“I make one-take FPV drone films that fly people through a space as if they’re already there.”
Into the air
Johnathan Badenhorst, known to everyone as Johnny, founded AerialJohnny in 2018. He flies out of Hornchurch, on the border of London and Essex, and works across the UK. He leads every shoot himself, and for bigger productions he brings in a crew of trusted UK pilots who fly to his standards.
He has logged more than 500 hours of commercial flying on FPV, cinelifter and traditional camera drones. FPV, or first person view, drones are flown through goggles, which lets a pilot carry the camera through doors and down corridors in a single movement.
Johnny is South African Greek by background and studied marketing at the University of South Africa. He speaks English, Greek, Afrikaans and Dutch, and decent Italian, and he once wrote a book for shop floor sales staff, Improve Your Sales: No Experience No Problem.
One take
The work he is best known for is the one-take fly-through. In about sixty seconds it carries the viewer through the front door, along the corridors and out over the roof of a building, a journey that a set of photographs cannot give.
He has flown offices for INVISIO, SharkMob (Tencent) and British Airways Holidays, and indoor tours of Oxygen’s trampoline park in Manchester and Activeplay at The O2. For Vue, through DUCK Productions, he flew its refurbished cinemas at the Edinburgh Omni Centre and Angel Central in Islington, where two floors and an outdoor take-off pushed the signal to its limit.
For Everton FC and Hill Dickinson he flew one continuous shot through the new Hill Dickinson Stadium: from outside, down the tunnel, into the dressing room, along the press walkway and out onto the pitch. Screens were being installed above the lockers, which left him twenty minutes to film it.
Sport and spectacle
For UEFA’s “Live the Moment” film he flew inside Silvertown Studios in London, around a curved LED wall twenty metres wide and more than forty people on set. He used a custom drone weighing under 250 grams to keep the people and the equipment safe.
At Silverstone, through 16K Agency, he flew the circuit’s six hospitality suites in the build-up to the British Grand Prix, working around FIA rules and race week. For KIND Snacks and Ready10 he filmed the welcome home message to the England Lionesses, spelled out in giant letters on a field inside Heathrow’s flight restriction zone. One aerial photograph from that shoot drew more than 90,000 likes.
He has also spent four days in Antigua and Barbuda for Superyachts.com, flying alongside yachts at full speed and through Nobu Barbuda.
Flying by the rules
AerialJohnny is registered with the Civil Aviation Authority. Johnny holds the A2 Certificate of Competency and the GVC in the UK, and EASA remote pilot certification in the A1, A2 and A3 categories, issued by ENAC in Italy, for work in Europe. Every indoor job gets its own risk assessment and method statement.
“You can have all that gear and honestly no idea.”Johnathan Badenhorst, LinkedIn, 2026
In his view the kit matters less than knowing what comes next. Watching the All Blacks perform the haka at a recent match, he noticed the camera operator miss its key moments because he was not anticipating the next step, something no amount of equipment can make up for.
With Group Partners he brings moving aerial footage into content and documentary work, so that clients can see a place, and the bigger picture, from the air.
The path
From the sales floor to the sky.
- South Africa
Studies marketing at the University of South Africa.
- 2018
Founds AerialJohnny, flying out of Hornchurch.
- Offices
One-take fly-throughs for INVISIO, SharkMob and British Airways Holidays.
- Venues
Vue cinemas in Edinburgh and London, and Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium.
- Sport
UEFA at Silvertown Studios, Silverstone before the British Grand Prix, and the England Lionesses with KIND Snacks.
- 2024
Gains EASA remote pilot certification for work in Europe.
- 2026
Holds the CAA A2 Certificate of Competency, issued in January.
- Now
Joins the Group Partners Expert Network.
In his own words
“A one-take flythrough shows the whole place in 60 seconds, which no set of photos can do.”
“Photos can’t show what it feels like to walk through a cinema. An FPV flight can.”
“We had 20 minutes to nail it.”
“Tell me what you need and I’ll plan the shot.”
“That’s something no amount of gear can compensate for.”