Super Cub with on-board video over Provo
I strapped my Kodak EasyShare C340 camera to the side of my HobbyZone Super Cub today and flew over Grandview Park in Provo, Utah. You can skip the first 1.5 minutes or so. I was taping the camera to the plane during that time. This video features two loops and one death spiral that almost caused the ground to come up and crash into my plane. I flew at about 5:00pm, so the sun causes lots of glare. This was my first successful attempt at aerial video, so enjoy:
13 comments to “Super Cub with on-board video over Provo”
Pretty cool. What did you use to record the video? Can it be mounted pointing forward?
The video comes from an $80 digital camera that happens to do video, the Kodak EasyShare C340, as I mentioned in the writeup. It is mounted under the wing with blue tape. I’ve found that side-views often look better than downward or forward pointing videos, but I would like to mount the camera front-facing somehow, just for kicks. I’m still not sure how to do that without putting the camera at risk and/or interrupting the air flow too drastically. You can see a picture of my plane here:
http://hobbyzone.com/rc_planes_hobbyzone_super_cub.htm
Holy camera angles, Batman!
Cool though. :D
Dave..
Well you done it again..!! The flying video was my end result plan for getting back into RC’s again. Just looked like it would be fun. Went and looked up your Kodax camera model and was a little surprised about the size of it..!! If you got airborne with that package strapped on the SIDE of the Cub… that tells me this bird has more than enough power for a little ol’ wireless pinhole cam I had thoughts of trying to use. I would have thought with your camera body on the outside/lower of the left wing… your aerodynamics would have gone out the window..!! You are much braver than I would have been. That would have had me nervous wreck in about a NY minute. But then I vibrate at about 9 Grand most of the time.
No matter… that was very enjoyable watching your video a few dozen times. I figure the “ground loop” landing was caused by the weight of the camera anyway. :)
Tried to find some DevCon epoxy at Wally World today and didn’t find it.
Trying to get all the “extras” rounded up by the time my Cub hits the front door. Still having the dickens finding 10X8 props for spares. Any online resources you know about…??
-Stan in OKC
Dave….
To preface this… my main objective was to capture some airborne video just for the heck of it…. using a Super Cub. Just looked like the aircraft to do what I wanted. Checked out your camera model (GREAT shots BTW…!)… but the weight factor had me concerned. Kept at it… and finally ran across this little jewel.
By accident… walked into a Hobby shop in OKC and got talking with the owner (good guy..!!)… and told him my main objective… airborne video. He reached under the counter and pulled out a package with the name of… ” Digital Video 5 in 1″. A little costly… being a “across the counter” purchase… but not overly bad considering I was pricing 2.4 Gig wireless video systems for the last two weeks at about the same cost. As I’m typing this… holding the camera in my palm… and if I close my fist… I can hide the entire package…!
This puppy weighs it about 24 Grams… does, not only, video but audio as well… not counting still shots, and WebCam for a bonus…. etc. Got some URL’s for you to look over if interested. NOTE… these apparently are not in the USA anywhere you look… most are in Europe (Germany). The name seems to be… ” AirAce FlyCamOne”… that seems to come with a “mounting bracket” and some kind of “mirror” system…??? It is priced at 49,95 Euro….??? Mine did NOT come with a “mounting bracket”or “mirror system”… but a little Velcro can take care of that.
To see the camera in action… from the side of a Super CUb… all done by the Son of the Hobby Shop owner (from where I bought mine in OKC)… head to Google… click “Video”… type in… “WoodwardsOKC” and see the results yourself. He has 4 or 5 videos going and… while not up to your shots (camera wise)… not too bad over all. Good enough for me.
As far as seeing the camera package… go to Google… and type in the name “AirAce FlyCamOne”… not to many listings (none in USA)… but can at least see it in service with several different airframes and see what the “package” looks like.
Stan in OKC
That’s pretty great video. I would also recommend you search Google for “CVS camera hack” and look into the $20 CVS digital video camera (with audio too). The quality is about the same as the videos from Woodwards.
Thanks for the comment! Can’t wait to see your own video.
Apparently the OKC CVS stores (new to our area) are not stocking the one-time digital video cameras. Tried the two stores I know about… and just not there. They have every stillshot camera under the sun… but no one-time DV cameras. The hack looks like even I could do it… so the hunt is still on.
Update: The mini-DVR camera mentioned in my earlier post… has a little trick that other potential buyers need to be aware of. (1) All of a sudden it quit taking still-shots and refused to go into video record mode. Reason: There must be a iris sensor (small hole below camera lens) that “reads” ambient light. I have a DARK house at night. If there is not enough light… it refuses to take (or go into the respective modes) of photos/video that will come out (almost) total black. This camera needs a LOT of light to turn out decent photos/video.
(2) DO NOT try to format the (in my case) a 1 Gig SD card I had in the cam while the cam was hooked to the USB port. This cam uses the USB to download and also charge itself. Absolutely thought I had fried the 1 Gig card. Fortunately… was able to save the card by putting it into my multi-card reader hub and formatting it back into life again.
BTW… Wally World (Walmart) is selling an Impact (?) 1 Gig SD card for aroung 19.00 and change. I paid over 40.00 for a 1 Gig Lexar about a year ago from Sams.
Maybe this info will be handy for somebody.
Stan – OKC
Thanks for the good info. Maybe the days of the CVS camera hack are over. I found an auction on eBay for the proper cable to download the video, but haven’t seen any cameras. Apparently Target may carry them too. Here’s the auction link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/CVS-Rite-Aid-Camcorder-Camera-Download-Cable_W0QQitemZ140083796362QQihZ004QQcategoryZ88664QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
On the subject of memory cards, I paid around $40 for my 512 Meg (1/2 Gig) SD card about 1.5 years ago. The prices have really come down. $19.00 seems like a steal!
–Dave
Oh, look. Here’s an eBay auction with the camera:
http://cgi.ebay.com/CVS-Digital-Camcor-er-Camera-Download-Cable-Case_W0QQitemZ260086229050QQihZ016QQcategoryZ88664QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Since we touched on the prices of SD 1 Gig cards earlier… ran across this last night. Talk about the prices coming down… and these guys are saying it’s free shipping as well.
http://www.meritline.com/pqi-secure-digital-sd-card-1gb.html
They have three brands and all are 10.00 bucks or less. Since I use them in my Kodax digital stillshot and both my Canon and Panasonic Mini DV cams… think I’ll grab a couple of spares…. just in case.
I have same plane and would like info on attaching camera. Is a counterbalance required? Plea e post or send me a few pics of how you are setting it up. I am boing toCVS hacked camera.
thanks;
cg
Wondering.. I have the Super Cub with CVS-cam. Did you have to counter-balance the cub ? How bad did it alter the flying?
Is the weight added to one side to much off balance?
Post some pics of setup if you have any.
Great BLOG>>
PM me if it would be easier.
CG
With my heavy camera, it flew very poorly. It was tail heavy so I was constantly tip stalling. Not good, especially if you don’t have ailerons. With a camera as light as the CVS camera, you should not have a problem at all, as long as you mount it somewhere close to the wing. No counter-balancing should be necessary at all.