What we do

Working in the North East of England we use Unmanned Aircraft Vehicles (UAVs) as the platform for our digital work.These small aircraft can work from the subject location, can work at lower altitudes than conventional aircraft and fly in terrain that would otherwise not be possible.

Through a mixture of automatic and manual flights lasting up to 45 minutes we can take one or many hundreds of high resolution images at specific locations and over a pre-programmed route. These computerised routes can be flown again and again.

We can provide you with simple aerial images (vertical or oblique), aerial video photography (vertical or oblique) and wide area, high resolution image mapping. Video imagery can be taken as well as being viewed in realtime through a datalink to the aircraft.

About the business

QuestUAV is based in the North East of England, 35 miles North of Newcastle on Tyne.  Our primary area of operation is Northumberland and Tyne & Wear,  but work has been undertaken as far away as the Sierra Nevada in Spain. The business was established in 2009.  It’s parent Company,  Heritage IT,  has been established since 1994. Unmanned Airborne Vehicles (UAVs) have been around for a long time; their history of pilotless aircraft goes back more than a century. Modern UAV’s are piloted automatically, by an internal computer and autopilot. However, with new technology and miniaturisation, the last ten years has seen rapid growth in the small (under 7kg) aircraft category. This size is ideal for low level aerial photography and this UAV style is ideal for larger scale imaging and mapping. (500m2 and above) High resolutions are achievable (< 2cm ). FPVs are flown manually by a pilot on the ground, but with the pilot “seeing” the picture from the aircraft using a video downlink. This allows a client to see and record the live video feed from the aircraft whilst also directing the operator of the aircraft. FPV is ideal for smaller scale aerial photography (500m2 and below) and very high resolution photography. (<0.2cm).

About the photographer

Nigel King who is the owner of the business, is a member of the British Institute of Professional Photographers (Scientific Division) and was awarded a Fellowship in May 2011.  Nigel has been a photographer with a 35 years and was also an RAF Pilot (both fixed wing and helicopters). He flew in many locations around the world and throughout that time not only built up his portfolio of photographic work, but also built up an invaluable experience in the logistics and legal requirements of operating aircraft. With this background, and with many years of remote aircraft flight, he took on the task of becoming chief pilot for the Northumbria University UAV team in 2008 with the aim of providing low cost, high resolution, geo-referenced images for various research locations. At the same time his own interests in flying and photography took him down a parallel path of FPV (First Person View) photography. With all these combined skills BlueRiver can offer clients a unique opportunity to achieve land imaging results that were never achievable before, and have the confidence that the process from consultancy to delivery will be provided with the skill and personal touch that only a small company can provide.