Go Pro Camera

Captain Sweet T

Captain Sweet T

Pre-Flight
Joined
Jul 14, 2021
Messages
93
Location
NorCal
Display Name
Display name:
Captain Sweet T
How is everyone attaching Go Pro cameras to their wings? It seems to me the adhesive would break free. Thanks
 
The GoPros batteries go longer than that in all the more modern versions.

A friend drilled a hole in one of the helmet clips and then ran a longer fairing screw on his RV-6 through that to mount it.

On the Navion, I used their rollbar clamp to mount it to the step.
 
Shepherd said:
Why bother? The battery will only last 20-30 minutes.
There are better, cheaper cameras with MUCH longer battery life.
Click to expand...

Go on? I’ve thought about recording flights but... let’s be honest, with two little kids and and work, I don’t really have the time or desire to figure it out. Point us in the right direction.
 
I saw a Mooney with an action camera mounted under the wing, pointed in the general direction of his flight lead when working on formation flight. He used this mount and said he liked it, although he had to experiment a bit to find the most stable place on the wing to mount it.

https://www.nflightcam.com/collections/frontpage/products/nflightcam-ball-head-exterior-mount

If the FAA were going to crack down on people for mounting cameras in and on their airplanes, Paul Bertorelli would have had to publish a retraction of this 2016 video by now, in which among other suggestions he used the GoPro adhesive mount on top of some aluminum foil tape on the top of the wing:


And then you have the selfie stick option, like this:



If there were anything under the sun not already being done in YouTube aviation content, I would probably try all these things out, but every time I think about buying equipment for it, I decide to just go flying instead.
 
There are commercial mounts that use the inspection panels.

I use pieces of aluminum angle for my mounts. Here's one that bolts to a tiedown ring. There's a wood "washer" that inserts inside the ring.
gopro wing mount tiedown.jpg
As you can probably tell, the camera can be pointed in just about any direction.

Here's a short sample of video. About five seconds in, a hawk or eagle goes by.
I have several other places I can attach my camera, but take advantage of specific design features of my type of airplane. Here's a sample takeoff edited together from several flights.

My GoPro Hero 8 runs the battery down to about 60% in a ~45-minute flight. You can use a phone as a remote control, so it can be on standby and save battery life. With the new high-density cards, memory is no longer an issue... I've got 11 hours of storage.

Ron Wanttaja
 
wanttaja said:
There are commercial mounts that use the inspection panels.

I use pieces of aluminum angle for my mounts. Here's one that bolts to a tiedown ring. There's a wood "washer" that inserts inside the ring.
View attachment 98397
As you can probably tell, the camera can be pointed in just about any direction.

Here's a short sample of video. About five seconds in, a hawk or eagle goes by.
I have several other places I can attach my camera, but take advantage of specific design features of my type of airplane. Here's a sample takeoff edited together from several flights.

My GoPro Hero 8 runs the battery down to about 60% in a ~45-minute flight. You can use a phone as a remote control, so it can be on standby and save battery life. With the new high-density cards, memory is no longer an issue... I've got 11 hours of storage.

Ron Wanttaja
Click to expand...

Exactly, I dont plan on filming the entire flight. Pieces here and there.
 
watch most of the aviation youtubers and it won't be long before you start seeing apologies or notes in the video about how one or many of their gopro cameras sht the bed during the flight. I guess some overheat, some the battry dies, some just suck.....
 
Flocker said:
Guess it depends on your airspeed, but I've used a suction cup mount for years and never lost my camera from the wing.
Click to expand...

when r we gonna see a flocker youtube channel??
 
I think the tie down mounts are a non issue. I have only heard from other people that they frown upon screwing a mount to the plane.
I am not aware of anyone that has had a first hand encounter with someone in an official position having issue with it.

On the other hand the FAA is super cool with me mounting this 5 pound weight to an inspection panel.


EDIT: When I say "me" I do mean my A&P. I did not turn a single screw.



bom20210718_211535 (002).jpg
 
LOL. The channel's still there, but I took the videos down. Too many negative comments. My impossible turn video went viral, but the critics were annoying. Feel free to join my 22 followers @ jflock2

I may be back...
 
Flocker said:
LOL. The channel's still there, but I took the videos down. Too many negative comments. My impossible turn video went viral, but the critics were annoying. Feel free to join my 22 followers @ jflock2

I may be back...
Click to expand...

a youtube channel with no videos.............SUBSCRIBED!!
 
Bill said:
What da FAQ is that? Oh, and pass the dandelion wine, please!
Click to expand...


And Ironically at 3:51 in the video below, Paul loses a goPro in flight.

 
Last edited:
MooneyDriver78 said:
Can it be removed without damaging the paint?
Click to expand...

I'm vastly more comfortable relating my experience with that, rather then predicting your paint. My experience is that I have removed probably six or seven of them without paint damage. All were on pretty decent paint. I would suggest googling and reading up on how people recommend to do it. For me, this stuff is so strong that I basically treat it as permanent.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Its a grey area but these folks seem to make some great ones but their notes on the FAA stance don't really give me the warmest fuzzy.

https://flightflix.net/faa-camera-mount-guide/
Click to expand...
I use one. Screwed down tight for 2yrs now and its only moved once...during the annual. I use the go pro remote to start and stop it out there remotely to save battery time. But the remote can be tricky. Nice mount actually. Many here can probably DIY something about as good.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top