This is quite the niche: assembling helicopters that take aerial photos for condo developers.

In the prosaic world of real estate marketing Mark Segal and Jeffrey Jones have found a rarefied perch. Their SkyPan International of Chicago sends bantam helicopters into the nooks and lofty alleys of the high-rise world, snapping photos taken from 100 feet and higher, to provide breath-snatching views from skyscrapers that haven't yet been built. Developers use the images to sell to prospective buyers of luxury condos and offices.

It's work that conventional helicopters once did—before Sept. 11. After federal laws limited big choppers, some developers sent photographers 150 feet up on construction cranes or took pictures from different floors of nearby existing buildings. But cranes can't reach the necessary heights; getting a 200-foot machine in place can cost $24,000 a day. Views from other buildings are just that. Balloons can work but are time-consuming, and they are slaves to wind and pesky guide wires.....

...'This tool is a requirement now; you have to do this,' explains
Gregory van Schaack, vice president at Hines Development in Chicago.



Excerpted from Forbes magazine, Issue date: 6/4/07; Page 90; Cover: "Investment Guide"

Or read the online version at http://www.Forbes.com (site registration is required; our story
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Mark Segal and Jeff Jones were facing an empty lot on Michigan Avenue south of downtown, waiting for the right light to launch their 5-foot-long helicopter.

Suddenly, a dark blue van screeched to a stop beside them and three men jumped out — Department of Homeland Security agents — yelling questions and demanding answers.
It was a tense few minutes as Mr. Segal explained what they were doing: taking an aerial photo of the future site of the Columbian, a condo tower under construction at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Roosevelt Road. As soon as the agents determined it wasn't a terrorist plot, they calmed down. "Then they stayed and watched," Mr. Segal says.

Messrs. Segal and Jones, co-owners of SkyPan International in Chicago, attach panoramic cameras to remote-controlled helicopters and send them up hundreds of feet in the air for three-minute flights. With a spinning camera, they record a 360-degree image of what the view would be from a skyscraper there. Their pictures show potential buyers what they'd see out their windows and help developers decide where to place buildings. A few more feet to the left, for example, might mean 24 more units would get a lake view.


BUSTED

The business, which counts Chicago-based Fifield Co. and Atlanta-based Novare Group among its clients, has grown from 30 shoots in 2005 to 50 this year and has taken the partners to proposed construction sites in major cities throughout the U.S. They average two trips a month. And wherever they go, they draw a crowd.

Onlookers "want to know how it works," Mr. Segal says. "And they always want to get close to watch us take off or land, or see if the ship blows off course." (It rarely does.)
What do clients want? Views to sell, of course. "These pictures let you put yourself in the window and that's an invaluable promotional tool," Fifield President Rick Cavenaugh says.

Before Mr. Segal, 50, and Mr. Jones, 49, teamed up in 1998, each had an aerial photography business, but with different specialties. Mr. Segal is the photographer, a panoramic specialist who has done advertising work for United Airlines and American Express.

Mr. Jones is the engineer, a radio control whiz who builds SkyPan's ships and camera mounts. Before he launched his aerial photography business in 1995, he built parts for military aircraft and space shuttles.

They started collaborating on fly-over videos of golf courses. After Sept. 11, when airspace restrictions made flying a full-sized helicopter over major cities more difficult, Mr. Segal started using radio-controlled helicopters. SkyPan has one that runs on electric power and two that use gas. A new craft costs $20,000 in materials and takes Mr. Jones about two weeks to build and test.

Most of their competitors use hot air balloons to take aerial panoramic shots. SkyPan is the only U.S. company that uses radio-controlled helicopters, Mr. Segal says. The side effect, of course, is more run-ins with the law.

"It happened again in New York last spring," he says. "We were on the roof of a building, and all of the sudden the police burst in to shut us down."

But once it was all sorted out, the officers did the same thing the Homeland Security agents did: They stayed to watch.

©2006 by Crain Communications Inc.

Sales centers and Web sites that feature 360 degree photos and videos from the top floors of buildings that don't exist yet are likely using panoramic photographs taken by Mark Segal, president of SkyPan International, 711 N. Milwaukee Ave.

Since 9/11, most cities won't allow low-flying, full-size helicopters to take aerial photographs, so Segal landed the job of flying the mini-helicopters by remote control.

"We have custom-made, miniature helicopters," Segal explained. "They are nothing like the ones for the amateur weekend flyers. They are built to carry some weight -- about an 11-pound payload. The helicopter weights from 20 to 30 pounds depending on which one we are using."

Powered by gasoline or by electricity, the flying machines are about 2-feet high and 5-feet long.

"The full electric one is really cool and extremely quiet," he said. "It's our stealth unit. We use it when noise is a problem."

The flying cameras are used only over private property, such as an empty lot or an existing low-rise building that will be torn down for a high-rise, he said. The camera uses film rather than digital technology because it is of a higher quality and because frequently the photos are blown up to the size of wall murals to simulate the views outside of a model condo window or to cover a sales center wall.

Yes, Segal enjoys his job. This year, he's traveled to 15 different cities. No, you probably cannot afford to buy a helicopter just like his for whatever uses you had in mind.

"People ask us all the time about the cost," he said. "You are talking over $50,000 easily and some of them cost more because of the electronics. We have autostabilizer systems: it will stabilize at 200 to 300 feet."

Some photographers use blimps or balloons to suspend their cameras, but Segal said a tethered gas bag is harder to control and keep steady over a single property.

In addition to condominium developers, SkyPan International also does work for commercial building developers for presentations to potential tenants. He chooses not to do surveillance work for the government or jobs that involve flying over public streets, sidewalks or other property, he said.

SkyPan services start in the $10,000 to $12,000 range depending on the size of the potential building and the location of the site. They've done dozens of Chicago high-rise sites for clients including American Invsco, Belgravia Group, Elysian Hotels, Enterprise Companies, Fifield Companies, Four Seasons Residences, Gammonley Group, Hines Development, MCL Companies, Jameson Realty and John Buck Co.

lfinley@suntimes.com