Aerial Photography

Over the years, I have experimented with aerial photography. My first attempt was with a 35mm point and shoot camera lashed to the side of my old Sig Kadet Senior powered by an O.S. 48 Surpass. Glow means vibration which is nearly impossible to dampen, and there is the every present oily exhaust to coat the camera lens. The result was 27 photos, all but one blurred, which appears below. It is of the Kennebec Model Aviators Field in Sidney, Maine circa 1996:

This was expensive and not very productive. Then in 2002, along came a tiny digital camera powered by 2 AAA batteries that can take 1 megapixel picture and weighs about 2 ounces. It is the Aiptek Megacam.

I had mine modified by a fellow in California who installs a cable in the side that allows the camera to be directly fired by a channel on the R/C transmitter and powered off the electric motor power pack through the BEC. Up to 67 photos per flight are possible. The results are much, much better.

This photo was taken in December 2002 in back of Hodgkins School in Augusta. The camera is mounted on my trusty Sig Rascal Electric ARF.

This photo was taken in September 2003 at the Little league fields on Hospital Street in Augusta, Maine. The poles are a nuisance, but not a danger if you plan where you are flying.

This was taken the same day, but looks across the AMHI toward the State Capital complex. The State House can be seen in the far right hand side of the picture.

This is at the KVMA field in October 2003.

Another view of the field and the runway.

This view is looking east toward the Kennebec River and West River Road, also taken in October 2003.

Kodak V603 6 meg Camera

After a long break, I have now mounted a Kodak V603 on a Multiplex EasyStar. I will put more material
here in the future.

This is one of the first photos I took with this system on January 14, 2007.

More to come...

A NOTE TO VIEWERS

I have reduced the size of the digital photos on these pages from the original up to 3 megapixel sized images. Some of the images are still fairly large (480x360 pixels), and on dial up connections the richer pages will take around 2 minutes to load. I decided to sacrifice quick loading in favor of more detailed images.

These web pages are presented to show some of my electric R/C projects and construction details. I would be interested in your comments. Please contact me at matt.dyer@verizon.net.