OBVIOUSLY the man who can fly a jet plane and employs high-tech gadgets such as video goggles to see the view from his remote control helicopter just has to be Mr Bond.

But in Burley-in-Wharfedale the pilot with the gadgets is not James but David Bond, who with his wife, Isobel, is hoping get a new business venture literally off the ground.

When he is not flying regional jets from Leeds Bradford Airport during his day job, Mr Bond can be seen around the area with his remote control helicopter taking aerial pictures of houses using angles and close-ups not usually produced by that type of photography.

His helicopter takes pictures using an ordinary digital camera at heights of between 200 and 400 feet. Most aerial photographs are taken from thousands of feet.

"We can take photographs of a building which look like you are right over it," said Mr Bond, 44.

Mrs Bond, 38, said that the company Dragonfly Aerial Photography was one of only two or three in the UK which had the right technology to produce such photographs.

He said that the company had just been started and once approval had been gained from the Civil Aviation Authority, the couple, from Wharfedale Park, hoped to have their business commercially viable in around six months.

"We have just got our toe in the water and seeing what type of results we are getting - we are quite satisfied with how it is going," said Mr Bond.

The helicopter he uses has a rotor span of around six feet and weighs in at around nine kilos. It is driven by a two-stroke petrol engine and utilises sophisticated remove control technology to make sure it is flying at the right angles and vibration does not mar picture quality. Mr Bond wears the goggles so he can see exactly what the camera can see.

Once the company is up and running commercially, the couple are hoping for individual commissions to produce various views of particular properties for individual clients or estate agents.

l THE couple's internet web site can be accessed at www.dragonflyaerialphotography.co.uk.