It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a drone?

Andy Crowe's drone takes to the sky.

Although I have yet to see an actual drone in the wild, I hear that soon these flying robots will be a common site. Setting aside the scary drawbacks: killing and spying and whatnot, I have to say, at this time, I think drones are pretty cool.

Recently, our friend Andy Crowe bought a drone to supplement his aerial photography business. He invited Ken and I over to the lovely French countryside home he shares with his partner Nicky Frost.

A small camera is attached to the bottom of the drone.

Preparing for lift-off

Andy's potential clientele are those who need property surveys, roof inspections or marketing material for their gites. Some customers want beautiful photographs of their property to hang in their homes or unusual videos as keepsakes.

Sending a drone up is much more affordable than flying a plane, and from the ground Andy can monitor the hundreds of photos being snapped by the small camera and adjust angles to assure he's getting the best shots.

Ken and Andy watching the drone

Photographs or videos taken from the sky are monitored on the ground.

Andy says he won't dispatch his drone over crowds or where the drone may crash into a building or tree. (The drone has sensors that make such a crash very unlikely.) Additionally, the drone automatically stays within the limits of legal air space.

Another safe landing.

Andy's company is called Drone Images, and you can find more details on his website: droneimages.co.uk.