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Model aircraft and aerial photography
Model aircraft aerial photography pictures and details.
Outlined below is my attempt at this interesting facet of model aircraft flying.
A photo of a roundabout.
Must be Milton Keynes.
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Houses from an estate near Wavendon.
Note the haze limiting the visibility to the right.
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Aerial photography using radio control model aircraft, both stills and video is a large and rewarding subject.
This section aims to show some of what can be done, and hopefully
will give some inspiration to model aircraft pilots thinking about giving it a try.
Great expenditure is not required for taking pictures from a model aircraft, though if you want
to spend money then the sky IS the limit.
My own effort merely consisted of a £10 motorised compact camera with a servo taped
to the case, the horn of which was used so it acted as a cam on the camera button. This setup was mounted inside the model's fuselarge positioned so as to look out of a hole I
cut in the side. Judge for yourself what the results were like.
If you think they are no good then my excuse is, ermm... the scanner, yeah that will do. Seriously the originals photos do look better.
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The model aircraft I used for taking these pictures
my own design 72" span 10cc Merco power
5 channel radio control
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Balsa,Ply construction
weighs about 4.5 lb dry (10oz tank)
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On this picture you can see part of the
open university complex at right.
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I managed to capture a picture of my house with this shot
Its that pixel just there by the aileron, honest.
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A few notes of what I found may be useful. Firstly having the camera pointing to the side
seems to work well, you can gently bank the aircraft towards the area you want to photograph
and this appears to minimise blur, and gives you more ground than sky in the frame. If the model aircraft is
powered by an I.C. engine then obviously this means putting it on the opposite side to the exhaust. With my
installation I was expecting some problems with camera shake due to the motor causing vibration, but
this problem never materialised, shots were taken at all sorts of throttle settings with no problems.
The engine is mounted on the aircraft with a Glass filled Nylon SLEC radial mount, itself directly bolted to a ply firewall.
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One of my favourite shots.
Here you've got both of the Willen lakes.
Note the variation in the colour between the two lakes.
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Taken while inverted.
That's the newly built theatre to the left, it was under construction at the time this photo was taken.
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What I haven't tried yet is mounting the camera so that it points directly forward.
I believe this would give very good results and it would be easy to aim the aircraft at your subject. The only problem I can envisage with this is keeping muck of the lens. I wouldn't want the hassle of making a scrolling screen like you see on a F1 car cam.
Some modellers have taken this area of modelaircraft flying much further. Using elaborate mountings, Camcorders,
CCD cameras with a radio link to a ground based TV, Helicopters etc.
If you have tried your hand at model aircaft aerial photography, and you would like a slice of
fame, then you are welcome to send me details of what you did. A writen article of some sort
and say between 5 and 10 of your aerial shots will be enough. With your help this page could get real interesting.
For some more aerial photography pictures from this model aircraft take a look at the next couple of pages.
Model aircraft email.
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