July Newsletter

I have planned for a long time to try aerial photography from a R/C model. There've been lots of references in the model magazines and on the web. It
looked like lots of fun and was an interesting challenge. The main idea was
to keep it simple and CHEAP.

I considered using one of my 35mm cameras, but they are heavy and have a manual film advance. I managed to buy a cheap auto-wind 35mm camera on sale that looked like it should do the job. I had built a plane a few of years ago that I thought would be a good candidate for a photo platform. Everything came together early in June to give it a try.

One of the first tests of the camera was to make sure that the auto-wind mechanism was compatible with my radio system. I turned on the radio system and tripped the shutter a few times at various distances and in several locations to ensure that there was no interference. Fortunately, there was none. Time to proceed.

In the best tradition of TLAR engineering (That Looks About Right), I made some measurements of the plane and camera, and designed a mount that could be easily installed on the outside of my plane below the wing at about the CG. The mount is made of 1/4 inch ply and a couple of pieces of aluminum strip. The aluminum is bent to provide a slight downward camera angle. This lets me fly level while taking pictures and keeps the wing from taking up half the frame. A servo arm was modified to trip and hold the shutter down without putting a load on the servo.

The camera is held on the mount with rubber bands. Foam rubber helps isolate the camera from engine vibration. The servo is simply rubber banded to the mount so that the servo arm is in the right position to press the shutter release. The camera is set on FLASH so that it's easy to tell when a picture is taken. The only real problem with this arrangement is that the whole shebang must be removed from the plane and disassembled to change film. Future enhancements should take care of this problem.

A few hours of fabrication and fitting resulted in an aerial photo system that looked like it should function. Now came the really interesting part - would it work in the air?

I loaded the camera with film and assembled the mount, camera and servo.
The camera mount was screwed to the side below the wing of my Hollandaire
"Libel", a sorta-scale high-wing cub-type plane. The "Libel" has a 79-inch wingspan and flaps. It's powered by an old VECO 61 two cycle swinging a 13x6 Master Airscrew prop. This plane has served me well on both skis and wheels. I decided it should be a good candidate for aerial photography work.

I assembled the "Libel" at John Sawyer's field. As a first test of the complete package, I put the plane on the top of my van so I could see the camera and hit the "retract" switch on the radio to take the first picture. There was a flash from the camera indicating that all was working well. Idetected no radio glitches. It was time to put it into the air!

Take-off required full throttle and full flaps since the grass had grown abit due to recent rains. Once in the air I noticed that the plane requiredmore than usual attention, probably because of the added weight and airturbulance from the camera mount. I made several passes at low and high altitudes. The camera seemed to work flawlessly. I landed to make sure that nothing had vibrated loose. No problems were found. I have a winner!

About this time, Eric Horn and Chris Reeder arrived to fly. I made another flight to use up the rest of the film and to try more altitude, speed and engine settings. The flight was uneventful though the plane was still a bit harder than usual to control. The landing was a bit close to the edge of the runway, causing the wing to catch in the tall grass - no harm done. The next version of the mount may need some fairings to smooth the airflow over the tail.

The camera mount was removed from the plane. There were still a few unexposed frames left, so I took some pictures of Eric and Chris and their planes.

I had the pictures printed and was happy with the results. Several were blurry from either engine vibration or movement the in low fly-bys. Others were clear enough to make out details around the field. I scanned a few of the better pictures and e-mailed them to John Sawyer. He was delighted. I'm ready to make some upgrades to the camera mount and to find a smaller, lighter photo plane. I'll keep you posted on the results.

AMA Sanctioned Events In The Region

July

7/10/99 - 7/11/99 Spokane, WA (C-restricted) Lilac City Jet Rally. Site: Club Field at Deer Park. Anthony Worman CD, 16407 N Green Bluff Rd. Colbert, WA 99005. PH: 509-238-9157. 150' x 1 mile paved runway - Flying 9am till dusk - Lunch will be available on site. Sponsor: BARONS MODEL CLUB

7/16/99 - 7/18/99 Cascade, ID (C) Cascade Fun Fly. Site: Cascade Airport. Rick Tidmarsh CD, Box 1252 McCall ID 83638 PH:208-634-4513. IRCHA record events. Camping on site, no hook ups. Food & beverages on site. Call or write for info CD or Mike Verzywelt PH:208-733-9213. Raffle & trophies. Sponsor: INTERMOUNTAIN HELICOPTER ASSN

7/17/99 - 7/18/99 Moscow, ID (A) Orrin Crooks Memorial Glider Meet for 442-444(JSO). Site: University of Idaho. F Bruce Bumgarner CD, 1020 Eid Rd #8

Moscow, ID 83843 PH:208-882-7126. Sponsor: PALOUSE RIDGE RUNNERS

7/24/99 - 7/26/99 Moscow, ID (AAA) Kibbie Dome Annual 1999 for Cat IV 201-216, 218-220, 505(JSO). Site: Kibbie Dome. Andrew Tagliafico CD, 10039 SW

Quail Post Rd Portland, OR 97219 PH:503-452-0546. Sponsor: INDOOR MODELERS NORTHWEST

August

8/06/99 - 8/08/99 Athol, ID (C) Big Bird Rendevous. Site: Farragut State Park. Dick Carson CD, 3029 W Hoffman Spokane, WA 99205-1636 PH:509-327-4579. All grass flying site - park offers lots of activities for wives & kids. No hook ups for RV or trailers but plenty of room to park. $5 fee to fly and park requires per car entrance fee. Sponsor: BARONS MODEL CLUB

8/20/99 - 8/22/99 LaGrande, OR (AA) LaGrande Scale Masters Rally for 511, 512, 520(JSO). Site: Courtright Field. Kevin Donaldson CD, 2801 N Ash LaGrande, OR 97850 PH:541-963-4633 e-mail kadman@eoni.com Scale Masters rules, 511, 512, team scale, AMA rules 520. Static 8/20, steak dinner 8/21. Sponsor: GRANDE RONDE BUSH PILOTS

8/21/99 Richland, WA (C) Biplane Fly In. Site: Off Road Vehicle Park. John Hanson CD, 2021 S Fruitland St Kennewick WA 99337-4865. 3rd annual biplane fly in. $5 landing fee. Optional touch & go contest w/$5 entry fee. Sponsor: TRI-CITY RADIO CONTROL MODELERS