RC Aerial Photography

By Tony Stott

Scene From Above Aerial Images

Website: www.scenefromabove.biz

Half the fun of radio controlled models is operating the model as if you were actually inside it. It is such a tiny stretch to add a camera to the model and get to see it rather than just imagine it!

After most of my life playing with R/C, I only recently stumbled on this whole other dimension, and I can’t imagine going back! I now have fully controllable digital cameras mounted on a small electric helicopter, an 8 metre glass fibre mast, the gondola of a quarter scale hot-air balloon, and now a high performance kite! All are also equipped with cheap spy cameras, which transmit the camera’s view to the ground, so I can aim the camera with the help of a 7 inch LCD screen. All mounts have 90 degree tilt, while all but the heli also have the ability to rotate, or pan, a full 360 degrees. There is inexpensive software available which enables stitching of multiple images into a cylinder, or even a sphere, which is truly something to behold!

The red device at the top is a "Jones KAP Feather" which works as a shock absorber of gusts, reducing movement of the camera. The small coiled white lines spread out to become the Picavet, a cat's cradle affair which enables the camera to auto-level irrespective of the angle of the line up to the kite.

Why the kite as well as the balloon? In Australia, if operating commercially, any untethered aircraft (e.g. the helicopter) requires a UAV Operators Certificate from CASA, but tethered balloons or kites can be flown to 120 metres with little restriction. Believe me; the view from that height is incredible!!!

Here are two quite different kites, viewed at about 120 meters high. The left one is a giant Rokkaku (80" x 50" with carbon tube frame), while the one on the right is a Sutton Flowform, which relies on air filling compartments to mike its shape. The "Rok" is better in lower wind strength. BTW, that tail under the Rokkaku is actually 5 metres long!

The kite is for windier days, while the balloon is for still ones. Simple really! But even the 8 metre mast can make a huge difference to the effectiveness of the image.