Who We Are

Built in the Field.
For the Field.

Northern Drone was founded in 2019 on a simple idea — that aerial survey and inspection work should be done by people who actually understand the industries they're serving. Not generalists with a drone and a camera, but operators who know what a utility company needs from a LiDAR corridor run, what a quarry operator is looking for in a bathymetric report, and why GPR altitude matters to within a meter.

Every service we offer comes from real field experience — thousands of hours in the air, across dozens of industries, in conditions that demand precision. We operate across the United States and come to your site, wherever that is.

2,400+
Missions Completed
6
Service Lines
97%
Data Accuracy Rate
72hr
Std. Turnaround
Our Values

What Drives Every Decision

01
Accuracy First

Every dataset is held to rigorous QA standards before it leaves our hands. We don't deliver data we wouldn't stake our reputation on.

02
Safety Always

FAA Part 107 certified. $5M commercial liability insurance. COA/waiver-capable for restricted airspace. Safety is non-negotiable on every mission.

03
Right Tool for the Job

We invest in purpose-built sensors for each service line — not consumer drones repurposed as industrial platforms.

04
Client First

We work alongside your team. Our reports integrate with your GIS, CAD, and farm management software — not the other way around.

The People

Meet the Team

🧑‍✈️
Cody Hedstrom
Founder & Chief Pilot

Cody founded Northern Drone in 2019 after a decade working in aerial survey and inspection. Since then he's logged over 3,000 tower inspections, 80,000+ agricultural acres, 100+ miles of transmission corridor, drone GPR surveys across hazardous terrain, and bathymetric mapping of flooded quarry pits — the kind of varied field time that makes a real difference in how a mission gets planned and executed. FAA Part 107 certified, fully insured, and still flying every job that matters.

FAA Part 107LiDARThermal IRGPR
🔬
Data Processing Lead
Geomatics Specialist

Specialist in post-processing LiDAR, photogrammetry, and hyperspectral data. Ensures every deliverable meets geodetic accuracy standards and client specifications.

GISPix4DArcGIS
📡
Ryan Clayton
Field Operations — Inspection Specialist

With over 12 years of field operations experience, Ryan has managed multiple large-scale survey and inspection projects across a range of industries. His hands-on expertise ensures every mission runs safely, on schedule, and to spec — from initial site assessment through final data handoff.

FAA Part 107Thermal IR

The team you meet here is the team in the field. Every mission planned, flown, and processed in-house.