Posted Monday, March 31, 2008 @ 09:58 AM  

I have been taking videos of all my aerobatic flying for over three years. It's the only way I can see my mistakes and correct them.

Mostly, I have been using the mount shown on my RF4 page under Bob's mods, mod no 9. Go to the CFIAmerica site, click on RF4Ds, then click on Bob Grimstead's RF4, click on Bob's Mods, and some of my modifications (including this one) are illustrated there. The mount clips on to the fuselage side, and when closed and locked, the canopy holds it securely in place at speeds up to Vne + 10. There is no noticeable drag or performance loss.

You can mount the camera facing forwards, sideways out to the wing-tip, or facing the tail. If I want to take a video clip of somebody else in flight, I can also turn it 45 degrees forwards and to the left, and then formate on them in echelon right, press the button through the canopy's opening window, and get an acceptable film clip without having to take my hands off the controls. I have also made an in-cockpit mount on the instrument panel, so you can see my face turning red when I'm upside-down. Many of these clips are also on my Fournier's page. That's video No 5.

The camera I use is a small still digital camera: a Nikkon Coolpix 7100. There are several versions, and mine's an old one, but it can take fairly good resolution video for up to seven minutes with a small flashcard. The resolution seen on the site is much reduced, because I've edited the clips in Windows Moviemaker and deliberately reduced the resolution to make the clips comparatively small files. Although there is a lot of vibration, which is quite noticeable on the clips, the camera has not cut off as yours has done.

My daughter has a much smaller camera which takes better resolution clips, and it's metal, and therefore more robust. It's a Canon Ixus 60 digital camera. That would work well too.

Having it right outside the canopy's opening window means you can switch it on and off in flight. I once mounted my camera on the left wing-tip and that video's also on the site, but I had to get somebody to switch it on immediately before I opened the throttle for take-off, and then climb to a safe altitude and fly my routine all within seven minutes. I just made it! That's Video No 4.

If you want some ideas of the sort of film you can make in an RF5, plus some more ideas on cameras and mounts, talk to your neighbor, Ron Wanttaja, who has a lovely 3-minute clip of a Fly Baby flight around Auburn on his Fly Baby web site. For more info, go to: http://www.bowersflybaby.com/pix/video.html

One thing though... I would not put the camera on or near any control surface, because you do not know what effect it might have on the airflow. When I was young and foolish I once taped a Super 8 cine camera to the side of the upper fin (vertical stabilizer) of my Druine Turbulent just before an air display. The resulting footage is fun, but I hate to think what might have happened if I had let a little sideslip develop

Good luck, and I look forward to seeing your clips on our site.

Yours, Bob

[Edit by Bob Grimstead on Tuesday, November 4, 2008 @ 02:55 PM]

Posted Friday, April 18, 2008 @ 10:13 PM  

There are now a few of my aerobatic clips on YouTube.

Go to http://www.youtube.com and search for FournierBob and you should find them.

As well as some Fournier footage, there are several clips of the kind of airplanes and flying we do at my home airfield, Serpentine, Western Australia. It's a homebuilders' airfield, carved by the homebuilders themselves out of the Australian bush. Production airplanes are allowed in a strict ratio, but homebuilts, small warbirds and antique/classic airplanes predominate.

Enjoy.

Posted Tuesday, November 4, 2008 @ 09:23 PM  

I have the James Gilbert article reworked.

http://www.cfiamerica.com/id36.html

Posted Tuesday, November 4, 2008 @ 11:45 PM  

I see the last page of James's article is missing.

Did I forget to send it?

Let me know if I did, and I'll send it again.

Posted Wednesday, November 5, 2008 @ 04:39 PM  

http://lutecraft.com/Lute_home.htm

Posted Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 05:06 AM  

http://mik.1g.fi/kuvat/Videot/OHCAU_official_trailer.mpg

There are a few shots which show the camera equipment, too. I think they did really good job with the video.

-A-

Posted Wednesday, November 26, 2008 @ 07:56 PM  

I want that airplane!

Posted Sunday, December 7, 2008 @ 03:09 PM  

Gail and a friend having fun. this was made with a $100 lightweight small atc2k camera that was mounted with a ty-wrap an a lot of black tape. It is self contained, no wires anywhere. It records on an SD memory card for an hour and edited on windows movie maker. By far the easiest and cheapest way to get some video. You turn it on and just let it run for the whole flight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2RrCtuqykA

If found them advertised for as little as $75 - More info here: http://www.atc2k.com/

Steve

Posted Tuesday, December 16, 2008 @ 08:18 AM  

http://www.goprocamera.com/

More options (how about the "one picture every two or five seconds"-option), not that much more expensive and 170 degree lens. Probably not as rugged and not as aerodynamic, though. I haven´t made up my mind to buy it yet, these little cameras are in a fast development phase and already next year you will probably get much better quality videos for the same price.

Posted Saturday, July 24, 2010 @ 04:46 PM  

http://www.swiftteam.airshows.org.uk/video.html

but I think those were all taken with other camera/s, because they're fairly old clips and I think his GoPro is a recent acquisition.

Does any of you have expereince with the GoPro?
I'm really tempted to buy one, but I have so little spare cash I am reluctant to do so until I hear from somebody who's had one for a while.

Posted Sunday, July 25, 2010 @ 12:00 PM  

I did get a GoPro camera some time ago. I also got a stronger, dual suction cup mount for outside mounting.

This video was made using suction cups on the outside of the glider. Several flights on the same day were edited together.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTd8OWSVoPE

I also got a handle bar mount from GoPro, intended for bicycles/motorcycles. This video was made using that mount, attached to an outrigger.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwKynfmFkAM

And this one combines the outrigger as well as trying to use a suction cup on the inside of the canopies. I was surprised at the amount of vibration I got in the canopies while the engine was running. A different location on the canopies may help. But, overall, I'm quite pleased.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpmcJS-y60c

Several times I've also set the camera to take photos every X number of seconds. That also works well.

If there is any disappointment, it is the distortion of the prop in a video. I've seen exactly the same distortion in other aircraft when they used a GoPro -- so it must be in the way it creates the image from the chip. Lighting matters. In the second video above, there are times that the prop looks just fine, but the light is coming from a different angle so you're not getting the strobe effect. (The video is also being taken from the side rather than looking through the prop.)

In all, it has a reasonable price and works well. Just make sure your mount is strong. I lost my 1st camera when it blew off a wing tip into a wooded area. That motivated me to get a stronger mount with dual cups.

Posted Monday, July 26, 2010 @ 10:01 AM  

Quote:

Originally posted by Jorgen Have you got a picture/source for the dual suction cup mount?

I bought a "Fat Gekko."

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/610980-REG/Delkin_Devices_DDMOUNT_SUCTION_Fat_Gecko_Dual_Suction_Camera.html

Posted Tuesday, March 15, 2011 @ 05:49 AM  

You'll find clips from my new GoPro on YouTube, FournierBob.

Here are the mounts:

The cockpit one was made from a scrap of 3/32 alloy.
I left the sheet quite big, so that I can move it around for the best view, which is looking over my shoulder, but under my microphone boom.
The whole point of this mount is that it uses holes which already exist (for the canopy retaining cord).

This is the wing-tip mount, bolted on to the smoke pod mounts.

Yours, Bob

[Edit by Bob Grimstead on Wednesday, April 27, 2011 @ 08:59 AM]

[Edit by Bob Grimstead on Wednesday, April 27, 2011 @ 09:02 AM]

Posted Sunday, December 4, 2011 @ 12:35 PM  

I have use the "Fat Gecko" dual suction cup mount for fuselage, wing and stabilizer positions; the GoPro factory single suction cup for inside the canopies, and the factory bike handlebar clamp on the outriggers.