Digital Sky Flies the Grand Canyon

Flying a drone in the Grand Canyon is the dream of every would-be drone pilot out there, so much so that many try, and they’re often arrested. This is because a few years ago, a rule was created that made it unlawful to fly a drone from within a national park. However, if you’re being paid by a group that owns part of the Grand Canyon, exceptions are made to that rule. This was the case in late June when Digital Sky (digitalsky.com) was contracted to be the first professional drone service company to capture aerial video of the Grand Canyon as part of Grand Canyon West’s new marketing campaign. Grand Canyon West is one of the more commercialized portions of the Grand Canyon, run by the Hualapai Tribe; it serves as a way to increase the tribe’s economic standing that doesn’t involve casinos or gambling.

Flying the Grand Canyon presented several unique challenges. In addition to coordinating flights around the 300+ commercial helicopter flights into, out of, and through the Canyon, considerations had to be made for planning takeoffs and landings from moving boats in areas of river rapids. Digital Sky spent two days on the Colorado River filming the Hualapai River Runners, an action-packed adventure that takes guests down rapids ranging from Class 3 to Class 8.

To check out the behind-the-scenes videos, head over to the Digital Sky Facebook page here: https://goo.gl/7HyjBb.