GoPro suction mount

[Lindberg]

So to prevent dents in your airplane you are willing to accept the minuscule risk that your camera might come loose and kill somebody else on the ground?

Here's another seemingly unknown factoid: there is a fairly minuscule chance that anyone, outside of yourself, is ever going to have the slightest interest in watching your wing mounted GoPro videos to begin with. Honestly I don't really get it unless it's an experiment involving taking boredom to a new level.

I'm sure the friends and family just love it when you sit them down for forty minutes of pretty much nothing

Too true. I have hours of video of my own flights. They even bore me.

 

[flytime]

I had an eBay elcheapo suction mount for my GoPro, and it worked great...until it didn't. It came off over a heavily wooded area of Washington State, so even with my name on it I expect it's gone forever. It actually held on just fine until I climbed above freezing level, then it released. Not sure if the temperature had anything to do with it failing...but worth mentioning.

What I use now is a bicycle handlebar mount that I attach to the wing tie down ring. I can cinch it down real tight, and aim it in any number of directions. Aiming the camera forward and slightly down gives a nice angle.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bike-Motorc...o-4-3-3-2-1-/121159311981?hash=item1c35a8626d

 

[N801BH]

For video the suction cup isn't the best, however, for time lapse and stills it works great.

Agreed.....

A few guys out here used the suction mount and it introduced the jello effect into the video... One lost a Go Pro when it fall off in flight.. NO way I would trust it......

I did fabricate / machine a custom mount for my plane, but I am an experimental so I can play with different stuff..

Pics are of the mount...

The only time I got the jello effect on my mount was 5 minutes or so into this video..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

But I was damn close to VNE when it happened..

 

[StinkBug]

I've used the suction cup mount on the inside of the plane, and occasionally had it fall off. I absolutely would not trust it outside the plane. On the flip side I just flew 6300NM with 4 gopros hanging off various parts of the plane using the sticky mounts. Those things are rock solid, and can be put a lot more places than the suction cup.

 

[FastEddieB]

Have not been through the whole thread, but...

I had bad luck with GoPro mounts, breaking three in this manner:

Google "broken mount GoPro" for LOTS more!

The clips snapped when I was doing nothing more than gently squeezing them together to slide out of the mount.

In any case, I don't trust them and bought a R.A.M. adapter and use a R.A.M. suction cup or various clamps and arms. If mounted externally I always have a secondary method in place - like here on my Sky Arrow wing strut:

 

[Silvaire]

The GoPro's fish-eye lens on a static mount makes for some pretty boring footage. Some people do okay by mounting half a dozen of them and spending hours upon hours of editing but still you're not gonna get more than a few hits unless you crash and go viral.

I bought a pair of Ivue Horizon 1080P's off Amazon and I think they produce a better recording. For one thing they are dynamic first person view so they don't need the wide angle as you can change the view by simply moving your head. You can also start/stop recording by pressing a button on the temple. They can use up to a 2G micro SD and also have a time lapse mode. A bit pricey but I've had fun with them.

Not that I'd bore anyone with the results

 

[bkspero]

What about the Nflight billet mount (http://www.nflightcam.com/products/gopro-exterior-billet-mount)? Their design seems like it would be more secure than the other options.

 

[German guy]

I use the new GoPro suction mount all the time inside. Vibration has been all but eliminated, as long as you mount it to a stable surface to begin with. [...]

By my experience, vibration is indeed much less of an issue if mounted inside: Windows are significantly stiffer than sheet metal and, most importantly, no additional vibration is added by a turbulent airflow surrounding the camera, as if installed outside.

 

[German guy]

One more thing. Use the open back unless you expect to fly through rain. With the closed back it will most likely fog up, because the cooler air at altitude will let the humidity of the air inside the housing condensate, if it can't vent.

 

[acrophile]

Here's a video where a skydiver's GoPro released from its housing at 12,500' and fell on its own:
http://gizmodo.com/5943506/heres-what-happens-when-you-accidentally-drop-a-gopro-from-12500-feet

If we assume the ground is at 0' MSL, and we can see from the video that the camera tumbled for 2:07, we can sort out that the camera fell at an average of 98ft/s, or about 67mph.

A bare GoPro weighs about 3.5oz out of a housing, or 6.5oz in a housing, whereas a baseball weighs just over 5oz, so that's a fair comparison. I think it would hurt, but at under 70mph, it probably wouldn't kill you.

If 67 mph is the average velocity, then the terminal velocity is somewhat higher (though probably not by much, since terminal velocity is reached very early in that fall).

 

[172andyou]

Here's another seemingly unknown factoid: there is a fairly minuscule chance that anyone, outside of yourself, is ever going to have the slightest interest in watching your wing mounted GoPro videos to begin with. Honestly I don't really get it unless it's an experiment involving taking boredom to a new level. \

lol. So true.

 

[RalphInCA]

So to prevent dents in your airplane you are willing to accept the minuscule risk that your camera might come loose and kill somebody else on the ground?



Here's another seemingly unknown factoid: there is a fairly minuscule chance that anyone, outside of yourself, is ever going to have the slightest interest in watching your wing mounted GoPro videos to begin with. Honestly I don't really get it unless it's an experiment involving taking boredom to a new level.



I'm sure the friends and family just love it when you sit them down for forty minutes of pretty much nothing

It's just fun. Period.


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[acrophile]

Here's a recent fatality caused by a falling tape-measure:
http://articles.philly.com/2014-11-04/news/56395151_1_camden-county-man-gary-anderson-jersey-city

It reportedly weighed a pound. I just weighed a Go Pro with suction mount: 3/4 pound.

 

[StinkBug]

Here's another seemingly unknown factoid: there is a fairly minuscule chance that anyone, outside of yourself, is ever going to have the slightest interest in watching your wing mounted GoPro videos to begin with. Honestly I don't really get it unless it's an experiment involving taking boredom to a new level.

I'm sure the friends and family just love it when you sit them down for forty minutes of pretty much nothing

Funny, when I posted up talking about my coast to coast trip last month there were quite a few people asking me about videos. I don't sit anybody down though. I just put it on youtube and those who want to watch can watch, if not then don't. I take the videos as much for my own amusement as anybody else's.

 

[Archammer]

It would be really helpful if you could go into more detail on WHY you believe what you believe.

If 67 mph is the average velocity, then the terminal velocity is somewhat higher (though probably not by much, since terminal velocity is reached very early in that fall).

Believe? I don't have to have faith, just math. Watching you fumble over this trying so desperately to keep your head above water is agonizing. So, let's take you all the way down the yellow brick road.



Let's do a word problem, yay!



...

We're all standing under the Suvarnabhumi Airport control tower. My friend and I hear you talking about baseballs in space and terminal velocity with some feds as they nod and write. I can hear you clearly as there really isn't much wind today.



My friend has some connections with the ATC's and heads up to the top of the tower with my GoPro camera to take some video from the catwalk, while I head in your direction. My friend is a real clutz, but hopefully he'll get a few good clips.



As you and I are debating your definition of physics, terminal velocity and force on an object, you start getting frustrated. Then in a last ditch effort, you decide to swallow hard and get up enough balls to say "You're full of ****!"



Shortly before that, my friend is getting a wicked good shot of a Thai Airways 747 greasing a landing when he fumbles the camera and drops it. For some reason he instinctively screams "Fore!" The GoPro falls almost straight down, heading right for us.



I cock my hand back to cave your face in as the Fed's cower away and I'm pretty sure I hear pee dripping on the ground. You forget that this is real life for a moment and attempt to stand your ground. My fist buries itself in the side of your face right as the GoPro nails you right in the crown of your head. As your knees wobble and your body goes limp, you think to yourself, why?



Here is the question. Which item would cause you the most physical harm?

a) Shane's fist attached to his 6'2" 240lb body

b) The GoPro Hero 3 in a waterproof case?



Wait, sorry you wouldn't be able to answer since you're eating through a straw. Hey look at the bright side though, at least the little swolen lump on the top of your head will heal quickly.



The answer is, my fist.

My fist is not travelling anywhere near TV. Neither is the GoPro. However, the GoPro is travelling at twice the speed of my fist. My fist weighs 2x the GoPro and is 1/3 larger than the camera and case.

So I'll let you marinade with this one and provide no more input;



Why would my fist create so much more damage to your little face and head than that GoPro travelling at nearly twice the speed?



vx(t+δt)=vx(t)+1mFx(vx(t),vy(t),vz(t),t)δt

The story is all just jokes so dont be getting all butt hurt and just extract the science out of it.

 

[Silvaire]

...Why would my fist create so much more damage to your little face and head than that GoPro travelling at nearly twice the speed?

Because your fist is not ballistic, you are burning calories from the six pack of Rock Star that you drank that morning when you skipped Physics class.

 

[Palmpilot]

Believe? I don't have to have faith, just math. Watching you fumble over this trying so desperately to keep your head above water is agonizing. So, let's take you all the way down the yellow brick road.



Let's do a word problem, yay!



...

We're all standing under the Suvarnabhumi Airport control tower. My friend and I hear you talking about baseballs in space and terminal velocity with some feds as they nod and write. I can hear you clearly as there really isn't much wind today.



My friend has some connections with the ATC's and heads up to the top of the tower with my GoPro camera to take some video from the catwalk, while I head in your direction. My friend is a real clutz, but hopefully he'll get a few good clips.



As you and I are debating your definition of physics, terminal velocity and force on an object, you start getting frustrated. Then in a last ditch effort, you decide to swallow hard and get up enough balls to say "You're full of ****!"



Shortly before that, my friend is getting a wicked good shot of a Thai Airways 747 greasing a landing when he fumbles the camera and drops it. For some reason he instinctively screams "Fore!" The GoPro falls almost straight down, heading right for us.



I cock my hand back to cave your face in as the Fed's cower away and I'm pretty sure I hear pee dripping on the ground. You forget that this is real life for a moment and attempt to stand your ground. My fist buries itself in the side of your face right as the GoPro nails you right in the crown of your head. As your knees wobble and your body goes limp, you think to yourself, why?



Here is the question. Which item would cause you the most physical harm?

a) Shane's fist attached to his 6'2" 240lb body

b) The GoPro Hero 3 in a waterproof case?



Wait, sorry you wouldn't be able to answer since you're eating through a straw. Hey look at the bright side though, at least the little swolen lump on the top of your head will heal quickly.



The answer is, my fist.

My fist is not travelling anywhere near TV. Neither is the GoPro. However, the GoPro is travelling at twice the speed of my fist. My fist weighs 2x the GoPro and is 1/3 larger than the camera and case.

So I'll let you marinade with this one and provide no more input;



Why would my fist create so much more damage to your little face and head than that GoPro travelling at nearly twice the speed?



vx(t+δt)=vx(t)+1mFx(vx(t),vy(t),vz(t),t)δt

The story is all just jokes so dont be getting all butt hurt and just extract the science out of it.

I wouldn't DREAM of getting butt hurt over that story!

 

[acrophile]

Because your fist is not ballistic

Precisely. In order to make a valid comparison, he would have to sever his hand at the wrist and then throw it at his opponent. (That's not a recommended combat technique, though it would certainly confer an element of surprise.)

Also, he's ignoring the recent event above in which a person was in fact killed when struck by a falling tape-measure only slightly heavier than a GoPro with a suction mount.

 

[Archammer]

Because your fist is not ballistic, you are burning calories from the six pack of Rock Star that you drank that morning when you skipped Physics class.

Correct, my fist is not ballistic, only traveling at about 25 mph. However that doesn't answer the question that I asked.
"Why does my fist do so much more damage than the camera?

Also, he's ignoring the recent event above in which a person was in fact killed when struck by a falling tape-measure only slightly heavier than a GoPro with a suction mount.

I'll give you the shape similarity. However you left out 2 very important details. The tape measure weighed over a pound, substantially more than 3-6 oz. But you add in the mount, ok fine its half the weight. But now the shape becomes highly irregular, and affects the force even more in my favor.

The most important piece of info is the word "ricochet" in that story.
You start spinning an item, that adds speed dynamics in a big way.
You cant just leave facts out because you feel like it.

Why don't you guys get together, find a physics professor that will humor you and test it for yourself.

I'll be watching my mailbox for a signed, I'm sorry card.



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[Silvaire]

Correct, my fist is not ballistic, only traveling at about 25 mph. However that doesn't answer the question that I asked.
"Why does my fist do so much more damage than the camera?

"Ballistic" has nothing to do with speed, it has to do with a free flying object, which your fist is not. Your fist, as I already pointed out, is being propelled by the contraction of your arm muscles fueled by burning calories from the Rock Stars you drank that morning. The camera has only the finite kinetic energy of it's free fall which, as has also already been pointed out, is enough to kill someone. Your fist has more than kinetic energy, it's not going to stop based simply on its mass and the mass of whatever it collides with.

 

[acrophile]

However you left out 2 very important details. The tape measure weighed over a pound, substantially more than 3-6 oz. But you add in the mount, ok fine it[']s half the weight.

The article did not say the tape measure weighed over a pound. And I did not omit any important details, especially not that one. I accurately cited the reported weight, and also the actual weight of a Go Pro plus suction mount (that I measured myself).

The most important piece of info is the word "ricochet" in that story.
You start spinning an item, that adds speed dynamics in a big way.

Richocheting adds no energy to a falling object. If anything, depending on how inelastic the collision is, the ricochet reduces the object's kinetic energy. It may also transform some linear kinetic energy into rotational kinetic energy (or vice versa). But the total kinetic energy does not increase.

 

[StinkBug]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liIlW-ovx0Y

Maybe if it was an african swallow.