Micro Tilt & Pan

PeteSchug · Jul 09, 2006, 01:18 PM

I originally posted this in Aerial Photography, but decided that it also belonged in my blog.

My first video camera was similar to the Draganfly unit, camera and tx in one unit. I stuck it in an old Airtronics Kadet that we had lying around and, not realizing how short our flights would be I kludged together a tilt and pan.

We never actually got to use the tilt & pan in flight, but it worked and it looked cute and everyone who saw it liked it. The Kadet needed only one stick since it was rudder, elevator. I controlled the tilt & pan with the other stick. Since flights were short in the winter and I didn't have time to look at the camcorder screen the only time it ever got used was when my flying buddy "cut the throttle" on a not too good landing. Habit of a lifetime, I guess.

My old faithful GWS Tiger Moth vanished with my gear aboard, and is probably gone forever, so new gear is on the way. I'm also getting the Hobby Lobby 1/7 scale ARF Tiger Moth, and I am planning to put a tilt & pan in that. Maybe we'll fly with two radios, my buddy flying the plane and me aiming the camera with video goggles on.

I loved flying the TM, but when I had the camera in the cockpit the cabane made a very stagnant frame. The idea of looking around from the cockpit has some real appeal. I'm hoping the ability to swivel around, look down and occasionally even up will make for more interesting shots. I love doing air to air and this would be great for that. I also like the idea of seeing parts of the plane I'm flying. It feels a little more like full sized flying, though there are times when I want a clean image with no part of the plane. For that I mount the camera underneath and aimed down a bit.

One of these days I will make a dedicated camera plane with clear views forward and down, and a pusher prop, but for now I enjoy the scale look.

Daydreaming again. The new TM is due at the beginning of August. Meanwhile I have a used GWS TM to test my new gear.

Here's a link to a video I call "Happy Landings" which includes two landings of the Kadet.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=543098

I hope you like it, or at least find it interesting. The Kadet landings are from our third try at airborne video.

Pete

Jul 09, 2006, 01:18 PM	#1
PeteSchug Registered User Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Elmhurst, NY (Queens in NYC) Posts: 3,114	Micro Tilt & Pan I originally posted this in Aerial Photography, but decided that it also belonged in my blog. My first video camera was similar to the Draganfly unit, camera and tx in one unit. I stuck it in an old Airtronics Kadet that we had lying around and, not realizing how short our flights would be I kludged together a tilt and pan. We never actually got to use the tilt & pan in flight, but it worked and it looked cute and everyone who saw it liked it. The Kadet needed only one stick since it was rudder, elevator. I controlled the tilt & pan with the other stick. Since flights were short in the winter and I didn't have time to look at the camcorder screen the only time it ever got used was when my flying buddy "cut the throttle" on a not too good landing. Habit of a lifetime, I guess. My old faithful GWS Tiger Moth vanished with my gear aboard, and is probably gone forever, so new gear is on the way. I'm also getting the Hobby Lobby 1/7 scale ARF Tiger Moth, and I am planning to put a tilt & pan in that. Maybe we'll fly with two radios, my buddy flying the plane and me aiming the camera with video goggles on. I loved flying the TM, but when I had the camera in the cockpit the cabane made a very stagnant frame. The idea of looking around from the cockpit has some real appeal. I'm hoping the ability to swivel around, look down and occasionally even up will make for more interesting shots. I love doing air to air and this would be great for that. I also like the idea of seeing parts of the plane I'm flying. It feels a little more like full sized flying, though there are times when I want a clean image with no part of the plane. For that I mount the camera underneath and aimed down a bit. One of these days I will make a dedicated camera plane with clear views forward and down, and a pusher prop, but for now I enjoy the scale look. Daydreaming again. The new TM is due at the beginning of August. Meanwhile I have a used GWS TM to test my new gear. Here's a link to a video I call "Happy Landings" which includes two landings of the Kadet. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=543098 I hope you like it, or at least find it interesting. The Kadet landings are from our third try at airborne video. Pete Attached Thumbnails Here is the tilt & pan looking left. These shots are from a video I made about the plane. 58.0 KB · Views: 735 Looking rignt. 57.2 KB · Views: 451 Looking up. I forgot to include one looking down, but you get the idea. Yes, it can look over the edge of the cockpit. 55.0 KB · Views: 468 Last edited by PeteSchug; Jul 21, 2006 at 09:02 PM.

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