First Video Flight!

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Posted by Akom • Sunday, October 12. 2008 • Category: Toys

I've been thinking about aerial photography for some time, and I've worked out exactly what equipment I'd get too, but for now I'm not allowing any funds for this expenditure. I figured that AP is way in my future, but this morning I just decided - what the heck. FPV (First Person Video) may not happen right now, but at least I can record the flight and watch it later. So I went and weighed my SD camcorder... Panasonic SDR-S10. 220g or so - not too bad (My ultra-compact Optio S550 is 270g, and that's only a still camera!!!). The plane is 635g with battery. Hmmm...

So I thought I'd test this first.

Cargo Testing the Pitts

I strapped some wood pieces of exactly 110g each to the sides and went for a flight. That's over 30% extra load! The plane took off, a bit reluctantly, and flew well enough. The aerobatics are limited with this setup, but nothing broke and it ... well, it flew. What more do I need? So I went for it. I strapped the camcorder on top of the wing, standing upright, which, unfortunately, makes it point at the sky a bit. The good thing about this placement is - I am not watching a giant propeller the whole time.

SDR-S10

Nonetheless, with some trepidation (the camcorder does cost more than the plane) I flew it around... it wasn't super stable (a lot of weight above the wing) but manageable. So my first ever youtube submission is now available for all to see. I cut out most of the sky-only scenes... and, well, the landing speaks for itself.