Questions producers ask.

Every rig is priced as a package: the gear, the crew to run it, and the legal and insurance lines, each listed separately with its day rate and number of days. That way you can carry our lines straight into your budget.

Rates are quoted excluding VAT. Ask for the 2026/27 rate sheet and we'll send it with the packages for your shoot.

A crew day is 10 hours. Crew rates on the rate sheet are based on a 10-hour day and are already included in the package prices.

Yes, and it's built into the crew lines. The pilot's line includes a half-day tech recce and the camera or gimbal operator's line includes a half-day gear check, which is why those roles are costed at one and a half days per shoot day.

Travel days are charged at a reduced day rate for crew and for gear, not at the full shoot-day rate. Vehicle fuel is charged once we're more than 40 km from Cape Town (measured from the CTICC). For shoots outside the Western Cape we build flights, freight and accommodation into the quote.

Our packages list them line by line: a flight authorisation fee per location, third-party liability cover per day, and the CAA permissions and licence usage fee per day. Shooting in a national park adds a SANParks drone permission per day per location.

These lines are in every drone package on the rate sheet, so a bid built from it already accounts for them.

Your dates, the locations, what you're filming and the kind of shots you want. A treatment, storyboard or reference clips help. We come back with a recommended setup, the crew and a quote built from the rate sheet.

Yes. Skyhook holds Air Service Licence G1229D and is an ROC holder: we hold the Remote Operator Certificate that the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) requires for commercial drone work. Our pilots are licensed UAS pilots.

Yes. Each location needs its own flight authorisation, and we apply for it as part of the job. Some places need more time and extra permissions, national parks for example, so tell us your locations as early as you can.

Yes. Our drone packages include US$5 million third-party liability cover per shoot day.

Yes, with the right rig. The Thicc and the Ducted Echoquad have ducted frames and the Cinewhoop has prop guards and weighs very little; all three are built to fly safely close to cast. For each shot we plan the rig, the distances and an observer where it's needed.

At minimum a licensed UAS pilot and a camera or gimbal operator. Depending on the rig and the location we add a drone assistant and an FPV observer. Ground and live rigs bring their own specialists: an e-bike rider, a precision driver and crane operator for the MotoCrane, or a Teradek Bond technician.

We're based in Zonnebloem, Cape Town, and work all over South Africa and Southern Africa, including Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, and further afield on request.

Yes. Each country has its own aviation authority and drone rules, so we start early on the permits and on getting the kit across the border, working with your production and local fixer. Tell us the country and dates and we'll tell you what it takes.

Yes. Our packages include a vehicle and a generator, so we can charge batteries and run monitors on location.

The Freefly Alta X lifts up to 15.3 kg and the Alta 8 up to 9.1 kg. On the Alta X we can fly any of the ARRI Alexa cameras and the Sony Venice, on a MōVI Pro or Ronin 2 Pro gimbal.

Our Dual Op cinelifters carry a RED Komodo or Sony FX6 on top (Ronin RS3 Pro), or a RED Komodo, RED V-Raptor, ARRI Alexa 35 or ARRI Alexa Mini underneath (MōVI Pro). The Siccario carries a RED Komodo at speed. Smaller FPV drones fly a GoPro Hero 13.

The Dual Op cinelifter with a bottom-mounted MōVI Pro films at up to 160 km/h, and so does the Siccario. On the ground, the MotoCrane runs at 0–120 km/h.

It depends on the rig and the payload. FPV cinelifters fly for about 8–10 minutes per battery, the heavy-lift Alta X and Alta 8 for about 10, the Inspire 3 for about 28 and the Mavic 4 Pro for up to 51. We bring enough batteries to keep flying through the day.

Both work. The Inspire 3 (8K full frame), the Mavic drones and the Ronin 4D come with their own cameras, and our FPV packages can include a RED Komodo or Sony FX6. On heavy lift we usually fly your production's camera and lenses.

Each camera's native formats: REDCODE RAW on the RED Komodo, ProRes RAW and ProRes 4444 XQ / 422 HQ on the Inspire 3's X9-8K, XAVC on the Sony FX6, and ProRes 422 HQ on the Mavic 3 Cine. The camera specs table on our fleet page lists each one.

Yes. Our custom airborne lights put out 65 000 lumens, are dimmable in the air, and can flash intermittently or at timed intervals. They fly on the Alta 8 for about 6–8 minutes or the Alta X for about 10–15 minutes. BMW's M8 Gran Coupé film was lit this way.

Yes. Every package can include an HD wireless video feed to a monitor or video village. For clients off set, the Teradek Bond streams from any of our drones, including the small FPV ones, with under 2 seconds of latency, to several viewers at once.

Yes. We capture locations with photogrammetry and, in partnership with Horts Geo-Solutions, with industrial LIDAR, so VFX teams get accurate 3D data of large locations quickly.

Yes. With TheAIR.Tech we offer hero aircraft, from vintage aircraft to high-performance aerobatic planes, and camera ships for air-to-air work, flown by pilots experienced in close formation. Fixed-wing and helicopter options are available.