After working as an Art Director for a design company in Dubai for ten years, Briton Phil Clark decided one day that he?d had enough and set off to New Zealand to apply for his pilot?s licence.

As Phil reclines in his chair at the new offices of Helicam in Chalong, he says, with visible lament still glistening in his eyes, ?But I ticked the box that said I had migraines, albeit as a kid, and then ran into all sorts of trouble.?

However New Zealand?s loss in aviation was Phuket?s gain in aerial photography, as Phil then came to Phuket to indulge in a pastime he?s enjoyed since he was 13: Flying miniature helicopters.

Now he flies miniature helicopters with the latest camera equipment strapped on them... Helicam ? the company Phil ended up founding - has been operational for 7.5 years and provides promotional videos and stunning stills of properties and views all around Thailand, Malaysia and even the Maldives.

While Phil comprises of the pilot and crew ?arm? of operations, Jonathan Russell, also a Newcastle-born lad, is the Office Manager who deals with the administrative and office-based duties.

Phil modifies all of the copters himself and has a variety in different shapes, sizes, colours and specifications. Helicam has three ?old school? gasoline copters that are 5.5ft long with a range of about 400 ft and can fly for 6 minutes.

It also has three ?electric? ones that can fly for up to 15 minutes and are apparently much quieter and a lot easier to maintain. Helicam?s prize possession though, is its two fully autonomous copters: Heli Bots. These are not evil robots, but miniature helicopters with a built in GPS system, electronic compass, barometer and speedometer.

Jonathan said, ?It makes it much easier. Before this used to be a two man job, with Phil driving it and me on the monitor taking photos but now Phil can just concentrate on taking the stills or the video, while the Air Bot just flies itself.?

Helicam also has a plane cam. It works much like a regular plane with a need for a runway for take off and landing but is a mere 6 ft long. It can reach higher distances and is predominantly used to take great Bird?s Eye view shots.

?Sometimes we must liaise with air traffic control if we are near airports, military bases, or embassies. As long as we let them know what?s going on, there?s no problem,? explained Jonathan.

For the majority of the time though, the Geordie lads are free to fly their Helicams and take aerial shots around the hills, beaches and high-end resorts of Phuket.

John said ?The current property climate means that much less of our income is gained from providing material to aid property sales. The market has changed dramatically since we first started operating.?

Helicam?s main ?bread and butter? is made from taking shots and footage so that it may be used for 360˚ panoramic shots and for interior villa and resort walkthroughs.

?Word of our good work gets around, so we get around too, hence all our overseas clients. At the end of the day,? said Phil quite matter-of-factly, ?Not many companies can do what we do.?

Although HeliCam has a long list of clients and companies that have used their work including La Flora, Lee Marine, and Andara, the project that they are perhaps most excited and proud to be involved with is one in conjunction with the Kata and Karon Municipality, ?We?re making a promotional video for the area, to show somewhere and something slightly different to Patong to potential visitors.

?They want to show a classier side of Phuket. We?re also going to have one of our aerial stills placed on 1 million postcards that will be printed and distributed.?

The sky is the limit for Helicam, that is until, they invent a Rocketcam. Apparently you can see lucky balloons from space.