RAW Digital Group flies drone photography and video in Mount Pleasant, MI, with FAA Part 107 certified pilots from its Detroit studio. Published starting prices are $450 for aerial photos, $1,500 for aerial video and $2,500 for FPV fly-throughs, with travel to Mount Pleasant quoted per project.
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What Mount Pleasant businesses film from the air
Much of the aerial photography in Mount Pleasant follows the university. Student housing and apartment owners want drone video that shows how close a building sits to campus and downtown, because that distance is what renters ask about first. Downtown businesses along Broadway use aerials to show a compact, walkable district. East of town, the Soaring Eagle resort, waterpark and hotel need wide views for booking and event promotion. Beyond the city, Isabella County’s farms, agricultural operations and industrial sites need clean property coverage, and builders use repeat flights to document progress.
Our co-founder, Paige Pope, is a Central Michigan graduate, and the university calendar drives how we schedule work here.
Open sky, with one big exception
According to FAA Class Airspace data, Mount Pleasant has no controlled airspace at the surface. Downtown, the CMU campus, Kelly/Shorts Stadium and Soaring Eagle are Class G up to Class E at 700 feet, and the FAA facility map has no grids here. A Part 107 flight below 400 feet needs no LAANC request.
Mount Pleasant Municipal Airport (MOP) sits about 2 miles northeast of downtown with no tower. According to its FAA listing on AirNav, aircraft departing Runway 27 climb to 1,500 feet before turning over the city, so we keep an eye out for traffic on that side of town.
The exception is football. Kelly/Shorts Stadium seats 30,255, according to CMU Athletics, and the FAA’s standing restriction for NCAA Division I football covers any stadium of 30,000 seats or more. From one hour before kickoff until one hour after the game, drones are banned within 3 nautical miles and up to 3,000 feet above ground. That ring covers downtown and the campus, so home game days are off the calendar for central Mount Pleasant. Our stadium TFR guide explains how the rule works.
Campus, tribal land and city parks
CMU’s drone policy, revised in October 2024, asks anyone flying on university property to notify CMU Police in advance, bars flyovers that look into campus building windows and requires operators to avoid residence halls. The policy also says drone flights over private property need the owner’s written permission. For buildings next to campus, we launch from private land and frame the shot away from dorms.
Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort is a business of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, so aerial work there starts with the resort and the tribe rather than city or state offices. The city’s Chippewa River parks, including 90-acre Mill Pond Park and Island Park, give downtown content a green edge, and we clear park shoots with the city first.
Light and seasons
Fall color along the Chippewa River and a full campus make autumn the most requested season, but it overlaps with football, so we book weekdays and away weekends. Summer is quieter on campus and good for full, green property views. For downtown and apartment facades, the hour after sunrise or before sunset gives the most even light. Winter snow on the farmland around the city can make strong establishing shots for agricultural and industrial clients.
Planning a Mount Pleasant shoot
Send the address, date window and what you need to deliver. We check the CMU home schedule, university and tribal property lines and the owner’s permission before we quote. See our Detroit drone photography services, including campus drone video and hotel and resort aerials, or contact us to start.