to appreciate and capture our sites from a whole new point of view. When revealed from above, it becomes even more apparent the work that went into creating these properties and how magnificent some of the shapes and designs of the properties in our care really are.”

Chris Forster, Altitude Angel, Chief Operating Officer, added: “Enabling drone flights at sites and venues across Scotland, including the iconic Stirling and Edinburgh Castles, through Approval Services is a huge milestone for both Altitude Angel and drone operators in the UK.

“Scotland is blessed with some of the world’s most beautiful and iconic buildings and scenery. To be able to capture on film these sites, with the blessing of those trusted to manage them, at a time and from a place which is beneficial to all, is something we’re immensely proud to have helped bring about.”

About Altitude Angel 

Altitude Angel is an award-winning provider of UTM (Unified Traffic Management) software, enabling those planning to operate, or develop, UTM/U-Space solutions to quickly integrate robust data and services with minimum effort.

Today, Altitude Angel’s market-defining technology is providing a critical, enabling service on which the future of UTM will be built across the globe. Altitude Angel has been leading a consortium of businesses to build and develop a ‘drone superhighway’ connecting airspace above Reading, Oxford, Coventry, and Rugby. The SKYWAY superhighway network, enabled using Altitude Angel’s patented Arrow® technology, will unlock the huge potential offered by unmanned aerial vehicles and be a catalyst to enable growth in the urban air mobility industry.

Altitude Angel’s first party solutions also power some of the world’s leading ANSPs, aviation authorities and Enterprises, including NATS (Services) Ltd (UK), LVNL (Netherlands) and Avinor (Norway), empowering them with new capabilities to safely manage and integrate drone traffic into national operations.

By unlocking the potential of drones and helping national aviation authorities, ANSPs, developers and enterprise organisations, Altitude Angel is establishing new services to support the growth in the drone industry.

Altitude Angel was founded by Richard Parker in 2014 and is headquartered in Reading, UK.

Altitude Angel’s developer platform is open and available to all at https://www.altitudeangel.com/developer-portal

About Historic Environment Scotland

1. Historic Environment Scotland (HES) is the lead body for Scotland’s historic environment, a charity dedicated to the advancement of heritage, culture, education and environmental protection. It is at the forefront of researching and understanding the historic environment and addressing the impacts of climate change on its future, investigating and recording architectural and archaeological sites and landscapes across Scotland and caring for more than 300 properties of national importance. HES is also the lead on delivering Scotland’s strategy for the historic environment, Our Past, Our Future.

2. Historic Scotland, Scran, Canmore, The National Collection of Aerial Photography (NCAP), The Engine Shed, Stirling Castle and Edinburgh Castle are sub-brands of Historic Environment Scotland. 

3. Historic Environment Scotland is a registered Scottish Charity. Scottish Charity No. SC045925 

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