How we operate

Owner-authorized only.

Wraith Aerial does not surveil. We do not fly law enforcement. We do not record people in public spaces. Here’s what we actually do, and the rules we operate within.

The conversation around drones in California is loud, and most of it is about law-enforcement use, hobbyist intrusion, and the surveillance of public spaces. None of that is what Wraith Aerial does. Our entire operating model is built around one principle: we only fly over property the client owns or has explicit authorization to monitor. Everything below is how that principle gets implemented in practice.

1. Every flight starts with written authorization

Before any flight, Wraith Aerial requires a signed authorization from the property owner (or the owner’s designated agent) covering: the parcel(s) to be flown, the date and time window, the purpose of the flight, the operator’s name and Part 107 certificate, and the data-retention terms for any imagery captured. We don’t fly on a verbal handshake. We don’t fly speculatively. We don’t fly to see what’s out there.

2. We fly the property and the perimeter — not the guests

For private events, the flight plan covers the property boundary, the parking and arrival zones, the back-of-house service corridors, and any after-dark access points. It does not cover the ceremony, the dance floor, or any area where guests are gathered. There is both an FAA rule against overflying people you don’t control and a privacy reason: guests didn’t come to your event to be watched from above. We’re the team that makes sure no one uninvited is at the gate, not the team that watches the people you invited.

3. We respect property lines. Period.

Wraith Aerial does not fly over neighboring property to get a better angle on your property. We don’t fly over public roads to capture vehicles. We don’t use altitude to circumvent property-line restrictions. If the authorized parcel ends at a fence line, our flight plan ends at the fence line. This isn’t a soft preference — it’s how California privacy law is set up, and we operate well inside it.

4. Imagery is the client’s, retained on the client’s terms

Any imagery captured during an engagement is delivered to the property owner and retained only as long as the owner specifies. We don’t publish footage. We don’t share imagery with third parties without explicit written permission. We don’t maintain a long-term archive of client property imagery for our own purposes. The default is short retention; longer retention requires the client to ask for it.

5. FAA Part 107, all the time

Every Wraith Aerial flight is conducted under FAA 14 CFR Part 107 commercial drone regulations. The operator holds a current Part 107 certificate. The airframe is registered. LAANC authorization is filed in advance for any flight that touches controlled airspace (most of central and east Santa Rosa, parts of west Healdsburg, and the southern Dry Creek area). Night flights carry the anti-collision lighting visible at 3 statute miles required under Part 107. We don’t fly over moving vehicles or non-participating people. We don’t fly above 400 feet AGL. None of these are optional.

6. We coordinate with whoever’s already on the ground

Many of our engagements happen alongside an existing ground security team, an event-management team, or a wedding planner. The flight plan, communication channel, and handoff protocol get worked out during the pre-event site walk. Aerial overwatch is most useful when it’s the second set of eyes feeding the people already on the ground — not a parallel team running its own playbook.

7. We will turn down work that doesn’t fit

Some inquiries are not aerial overwatch inquiries. People occasionally reach out about following someone, monitoring a neighbor, capturing footage of a public event, or other things that fall outside the model. We decline. The business is built around the model above; we don’t make exceptions that erode it.