North Star Aerial is Flying in Milwaukee

You read that right - North Star Aerial is expanding east! We have crossed two rivers, and officially expanded into the Milwaukee area! We’re excited to make this beautiful city a home away from home and can’t wait to get our drones up in the air.

We have earned a reputation in Minneapolis as one of the most trusted drone crews. Adam Geiss, owner, is a seasoned and trusted drone pilot with worldwide operational experience. He and his team at North Star Aerial are more than just a team of drone operators. Adam has proudly assembled a crew of veteran cinematographers, camera operators, professional pilots and technicians.

Being new to Milwaukee, North Star Aerial is ready to build relationships within the advertising, broadcast and film industries. We are fully insured, FAA licensed UAS pilots - we have all of right certifications and qualifications to get the job done. This means that last minute job requests are not a problem. We are cleared to fly day or night in most controlled airspaces in the state of Wisconsin, including Milwaukee and Timmerman and Green Bay.

A call out to any art directors, creative directors and production folks in the area - we’d love to grab coffee and chat about how we might work together in the future. Feel free to give us a call or shoot us an email and we’ll set up some time to get together.

Roger that! When it comes to Aerial Production, Communication is Key

Safety is paramount and proper communication is what makes safety standards and efficiency not only possible to achieve, but easy to maintain. Any shoot calls for the drone operator, camera operator, director and visual observer to be in direct communication at all times. This allows ease of coordinating shots, avoiding obstacles and communicating any other information throughout the flights. Aerial shoots can be complex with regards to ensuring proper communication not only among the production team but with whatever aerial activity is happening on location. North Star Aerial has all of the equipment to ensure a seamless process from start to finish.

Aside from internal communications of the crew, communications with external airspace operations is also very important. Even when operating in uncontrolled airspace, we have an aircraft radio dialed in to hear of any activity moving in or around the area that we are operating within. 

We have been using Eartec Wireless and handsfree comms for the last two years and have been very pleased. They have streamlined our communication ability making our on set presence professional, seamless and efficient.

We’ve invested time and money to make sure we have all the right tools to get the job done. However, it’s not just the equipment that makes for a smooth production, it’s the team as well. Our team is made up of veteran cinematographers, camera operators, professional pilots and technicians who are ready to work with you and your team to make sure we get the shot.

Communication is important at any job, but especially on set of an aerial production.

Flying the Bold North | Super Bowl 52 airport traffic for MAC

Super Bowl LII was deemed the coldest in history with a kick off temp of 2 degrees. The rest of the day hung around or below zero with a wind chill of -25 making our flight a little brisk. Hand-warmers, face masks and many layers were a must for this good-ole-fashioned Minnesota day.

We had a great time chasing snowplows on runways and hanging out the side of Helicopters in the sub-zero Minnesota weather for our latest shoot. In partnership with the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) and Hummingbird Aviation (HBA), North Star Aerial embraced the Bold North and flew doors off just prior to Super Bowl LII.  There were 2,596 total flights related to the Super Bowl and 441 planes on the ground during the game. The logistics of flying on Super Bowl Sunday was no joke. A big shout out to Chris Cooper and the entire Hummingbird Aviation team for planning flight Ops!