Mounting a GoPro on an RV-8

Jay Honeck

Jay Honeck

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Jay Honeck
After some noodling around on the Van's Air Force site, here's what I came up with for my first attempt at mounting our new GoPro Hero3:

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Some guys use the standard motorcycle helmet mount, but that would only cover one screw hole, which would not be nearly as stable. The mounting platform I devised is broad enough to cover TWO wing tip attachment screws, giving it much more stability.

I drilled and countersunk for the screws, then band-sawed off the corners of the base to eliminate any lifting areas. It's stout.

I also added four thin stick-on rubber feet, giving it stability, and making it less likely to scratch that gorgeous red paint! :nono:

Here's another shot of it:

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Tomorrow is our first chance to test 'er out. Videos shall be forthcoming! :D
 
Geico266 said:
Nicely done!

We want to see a roll please. :lol:
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*sigh* Mary won't let me do rolls in this plane, until after our aerobatics lessons.

Which we've now cancelled THREE TIMES, due to various conflicts. Ugh.

I know, I know. I should just check my "man card" at the door, and have now ruined my "reckless reputation" with Dr. Bruce... :lol:
 
Jay Honeck said:
*sigh* Mary won't let me do rolls in this plane, until after our aerobatics lessons.

Which we've now cancelled THREE TIMES, due to various conflicts. Ugh.

I know, I know. I should just check my "man card" at the door, and have now ruined my "reckless reputation" with Dr. Bruce... :lol:
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:rofl:
 
Looks good. I've contemplated many different mounts on the Flybaby but haven't came up with something I like yet. Places that won't be looking through the prop are not easy to mount things on, since its wood and fabric. Ill come up with something I like eventually.
 
jesse said:
Looks good. I've contemplated many different mounts on the Flybaby but haven't came up with something I like yet. Places that won't be looking through the prop are not easy to mount things on, since its wood and fabric. Ill come up with something I like eventually.
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ND filter 1.0 and .6 should take care of most prop effects.


-VanDy
 
bbchien said:
Jay you NEED to join Dagger flight.
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Man, you've got a helluva stiffie for Dagger flight. Wasn't that the one where the Velocity pilot continued his approach and landing with an RV in plain site on the runway ahead of him? If not, then my apologies for the confusion.

Zoom climb time. :rockon:
 
RoscoeT said:
Man, you've got a helluva stiffie for Dagger flight. Wasn't that the one where the Velocity pilot continued his approach and landing with an RV in plain site on the runway ahead of him? If not, then my apologies for the confusion.

Zoom climb time. :rockon:
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I don't know what Dagger flight is, but -- considering the source of the information -- I presume this to be another insult?
 
jesse said:
Looks good. I've contemplated many different mounts on the Flybaby but haven't came up with something I like yet. Places that won't be looking through the prop are not easy to mount things on, since its wood and fabric. Ill come up with something I like eventually.
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Another option, for us, is to mount the camera in the hole where the tiedowns screw in, on the underside of the wing.

That should give me a great perspective of my new upper gear leg fairings, so I can monitor the RTV joints. :rofl: :lol:
 
Just remember Jay, camera on/off is maintenance and a log book entry.
 
At my last visit to MMAC at the TSI for an accident investigation course we had a presentation on several videos that were running while the plane crashed. Needless to say these videos, when recovered, went a long way in completing the accident investigation!

Ain't technology wonderful?
 
RotorAndWing said:
At my last visit to MMAC at the TSI for an accident investigation course we had a presentation on several videos that were running while the plane crashed. Needless to say these videos, when recovered, went a long way in completing the accident investigation!

Ain't technology wonderful?
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There's an engine failure on takeoff that is on YouTube right now, and is presented from THREE different GoPro angles. (It's the one where he inexplicably seems to aim for the big tree, and lives to tell about it.)

What amazes me most is how tough these little cameras are. Of course, for $400, they should be tough. They should also come with a back rub, and a blonde to mount it on the plane for me... :rolleyes:
 
Jay Honeck said:
But, but wait! I am turning the camera off by remote control using an app on my tablet. Do I need a logbook entry for that, too? :lol:
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No, just the actual installation of parts onto the aircraft.

"Installed GoPro camera to right wingtip using fabricated mount" would likely be sufficient.

Same for removal or relocation. But hey, you can do that now!
 
Skylane81E said:
No, just the actual installation of parts onto the aircraft.

"Installed GoPro camera to right wingtip using fabricated mount" would likely be sufficient.

Same for removal or relocation. But hey, you can do that now!
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Ah, but if it's removable, like a panel docked 496, is it really "installed"? :D
 
In which FSDO? In July the San Antonio told the avionics shop in Georgetown they couldn't use the Air-Gizmo docks because they were made from plastic.

Jay Honeck said:
Ah, but if it's removable, like a panel docked 496, is it really "installed"? :D
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All the ingredients are now present. RV8, zoom climb, talk of Vne, rolls and aerobatic lessons, now GoPro.
 
Well, the shop thought it was a bit strange since they've been doing it for years, but the man is the man. The guy at the booth at OSH later assured me that the paperwork was in order and they were universally approved so I told him he might need to make a phone call to SAT. Dunno what happened after that.

RotorAndWing said:
SAT FSDO? Uh, I'm not surprised.........:rolleyes:
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My RV-6 buddy mounted it in the same place (just using one of the wing tip screws) when we were at Oshkosh.

On the Navion, I use a roll bar mount on the step.
 
RoscoeT said:
Man, you've got a helluva stiffie for Dagger flight. Wasn't that the one where the Velocity pilot continued his approach and landing with an RV in plain site on the runway ahead of him? If not, then my apologies for the confusion.

Zoom climb time. :rockon:
Click to expand...
Real airmen would have understood that the Velocity guy didn't understand what a group OH break was, and the lead would have called the break off.

So now real airmen drive to public airports where these clowns are showboating. Yeah, you do have to take care of your brother. Or at least try.
 
Jay Honeck said:
Ah, but if it's removable, like a panel docked 496, is it really "installed"? :D
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Yes it, or at least the mount is installed. In your example the 496 isn't installed but the dock is. Basically if it needs a tool to install or remove it is "installed equipment" in this case because you used the tip mounting screws the mount is installed. Bolt it in to the tiedown ring hole and it too will be installed.

Also, have a good look at it in different flight regimes, just to make sure it isn't vibrating. I don't suspect it will, but if it does it can cause fatigue cracks of the surrounding structure fairly quickly. Easy to find out, just look right.
 
What's the reference for making a logbook entry for mounting and removing the camera?
 
Jay Honeck said:
What amazes me most is how tough these little cameras are. Of course, for $400, they should be tough. They should also come with a back rub, and a blonde to mount it on the plane for me... :rolleyes:
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Huh? I paid $600 just for the wifi adapter for a Nikon D2X....which was $5,000 new and couldn't do video!

GoPros are CHEAP, my friend.
 
RotorAndWing said:
At my last visit to MMAC at the TSI for an accident investigation course we had a presentation on several videos that were running while the plane crashed. Needless to say these videos, when recovered, went a long way in completing the accident investigation!

Ain't technology wonderful?
Click to expand...

No Kidding. The NTSB and the FAA must really love these things! They're like the "black box" for GA. They need to make them in florescent orange so they can be easily found after the fact.
 
Dav8or said:
No Kidding. The NTSB and the FAA must really love these things! They're like the "black box" for GA. They need to make them in florescent orange so they can be easily found after the fact.
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True. Several jokes during class alluding to such. :D
 
bbchien said:
Real airmen would have understood that the Velocity guy didn't understand what a group OH break was, and the lead would have called the break off.

So now real airmen drive to public airports where these clowns are showboating. Yeah, you do have to take care of your brother. Or at least try.
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They will fight you all the way.
 
LDJones said:
Huh? I paid $600 just for the wifi adapter for a Nikon D2X....which was $5,000 new and couldn't do video!

GoPros are CHEAP, my friend.
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That is all true, but for still pictures there is no way the GoPro is going to even be in the same league as a D2X or for that matter a D1. Furthermore I can slap a telephoto lens or a wide angle lens or a whatever on my D2Xs, or my D1 and take all sort of pictures. All I can do with by Hero2 or Hero3 is slap it on its mount and hope it picks something good up.

Both are interesting and cool devices, and both have their purposes. Now if I could figure out what to do with my collection of Nikonos V's and assorted lens, and strobes, I would be real happy.
 
Well, here is the world's most boring GoPro video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iYbl1lW6yQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I learned a lot, as always. Here's the short version of lessons learned:

1. There was no discernible impact on handling. No adverse yaw, no nuthin'. Very nice.

2. The camera remained rock solid at every speed.

3. The Cineform software that GoPro provides to edit these videos is awful.

4. If you're going to work with HD video, you better have time on your hands. Processing, converting, and editing this silly five minute video took a long time, on a brand, new, lightning fast PC.

5. Part of this was a result of the WiFi connection from the camera to our tablet failing five minutes into the flight. This meant we could not turn the GoPro off during boring parts, so I had to edit them out of enormous files, after the fact. Mary refused to go out on the wing to reboot the camera, so it simply recorded until the SD card was full. (Which is why there is no landing. It shut down before we arrived in Brenham, TX. I need a bigger SD card.)

6. Speaking of Mary, I had no idea how low she sat in the back cockpit. She looks like Kilroy back there, peeking over the wall! :D

All in all, it was a successful test. A few things I'd like to fix:

1. Gotta get rid of that prop effect! Anyone know the camera setting for that?

2. Gotta troubleshoot that WiFi connection.

3. Gotta find better software. I like Movie Maker for the final assembly, but I would like something that can edit the raw files, rather than having to convert them to mp4. That's what takes forever.

4. Gotta try mounting the GoPro looking different directions.

I think this thing will be very useful to use when flying with our aerobatics instructor. To be able to graphically see what we did wrong (or right) should be of assistance in the learning process.
 
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BTW: If you haven't bought a ChromeCast dongle for your HDTV yet, I can highly recommend one.

For $30 bucks, you can "cast" YouTube (and other stuff) from your tablet (or laptop) to your HDTV. This video, boring as it is, looks stunning on our ginormous HDTV.
 
Pretty plane!

I wanted to ask if that was a Vy climb, but I decided I'd better not.

:D
 
ChrisK said:
Pretty plane!

I wanted to ask if that was a Vy climb, but I decided I'd better not.

:D
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Actually, it was not. :D

That was our standard "keep the glareshield on the horizon" climb that allows maximum forward visibility.
 
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