Sideslip and fly-by

[flyalaz]

Thanks Web,

For posting the video. It's kind of a big file at 30 megs, but if you can get past my mug and the hokey music, you're half way there! It was a nice day but a little gusty and lots of thermal activity. I wanted to shoot the take-off and do a fast (?) turn around but had to wait a bit while someone tested his plane on the strip. During the sideslip to touch and go, the camera mounting tube started to whistle. I then did a go around to touch and go, and last was a fly-by past a group of r/c modellers that waved me over. Hope you like it.

Sideslip and fly-by

Blue skies,
Karl

[yankeflyer]

fun little production I sure miss flying

and so far to go

[Shannon]

Cool video Karl. You are flying like an "old pro" now. I don't know about the other guys but I'd just as soon listen to engine sounds rather than that Hokey music.. haa haa.

Maybe if you make another video you could try mounting the camera looking forward. Could the camera be mounted to the downtube near your Helmet for a "pilots eye view" of a flight ? If the camera was pointed slightly down you may even be able to pick up scenery in the shot. Just an idea.

How's that new fuel system working out ? The left engine looked like it started easy enough. May just be the result of good timing ~ !

[JPXman]

i am imagining a camera mounted on a vertical post on the end of the fuselage boom with a wide angle lens...............

Tyler

[flyalaz]

Thanks guys,


Miles,

I only have 8 hours in this year, and now the weather is miserable. It snowed today! You can always look at it as an incentive to what's waiting a little down the road! I'll watch it when I get the winter blahs! Seeing green is always a nice booster shot when everything is white and barren.

Shannon,

Old, yes, pro?, need another few hundred hours before that happens! I added the music mainly for the non-pilots I know. I find too, that if I'm not flying, the constant drone gets to me a little (but not much). I have hand held the camera a few times, and though the view is great, being unsteady gets the eyeballs rattling after a while. I'll try your idea out and see what happens. Need a wide angle lens for a better shot. The new fuel system is working great! Fuel drains below the shut off valves, but I only need a couple or four pulls to get it back up to the carb after opening. I also wrap a back to back strip of velcro around the valves to prevent accidental shut-off in flight.

Tyler,

I have a handle built onto the end of the boom that's perfect for my mounting clamps, but also wondered how far aft the cg would move with 5 pounds (or more) added to the extreme end of the boom. Nose heavy is controllable, but tail heavy is looking for trouble. It might take something like 20 pounds in the nose to offset that. But if I remove the cargo bag and fly with half a tank of gas. I would have to do the math to be safe.

Eventually I'd like to make a composite movie with all kinds of views and a lot more in it than mamby-pamby little turns. I'll have to turn into that old pro that Shannon is talking about! Hee hee!

Blue skies,
Karl

[xgary]

Nice Movies Karl !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[flyalaz]

Thanks Shorty,

It was a fun experiment! No noticeable drag on that side. Flew like normal. The flight was actually an hour long, but the camera battery died at 27 minutes in. Just when it was getting good too. Flew out over the water, over an open quarry, hands off using body weight to fly, and it was only after landing I found out the camera was dead. That'll teach me to check for fresh charged batts next time round.

Karl

[ozzie]

hint on maximising your battery life. batteries hate the cold. they don't just don't like being stuck out in the wind. even in summer. when i videod skydivers for money i got caught out twice with a battery going flat during the jump. it had only done about 6 minutes of running over 3 jumps. on the ground it charged and ran for over an hour. i ended up making a cover for the whole camers out of wetsuit material. with a small velcro cover to get at the switches. worked much better altho not to the full run time of the battery. another benifit was a better recording by stopping tape flutter caused by the wind entering the tape compartment.

[flyalaz]

Hi Ozzie,

Good tips. This was my fault though. I forgot that I had run the camera on the batteries for a while, and didn't switch it out for a fresh pack. After I mounted the camera, I added foam and wrapped the entire affair in plastic pallet shrink wrap. I never thought to check the battery.

When I was a rad op in the forces, spare batteries were carried under the parka and close to the skin to keep them warm. Uncomfortable, but it did the trick! That miserable PRC25 was a big cold chunk of metal on the back more than it was a radio, but if the batteries were kept warm, sometimes you got lucky and could at least call for some coffee!

Maybe an extension cable could be rigged up from a battery pack under my clothes to the camera. It's going to get a lot colder here before long, so I'll probably have a chance to try something out.

Cheers,
Karl