It’s a bird! It’s a plane!
Nope, it’s just Airdrie drone operator Leo Fernandez hard at work.
For the last three years, Kingsview Boulevard resident Fernandez has operated Rockyview Aerials, an Airdrie-based business that offers drone videography and photography services.
Having previously owned a construction painting business in St. Albert, Fernandez said he and his family relocated to Airdrie in 2018, after his wife received a job offer in Calgary.
“I was running a construction painting business for 20 years and my body was shot,” Fernandez said. “I just wanted out, [so] I sold my painting company and started up a drone business.”
Having always been interested in photography, Fernandez said he had bought his first unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) – the official name for a drone – so that he could have aerial photos taken of the buildings he was painting.
As Fernandez began to learn more about UAVs, he realized there were a host of rules and laws when it comes to proper drone usage. In order to be compliant with federal airspace regulations, he said he had to take pilot ground school and pass a series of tests to receive certification from Transport Canada.
He said it took him about a year and a half to finish his pilot schooling, and then he passed the test for his advanced certification on his fourth try.
“That’s how intense it is,” he said. “It has nothing to do with drones, but it has to do with airspace. You have to know limitations, how to call in for authorization – we deal with the same thing as manned aircraft.
“It’s a process. The drone stuff, they’re looked at as toys, but they are considered aircraft by Transport Canada,” he added. “We share airspace with manned aircraft. That’s why advanced pilots like myself have to know just as much as manned aircraft pilots. The testing is hard. Not everyone can do it, and that’s why not everyone [using drones] has advanced certification.”
Other than needing proper certification, Fernandez said operating a drone legally comes with other necessary stipulations as well, such as having a $3,000 “parachute” system if the user intends to fly a drone over top of the public.
“Right now, I can’t lift off right here and take it across town without that parachute, because I have no control over who is going to be under it,” Fernandez said. “Anytime you have no control over bystanders, you either have to close off the area or apply a parachute system.”
What started out as a hobby quickly morphed into a career opportunity, as Fernandez launched Rockyview Aerials after moving to Airdrie.
While his business is mostly focused on providing aerial footage that documents the progress of corporate construction and development projects, Fernandez said his favourite things to shoot are community events. In the past few years, he said he’s shot complimentary bird’s-eye-view footage at the Airdrie Festival of Lights, Airdrie Bikes and Bulls, fireworks displays, public gatherings at Nose Creek Regional Park, and many others.
But filming those requires yet more documentation. Fernandez explained he needs a special permit from Transport Canada called a Special Flights Operation Certificate (SFOC) in order to shoot at public events.
“You can be as certified as hell, but if you don’t have an SFOC, you can’t fly over an advertised event,” he said.
While Fernandez has had to jump through multiple hoops in order to operate Rockyview Aerials, he said he has loved his business venture for multiple reasons.
First, he said he enjoys the creative license that comes with shooting from the sky, and the ability to “show something from a different perspective.”
“In Airdrie, how many times has someone seen the [water tower]?” he said. “I’ve shot the tower so many times, but when you see it from a different view and you see your house in the background, and you go, ‘Oh I know where that is!’ – that kind of feeling is what I like.”
Secondly, Fernandez said he enjoys the technological side of drones, adding it’s interesting to watch UAVs continue to progress.
“They’re not just for video anymore,” he said. “They have flamethrowers on them, arms on them, some have sprayers so they can spray paint. In Dubai, they have drones with big hoses because they don’t have ladders that go high enough. There are different industries for drones, and where they can go.”
For more information on Fernandez’s business, visit rockyviewaerials.ca
