Utah Aerial Photography - Page 2

chicken hawk · May 19, 2008, 02:54 PM

Hi Darth,
I use a slow stick with CF in the LE and a modified landing/camera mount which I think will be changing soon. I get a lot of vibration with power on so I'm forced to glide for most of my shots. Another problem I have is my prop seems to always be in the picture. Ive been thinking of a couple of different things to raise my motor to get my prop out of the way. I like to shoot most of my shots just slightly angled down like this one I took of Provo Temple a few weeks ago. With the slight angle you can still see the tops of the mountains. The camera I use is the canon SD1000. Its a lot lighter than the old Sony cybershot I used to fly with.

Darth_Elevator · May 19, 2008, 03:05 PM

I love how crisp and detailed your pictures are. I want to be able to take pictures like that when I grow up.

chicken hawk · May 19, 2008, 03:31 PM

Thanks Darth, I start each day with a healthy breakfast followed by a delicious shake for lunch and a sensible dinner and my pictures look great

Darth_Elevator · May 19, 2008, 04:23 PM

Ha! So that's the secret!

Darth_Elevator · May 28, 2008, 12:45 AM

I just ordered a set of Slinger wings from MRS today to make a flying wing for AP. This won't replace my Slow Stick, but it will give me an AP option for windy days and also let me video some aerobatic maneuvers. I got the idea from the threads below, and will probably follow fmkit's design in the first thread. Haven't yet decided whether to make it modular, like in the second thread. That would be sweet to throw it all into a backpack to get some backwoods AP in secluded areas.

Slinger for AP: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=840607

Modular Slinger: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=329195

natetanr · May 29, 2008, 01:19 PM

Interesting idea Darth!

I tried taking some video again this morning on my way to work. Stopped at our slow soaring location. Its a little shaky for most of the vid but is nice and smooth when I slowed the plane down or shut off the motor.

http://www.vimeo.com/1085774

Darth_Elevator · May 29, 2008, 01:57 PM

Coincidentally, I stopped and did some AP on the way to work this morning, too. I figured I better stop and film while it was still clear, in case it rains the rest of the day.

Nice video, Nate. Looks like that new camera is going to work great. It was fun to see that sloping location from the air. It reminded me of a great day of flying. I wonder why you're getting so much motor vibration. Is your motor mount a bit loose or maybe the prop saver? Or prop out of balance? Camera mount loose?

One of the reasons I've been experimenting with AP on a wing is because I've wanted to shoot some AP up at Ensign Peak. It's only about 5 minutes from my office, so I have plenty of opportunities at lunch or going or coming from work. But it's been windy every time I've gone up there, so I've never tried the Slow Stick. If you ever want to meet there for lunch or on the way home from work, let me know and we can AP it together.

BTW, how did your video turn out from Saturday?

chicken hawk · May 29, 2008, 02:41 PM

Darth, Let me know how that AP wing works out for you. I saw the same post awhile ago and tried to convert an old Zagi-X that I had lying around. I set it all up but instead of a camera I used a bunch of AA size batteries to simulate the weight. It was all good until I started checking the stall speed. It went into an unrecoverable cork screw. I still don’t know if a servo locked or if my cg was so far off it was uncontrollable but it made me think twice about flying the zagi with a camera on it over houses. Let me know how yours works out. If it’s good, I’m going to get a set of cores too! I think I’ll mess around with my zagi a bit more too. See if I can figure out what’s going on with that thing.

natetanr · May 29, 2008, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darth_Elevator

Coincidentally, I stopped and did some AP on the way to work this morning, too. I figured I better stop and film while it was still clear, in case it rains the rest of the day.

Nice video, Nate. Looks like that new camera is going to work great. It was fun to see that sloping location from the air. It reminded me of a great day of flying. I wonder why you're getting so much motor vibration. Is your motor mount a bit loose or maybe the prop saver? Or prop out of balance? Camera mount loose?

One of the reasons I've been experimenting with AP on a wing is because I've wanted to shoot some AP up at Ensign Peak. It's only about 5 minutes from my office, so I have plenty of opportunities at lunch or going or coming from work. But it's been windy every time I've gone up there, so I've never tried the Slow Stick. If you ever want to meet there for lunch or on the way home from work, let me know and we can AP it together.

BTW, how did your video turn out from Saturday?

Cliff I would love to meet and fly at Ensign Peak. The camera is wobbling because the bolt that mounts it to the plane is to long so the camera is not tight against the surface and is free to wobble and vibrate. If I add some washers or something to shorten the bolt length this should fix the problem.

My video from Saturday didnt turn out because the camera was set to focus on the initial push of the button. Which happened to be the ground at only a few inches away

Darth_Elevator · May 29, 2008, 04:54 PM

Nate, should we plan to fly Ensign Peak next week? If so, just let me know which day you want to do it and whether you want to do it at lunch or after work.

Chickenhawk, I'll let you know how the Slinger wings work. I've been pretty impressed so far with the four flights I've had on my 48-inch combat wing. Fortunately, no corkscrews, but my camera is only about 4.5 ounces, so my AUW with camera is only about 28 ounces. That's how heavy my old Zagi used to weight with no camera, counting all the extra hot glue and tape and carbon fiber I kept adding to that poor, busted up thing. Because the extra weight of the camera does makes the stall speed slower, I've needed to keep a bit of motor on during landings to help counter that. It will be interesting to see if the flight characteristics of the Slinger are much different. I suppose if it doesn't work for AP, I've still got a a new combat wing for $22 bucks, which is a great deal, especially considering it comes pre-covered and with elevons preinstalled.

Anyway, here's two minutes of clips from this morning's sortie.

http://www.vimeo.com/1087516

natetanr · May 30, 2008, 01:57 PM

Cliff another great video. Makes me dizzy with all that spinning. Benefit of flying video on a wing is you can cut through wind.

Is the Slinger made of EPP foam? $22 bucks is a steal if its is.

Darth_Elevator · May 30, 2008, 02:37 PM

Only the leading edge is EPP. The rest is EPS. Similar to my old Zagi.

natetanr · May 30, 2008, 02:46 PM

I cant do Ensign peak next week or the week after is a little too far to drive from hawaii.

chicken hawk · Jun 06, 2008, 02:47 PM

Darth,
Where are you getting the slinger kit from? I might get one too and start fresh. My zagi has been rolling on me ever since I got the thing so a clean start might work.

Darth_Elevator · Jun 06, 2008, 02:57 PM

I special ordered the wings from MRS in Sandy. They matched Tower's price so I got them for $21.99.

BTW, I've been meaning to ask you if you had any thoughts on where to fly from when you take aerial pics of the SLC temple. I was thinking of trying on a Saturday and flying from a nearby empty parking lot (if it is in fact empty). Any thoughts?

May 19, 2008, 02:54 PM	#16
chicken hawk Plane Insane RC.com Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Spanish Fork Utah Posts: 573	Hi Darth, I use a slow stick with CF in the LE and a modified landing/camera mount which I think will be changing soon. I get a lot of vibration with power on so I'm forced to glide for most of my shots. Another problem I have is my prop seems to always be in the picture. Ive been thinking of a couple of different things to raise my motor to get my prop out of the way. I like to shoot most of my shots just slightly angled down like this one I took of Provo Temple a few weeks ago. With the slight angle you can still see the tops of the mountains. The camera I use is the canon SD1000. Its a lot lighter than the old Sony cybershot I used to fly with. Attached Thumbnails 117.2 KB · Views: 80

May 28, 2008, 12:45 AM	#20
Darth_Elevator How do I change this text? Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Utah Posts: 4,486	I just ordered a set of Slinger wings from MRS today to make a flying wing for AP. This won't replace my Slow Stick, but it will give me an AP option for windy days and also let me video some aerobatic maneuvers. I got the idea from the threads below, and will probably follow fmkit's design in the first thread. Haven't yet decided whether to make it modular, like in the second thread. That would be sweet to throw it all into a backpack to get some backwoods AP in secluded areas. Slinger for AP: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=840607 Modular Slinger: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=329195 Attached Thumbnails 22.4 KB · Views: 69 95.7 KB · Views: 76

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May 19, 2008, 03:05 PM	#17
Darth_Elevator How do I change this text? Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Utah Posts: 4,486	I love how crisp and detailed your pictures are. I want to be able to take pictures like that when I grow up.

May 19, 2008, 03:31 PM	#18
chicken hawk Plane Insane RC.com Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Spanish Fork Utah Posts: 573	Thanks Darth, I start each day with a healthy breakfast followed by a delicious shake for lunch and a sensible dinner and my pictures look great

May 19, 2008, 04:23 PM	#19
Darth_Elevator How do I change this text? Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Utah Posts: 4,486	Ha! So that's the secret!

May 29, 2008, 01:57 PM	#22
Darth_Elevator How do I change this text? Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Utah Posts: 4,486	Coincidentally, I stopped and did some AP on the way to work this morning, too. I figured I better stop and film while it was still clear, in case it rains the rest of the day. Nice video, Nate. Looks like that new camera is going to work great. It was fun to see that sloping location from the air. It reminded me of a great day of flying. I wonder why you're getting so much motor vibration. Is your motor mount a bit loose or maybe the prop saver? Or prop out of balance? Camera mount loose? One of the reasons I've been experimenting with AP on a wing is because I've wanted to shoot some AP up at Ensign Peak. It's only about 5 minutes from my office, so I have plenty of opportunities at lunch or going or coming from work. But it's been windy every time I've gone up there, so I've never tried the Slow Stick. If you ever want to meet there for lunch or on the way home from work, let me know and we can AP it together. BTW, how did your video turn out from Saturday?

May 29, 2008, 02:41 PM	#23
chicken hawk Plane Insane RC.com Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Spanish Fork Utah Posts: 573	Darth, Let me know how that AP wing works out for you. I saw the same post awhile ago and tried to convert an old Zagi-X that I had lying around. I set it all up but instead of a camera I used a bunch of AA size batteries to simulate the weight. It was all good until I started checking the stall speed. It went into an unrecoverable cork screw. I still don’t know if a servo locked or if my cg was so far off it was uncontrollable but it made me think twice about flying the zagi with a camera on it over houses. Let me know how yours works out. If it’s good, I’m going to get a set of cores too! I think I’ll mess around with my zagi a bit more too. See if I can figure out what’s going on with that thing.

May 30, 2008, 01:57 PM	#26
natetanr Utah Flyers Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: South Ogden, UT Posts: 1,406	Cliff another great video. Makes me dizzy with all that spinning. Benefit of flying video on a wing is you can cut through wind. Is the Slinger made of EPP foam? $22 bucks is a steal if its is.

May 30, 2008, 02:37 PM	#27
Darth_Elevator How do I change this text? Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Utah Posts: 4,486	Only the leading edge is EPP. The rest is EPS. Similar to my old Zagi.

May 30, 2008, 02:46 PM	#28
natetanr Utah Flyers Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: South Ogden, UT Posts: 1,406	I cant do Ensign peak next week or the week after is a little too far to drive from hawaii.

Jun 06, 2008, 02:47 PM	#29
chicken hawk Plane Insane RC.com Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Spanish Fork Utah Posts: 573	Darth, Where are you getting the slinger kit from? I might get one too and start fresh. My zagi has been rolling on me ever since I got the thing so a clean start might work.

Jun 06, 2008, 02:57 PM	#30
Darth_Elevator How do I change this text? Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Utah Posts: 4,486	I special ordered the wings from MRS in Sandy. They matched Tower's price so I got them for $21.99. BTW, I've been meaning to ask you if you had any thoughts on where to fly from when you take aerial pics of the SLC temple. I was thinking of trying on a Saturday and flying from a nearby empty parking lot (if it is in fact empty). Any thoughts?