RAW Digital Group provides drone services across Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw counties from its Detroit studio, with no travel charge inside the four counties. Aerial photo packages start at $450, construction visits at $600 and aerial video at $1,500, all flown by FAA Part 107 certified pilots.
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One Detroit crew for the whole metro area
Most searches for a drone company in Metro Detroit come from the suburbs: a broker in Troy, a builder in Macomb Township, a hotel in Rochester, a campus in Ann Arbor. We are based at 2200 Hunt St in Detroit, and we fly the same way everywhere in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw counties. Our Part 107 pilots fly the job, the same crew shoots the ground coverage and cuts the edit, and travel inside those four counties is included in the price.
This page covers what changes from one county to the next. For the downtown and riverfront side of the work, see our main Detroit drone photography page.
Four counties, four airspace pictures
The surprise for most clients is how much the rules change between suburbs a few miles apart. According to the FAA’s Class Airspace and UAS facility map data, six airports have controlled airspace that reaches into the four counties. Everything else is uncontrolled Class G at drone altitudes, where no FAA authorization is needed below 400 feet.
- Wayne County. Detroit Metro (DTW) has Class B airspace starting at the ground around the airport in Romulus and reaching into west Dearborn and southeast Canton. The facility map allows 0 feet at the airport itself. Detroit’s Coleman A. Young airport (DET) has Class D from the surface to 3,100 feet above sea level over the east side and Midtown, and into the west side of Grosse Pointe Park. Livonia, Northville and Plymouth sit under DTW’s Class B shelves, which start at 2,500 to 9,000 feet above sea level across the region, far above any drone.
- Oakland County. Most of it is Class G. The exception is Oakland County International (PTK) in Waterford, whose Class D runs from the surface to 3,500 feet above sea level and reaches the north edge of West Bloomfield, downtown Clarkston and a strip of west Pontiac. Oakland/Troy Airport (VLL) has no control tower and no controlled airspace, but its planes descend through drone altitudes near Birmingham and Troy, so we fly there with an observer and land when traffic approaches.
- Macomb County. Selfridge Air National Guard Base (MTC) has Class D from the surface to 3,100 feet above sea level, covering the east side of Clinton Township, the northeast corner of St. Clair Shores and part of Macomb Township. Over the base itself, the FAA’s national security data lists a drone restriction from the surface to 400 feet. The FAA says these restrictions under 14 CFR 99.7 apply to every type of drone flight and can bring civil penalties and criminal charges. The Detroit Arsenal in Warren carries the same surface to 400 foot restriction, and southern Warren falls inside DET’s Class D.
- Washtenaw County. Ann Arbor Municipal (ARB) has Class D from the surface to 3,300 feet above sea level over most of Ann Arbor, and Willow Run (YIP) has Class D from the surface to 3,000 feet over Ypsilanti and into central Canton. On Michigan football Saturdays, the FAA stadium restriction closes 3 nautical miles around Michigan Stadium.
Inside a Class D or Class B, the FAA facility map sets how high LAANC can approve on each grid, from 400 feet down to 0. A 0 foot grid means no automatic approval, and the request goes to the FAA for individual review, which takes far longer. We look up the grid for your address before we pick a date. Our Detroit drone rules guide explains LAANC and the game-day restrictions in more detail.
Parks, campuses and whose ground we launch from
Airspace is only half of it. The other half is who controls the spot where the drone takes off.
- Metroparks. Huron-Clinton Metroparks Rule 28 allows drones in line with federal and state law, with three limits: no flights over bathhouses at beaches or aquatic facilities, no flights that violate protections for species such as bald eagles, and prior notice to the airport operator and tower when flying within 5 miles of an airport. Rule 7 reserves commercial activity on park land to the Metroparks and its hires and licensees, so a paid shoot at Kensington, Stony Creek or Lake St. Clair starts with the park district.
- State parks and recreation areas. Belle Isle, Maybury in Northville and the Oakland County recreation areas fall under the DNR’s Land Use Order 5.1, which requires written DNR permission for commercial drone use and bars flights over campgrounds and occupied beaches.
- The University of Michigan. U-M’s Division of Public Safety and Security says drones may not take off, land or fly on or over U-M property without a written waiver under Regents’ Ordinance Article XVI. That covers the Ann Arbor and Dearborn campuses.
- Cities and townships. Michigan’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Act, PA 436 of 2016, bars local governments from regulating drone ownership or operation, with narrow exceptions. It does not give anyone the right to launch from land they do not control, so we get the owner’s permission for the takeoff spot every time. This is general information, not legal advice.
Travel included across Metro Detroit
Travel anywhere in the four counties is part of the quote, whether the shoot is in Dearborn or Shelby Township. That makes it practical to book multi-site work: a developer with buildings in Novi and Sterling Heights, a franchise with storefronts across Oakland County, or a builder who wants monthly progress flights on three sites. Outside the four counties, we quote travel per project on our Michigan drone photography page.
Find your city
Every city page covers the local airport, the FAA grid and the launch rules for that place. In Wayne County: Canton, Dearborn, Grosse Pointe, Livonia, Northville, Plymouth, Taylor, Westland and Wyandotte. In Oakland County: Auburn Hills, Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Clarkston, Commerce Township, Farmington Hills, Ferndale, Lake Orion, Madison Heights, Milford, Novi, Pontiac, Rochester, Rochester Hills, Royal Oak, Southfield, Troy, Waterford and West Bloomfield. In Macomb County: Clinton Township, Macomb Township, Shelby Township, St. Clair Shores, Sterling Heights and Warren. In Washtenaw County: Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti.
Planning a shoot in the suburbs?
Send the address, the date window and what the footage is for. We check the airspace grid, the launch site and any park or campus rules before we send a fixed quote. Start a drone project, or read how a drone company differs from a solo pilot or an agency first.