£1 Million House in Old Portsmouth: an FPV Drone Tour
Flying our FPV drone around a newly-converted waterside penthouse for its owner and the estate agency selling the property is definitely one of our favourite perks of the aerial filmmaking day job so far.
The homeowner converted Spinnaker Quay — located on Broad Street in beautiful Old Portsmouth — from a barn-style building into a stunning apartment space, and installed an entirely new upper floor.
The homeowner and estate agency Bushnell Porter requested we shoot footage that showcased both the striking interior and the property’s impressive harbour surroundings, just minutes away from Gunwharf Quays.
Permissions and planning for a harbour drone flight
The first port of call (pun intended) for marine drone flights over water and surrounding land is the Queen’s Harbour Master. As always, they were thankful to hear from us; many people fly illegally in naval airspace, so it‘s always a relief for the QHM when pilots respect the drone code!
Plus, if they’re aware of your plans, they’ll be better-prepared to assist with emergency landings and drone recoveries.
Unauthorised hobbyist drones flying over naval bases and busy shipping channels may force ports to shut down momentarily while the unidentified UAV is investigated or scrambled. Notifying the QHM that you’re legit (CAA-approved) prevents this.
For this job, we also contacted Ineos Team UK (at the Ben Ainslie Racing headquarters), the police, the Ministry of Defence, Portsmouth International Port, and KB Hardstanding. We also spoke to Camber-based fish wholesalers Viviers, to make them aware of our flights and to arrange take-off from their property.
Automated and manual flights
We shot exterior visuals first, with three automated drone flights taking off from outside the Ineos building, plus one manual flight from the Camber. The manual flight cut a course around the back of Ben Ainslie Racing HQ, across the marina, and into the window of the stunning penthouse.
Then we used our FPV drones to capture a stylish showcase of the property’s interior. Everyone — us included! — had a real ‘woah’ moment when we first saw the wide exterior perspective reverse into the apartment!
Things to look out for: the Stormtrooper, the poster of Michael Caine in Get Carter, our drone’s shadow against the projector screen, those amazing sloping bookshelves, and the lovely kitchen island. Watch below.
And, in classic Solent Sky Services fashion, we couldn’t just land and leave the area without snapping an aerial 360º photo of the area:
Things to spot: Gunwharf, Gosport, Wightlink’s ferries, the solar panels all over BAR HQ’s roof, Portsmouth Cathedral, Southsea Common to the east, and HMS Queen Elizabeth to the west. And, if you end up being the new owner of this quayside penthouse, you have our permission to say “I can see my house from here!”
Thank you to Bushnell Porter for thinking of us for this project.