Training Flight Video R-22

[swisster]

I was playing around with my GoPro POV Camera during my training flight last Friday.

 

 

Enjoy,

 

Swisster

[Goldy]

I was playing around with my GoPro POV Camera during my training flight last Friday.

 

 

Enjoy,

 

Swisster

 

Nice, time to challenge yourself a bit more. Keep it on the centerline, and land with that stripe right down the middle. Also pick a spot so you are forced to fly and stop in one place and not just land wherever the bird happens to run out of airspeed.

 

Nothing gains respect like a really soft landing, so work on flying it all the way to the ground..no plopping allowed!

 

Oh...sorry, just gave you comments and two flight lessons!

 

Have fun, dont fly and dive in the same day.

 

Goldy

[swisster]

Nice, time to challenge yourself a bit more. Keep it on the centerline, and land with that stripe right down the middle. Also pick a spot so you are forced to fly and stop in one place and not just land wherever the bird happens to run out of airspeed.

 

Nothing gains respect like a really soft landing, so work on flying it all the way to the ground..no plopping allowed!

 

Oh...sorry, just gave you comments and two flight lessons!

 

Have fun, dont fly and dive in the same day.

 

Goldy

 

 

Goldy,

 

Thanks for the pointers. I still have so much to learn, but I love every minute of it. I love the challenge and I love seeing the progress.

 

I can follow a line ;-)

 

Yep, very well aware about not diving and flying on the same day.

 

cheers,

 

Swisster

[Eggbeater]

What is your instructor wearing instead of a headset?

[swisster]

What is your instructor wearing instead of a headset?

 

I believe it is a Clarity Aloft headset.

[nehpilot]

Just curious what settings you used on the GoPro and what did you use to mount it inside the helicopter? Great video by the way

[SBuzzkill]

Ohhh man PWT! I used to work at Avian and all of my 72 hours of fixed wing time was flown in their airplanes. I was working there when Peninsula first started up. I missed catching a flight on a B17 because I was down at the hangar fueling one of their R22s Hah!

Edited November 2, 2010 by SBuzzkill

[swisster]

I run the GoPro camera at 720p at 30 fps.

With the 720p, I will get the widest angle of view, 170 degrees.

 

I utilize the headset hook in the R22, and in the attachment you can see my "very sophisticated" engineered mount for the GoPro Camera. It is a piece of luan wood with a one inch whole that I lined with a piece of weather stripping.

With a clip I hold that mount in place so it does not slide forward during flight (picture was taken on my closet door, and not in the helicopter )

 

To further reduce the vibration, I am planning on adding some thick weather stripping on the back of that piece of luan, it might help.

 

cheers,

Swisster

 

[swisster]

I put my GoPro Camera back to work yesterday.

The light snow added to the visual variety

 

 

 

Enjoy,

 

Swisster

[gary-mike]

I want a go pro! I told santa but he was too broke this year.

 

I think this is a very valuable tool. Great for debreif and self critique. How did you get the sound incorporated,is there a "Y" cord adapter available for it?

 

Nice video's and congrats on the opportunity and the progress!

[crashed_05]

Great video. How'd you get the radio/ics on the audio? That was the only thing holding me back from getting a GoPro.

 

Just some FYI...I don't know if your instructor went over it with you but we use a "PAWOTFEEL" checklist for our high recon on confined areas. It stands for:

Power

Altitude

Wind/wires

Obstacles

Terrain/turbulence

Forced landing areas

Entry

Exit

Land!

 

Its just an easier way of remembering everything you wanna look for before shooting your approach.

 

Good job though. That was great for your first off airport landing.

[edspilot]

swisster:

 

I also have been testibg locations and mounts for my Christmas gift, the GoPro camera.

 

I have mounted:

 

1)inside on the windshield w/suction cup

 

2)inside attached to the center post between the left & right windshield w/RAM mount

 

3) outside attached to the front tie-down w/RAM mount

 

 

I'll build and try out your mount on the center headset hook.

 

You can see my results on my you tube channel:

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/hoverpix

 

 

Overall, I like the center post mount and the tie-down mounts best for clairity and having the least vibration. Your mount does allow for the viewing of the control imputs and the like, which I like.

 

 

Be safe,

 

edspilot

[swisster]

Great video. How'd you get the radio/ics on the audio? That was the only thing holding me back from getting a GoPro.

 

Just some FYI...I don't know if your instructor went over it with you but we use a "PAWOTFEEL" checklist for our high recon on confined areas. It stands for:

Power

Altitude

Wind/wires

Obstacles

Terrain/turbulence

Forced landing areas

Entry

Exit

Land!

 

Its just an easier way of remembering everything you wanna look for before shooting your approach.

 

Good job though. That was great for your first off airport landing.

 

Here is the info about the audio input:

 

Well, the idea to modify the GoPro camera with an audio input is not from me, I have to give credit to DP from Heliops Colorado. I took his advice and gave it a shot. It worked.

Here is a step-by-step description so you also can add that audio input.

 

1. If you don’t have experience soldering, find someone who can perform some “neuro-soldering”, The wires are super fine and thin, almost feels like a thick hair. So make sure who ever solders the wires is comfortable working with that thin stuff.

 

2. I bought at Radio Shack, the Radio Shack brand lavaliere microphone, the thinnest speaker wire they had, and a female mono mini plug.

 

3. To open up your GoPro camera, remove the battery and with a little screwdriver loosen the four screws. It feels like the screws do not want to come out all the way, but try to take them out, because it is very easy to loose them, and I almost lost one screw. I ended up finding it by the drill press among other shavings. – When you have the screws loose or out, pull the camera apart slowly, you will find that the beeper speaker and the on board microphone have designated slots in the back half of the camera. You can slide the speaker and microphone out of their secure position and then sort of open up the camera looking like a “V”. See the attached picture. I did not mess with Bus and the connection.

 

4. Next up I drilled a very small pilot hole behind the hole for the onboard microphone (I just voided the warranty of the camera…ahh well.), again you can see the position in the attached picture. Then I used a bit bigger drill to make the hole small enough that it is a very snug fit to pull the speaker wire through the hole.

 

5. Decide on a good wire length. I choose maybe a half a foot, so I have some extra. Then my friend, yes the one who can solder, soldered the female mini mono plug at the end of the speaker wire.

 

6. Now comes the fun part, cutting out the onboard microphone from the GoPro camera, snip and done. I cut the red and black wire in the middle, just in case on some point I want to re-attach that on board mic again. So, now I have two very thin wires coming from the print, and a small button microphone with two little wires sticking out. I put the on board mic in a little plastic bag and put it with all my go pro attachments and stuff.

 

7. Next up, my friend prepped the wires for soldering. It sure is a very delicate matter, but it did not seem complicated to him to solder the wires on. After the cool of period we insulated the soldered wires with a dab of epoxy, so the wires would not short each other out in case they touch accidentally. Let the epoxy cure.

 

8. While the epoxy dried, I switched out the backs of the GoPro housing, the one they recommend for better audio with the two openings in the back. Perfect size to fit the cable and female mini Plug through.

 

9. I adjusted the cable length, so I do have a bit slack inside the camera, in case accidental pulling on the cable would occur, but there is not much room inside the cam. So, just take a good look how much you can leave in there and adjust accordingly.

 

10. Put the onboard speaker back in its place, carefully close up the camera and put the screws back. Don’t over tighten the screws. It is just a plastic housing. And now go test your camera! Good luck. It works great for me.

 

 

I put the lavaliere mic head in my headset, make sure you turn the little pre amp thingy to on, plug the mic in, and it works great.

 

Sorry about the picture quality, I took the pic with my cell phone.

 

 

Cheers,

Swisster

[crashed_05]

Thanks for the info. I talked to a rep from GoPro and they said their engineers are working on a version with an external audio function. I don't know how long it'll take them. I'm guessing there isn't a high demand for it.

[IFLY]

Is there room to put a mini plug where you drilled for the wire?

 

Jerry

[swisster]

Is there room to put a mini plug where you drilled for the wire?

 

Jerry

 

Jerry,

There is no room inside the camera to mount the mini plug, even with the wire you have to take a good look do see where the best place is to drill the hole so the wire does not interfere with other stuff. But it is very doable, I found that the best place is just a bit behind the opening for the onboard mic.

 

crashed_05

I have communicated several times with the GoPro company and inquired about an audio input posiblity, and they always told me that the engineers are working on it. And that was 6 month ago. I just couldn´t wait, because my training is happening now. So I decided to make the modification.

 

Another idea is to buy the GoPro HD 960, (which won´t do 1080p or 720p at 60fps), but only costs $179. So with the mic and wires and plug it is possible to make it happen around 200 bucks. So one does not have to feel so bad to drill a hole in a nearly 300 Dollar camera.

 

I have played around with all the diferent settings, and for me the 720p at 30fps works the best. Sadly the GoPro HD 960 for $179

was not available yet when I bought mine. If I were to buy one right now, the $179 version would be sufficent. But it is no big deal that I have the full version, I also use it for work since I work in video production.

 

Who ever is following the GoPro cameras, they are coming out with a 3D version, in other words it is a double housing that accomodates two cameras which can be linked together, and it does play on the new 3D TVs. This could add a whole new dimension to reviewing training flights.

 

http://www.goprocamera.com/ourheros

 

scroll down a bit on the page linked above and you will see a pic and some links to news clips about the 3D version that is about to come out.

 

Swisster

[crashed_05]

You just blew my mind with the 3D GoPro