Aerial Photography

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On August 8, 2004 we had the unique opportunity to attempt another aspect of digital aerial photography. Chris Byrd and Shaun Zimmerman set up Black Widow AV wireless video equipment inside the Balsa USA Stick 40+ "Sport Utility [Blue] Truck" as it now known.

The Black Widow AV equipment that is owned by Byrd is rather amazing technology that allows a live video feed from the camera (transmitter) to the remote receiver. This is one of the first 100mw systems and it is surprisingly affordable considering the technology involved. He previously had it mounted inside the canopy of his Raptor 60-sized R/C Helicopter.

In this photo you can see the first installation setup in the same cargo bay where Zimmerman normally loads his Canon S-300 Digital Elph camera. Since this is a constant live video feed, there is no need for an additional servo, we simply had to leave the battery leads sticking outside the airplane so that we could plug in the battery pack when we were ready to power it up. We had to go through a few different installation configurations before we finally came up with a setup that gave fairly consistent results. 

Inside the Stick 40+ airplane we installed the tiny color video camera (mounted to the side of the plane, sticking out of the hole where the lens of the Canon camera usually points out). The transmitter unit (small white shrink-wrapped box) with the antenna (light gray plastic tube about 4 inches long and 3/8" diameter). Plus the additional battery pack needed to power the transmitter unit (square black box towards the front of the cockpit. 

Initially we used a very small 4.8 volt pack to try to save weight, but Byrd quickly determined that the transmitter wasn't getting enough power. We then pulled the unit out of the airplane and tested it with a higher capacity 6 volt battery pack, which worked great, but wouldn't fit into the airplane. We finally settled on a 4.8 volt 1100 mAh battery that both fit into the airplane and gave the additional power that we needed to run the transmitter. We also added a small windshield to the side of the fuselage to keep exhaust residue from splattering on the miniature camera lens and sealed it with clear tape.

After the first two flights we determined that we needed to stick the antenna of the transmitter out the bottom of the airplane. Zimmerman came up with one of the dullest 3/8" drill bits ever found, but luckily Tom Copeland had a hand drill and eventually we were able to drill a hole through the two layers of lite-ply. Of course, some of the guys at the flying field commented that the antenna sticking out the bottom of the plane made it look as if it had just swallowed a Viagra pill! We just walked around smiling like "Bob" the guy from the Enzyte TV commercial. 

Byrd set up the receiver equipment in the back of his truck. This included the Black Widow wireless video receiver and antenna with the A/V cords plugged into his Canon digital video camera to record the live video action. We found that the reception was better when the receiver set outside the truck, but no matter where it was located a crowd would gather around to view the live video feed from the R/C airplane.

We would tend to lose signal whenever the airplane was banking away from the receiver and it didn't seem to matter what altitude we were at. At times the trees surrounding the field also impeded our reception. Once all that was figured out by the third flight we were getting a fairly good video signal.

Of course, the most exciting part about this day was the actual video footage. We are in the process of editing the video now and we will also pull some still video frames to share with those who don't have high-speed Internet. We want to edit out the many blank portions of the tape and convert it to compressed digital video before publishing it to the website, we assure you that it will be posted soon. 

Something to look forward to seeing in the video is the tight formation flying that Rick Poire was able to accomplish, flying right next to Zimmerman's Balsa USA Stick with a Hangar 9 Alpha owned by Stacy Gillmore. There are views of the surrounding area, including the new houses and Binder Lake, as well as a fly-by of the flight line showing all of the activity taking place at the field on this particular Sunday.

Check back soon for the video footage.