We live\u00a0\u00a0 in a time period where people do things, record them, then post them for the\u00a0\u00a0 entire worldwide online community to view. Do a quick search on YouTube and you\u00a0\u00a0 see that people have already been attaching cameras to the outside of aircraft.\u00a0\u00a0 Unfortunately they have been taking large risks with their lives, the lives of\u00a0\u00a0 people on the ground, and violating numerous FARs in the process.<\/p>\n
Part of\u00a0\u00a0 what got us going on this project was to provide people with a safe, legal way\u00a0\u00a0 to create high quality videos, where no one\u2019s life is at risk, and no one has to\u00a0\u00a0 worry about losing their right to fly. We want video to be as commonplace and\u00a0\u00a0 useful as a GPS.<\/p>\n
1)Camera system could impact aerodynamics of the\u00a0\u00a0 aircraft, potentially making it unstable<\/p>\n
We all\u00a0\u00a0 have a lot of faith in our aircraft: for many of us they have taken us through\u00a0\u00a0 turbulence, ice and our own awkward maneuvers for years. We know them to be\u00a0\u00a0 strong and stable, and what can the harm be to mounting a small thing out there\u00a0\u00a0 where it will make a great picture? One thing I have learned from this project\u00a0\u00a0 is that every inch of a certified aircraft has been thought over, examined, and\u00a0\u00a0 refined, and making a change without formal studies raises your risk level sky\u00a0\u00a0 high (pun intended). Don\u2019t believe it? Try reading any of the write-ups of the\u00a0\u00a0 NASA Stall\/Spin tests conducted in the 70\u2019s and 80\u2019s on light general aviation\u00a0\u00a0 aircraft: they found that very minor modifications could turn a docile aircraft\u00a0\u00a0 into one prone to unrecoverable flat spins (check out \u201cStall\/Spin Awareness\u201d by\u00a0\u00a0 Rich Stowell). A seemingly random disruption of airflow can have fatal\u00a0\u00a0 consequences, and great jeopardy comes from disrupting the airflow over a\u00a0\u00a0 control surface, or even worse, mounting a camera on a balanced control surface,\u00a0\u00a0 either of which can invite flutter. Remember the A300 whose rudder came apart\u00a0\u00a0 from flutter shortly in 2001? Do you want to risk that?<\/p>\n
2)Camera system could depart aircraft and damage\u00a0\u00a0 aircraft<\/p>\n
What if\u00a0\u00a0 you mount a camera using something like a suction cup, and it comes loose in\u00a0\u00a0 flight and jams an elevator or rudder?<\/p>\n
3)Camera system could fall off aircraft and hurt\u00a0\u00a0 someone on the ground<\/p>\n
What if\u00a0\u00a0 you fly over a populated area with a tenuously mounted camera and it comes loose\u00a0\u00a0 and hits someone? Small and light as they might be, at terminal velocity you are\u00a0\u00a0 putting someone\u2019s life in danger.<\/p>\n
4)Violation of the FARs could result in enforcement\u00a0\u00a0 actions<\/p>\n
Is any\u00a0\u00a0 of this worth losing your pilot\u2019s certificate over? I didn\u2019t want to lose mine,\u00a0\u00a0 but I did want to shoot video, hence this project!<\/p>\n
Think I\u00a0\u00a0 am making any of this up? Do a web search, or look on YouTube. Here\u2019s the kind\u00a0\u00a0 of thing you will find, including people showing off their tail numbers while\u00a0\u00a0 flying over metropolitan areas with cameras mounted outside on a suction cup,\u00a0\u00a0 and one person taking off into 0\/0 conditions with a camera mounted on a\u00a0\u00a0 balanced rudder: if they got airborne and then encountered flutter, what would\u00a0\u00a0 their options be?<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=bI_a5R1Ff-o<\/a><\/p>\n Internet post on videographer\u2019s site:<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026there\u00a0\u00a0 are times and mounting conditions that require custom designed mounts or just\u00a0\u00a0 plain \u2018ol duct tape. A lot of the time I will carve a piece of foam to match the\u00a0\u00a0 surface contour, notch out a spot for the camera, then tape the whole thing\u00a0\u00a0 neatly. I have done this on the outside of jets and aerobatic planes hundreds of\u00a0\u00a0 times.\u201d<\/p>\n Quote\u00a0\u00a0 from Amazon.com:<\/p>\n \u201cI used\u00a0\u00a0 this GoPro base to film and take pictures with my GoPro camera while flying my\u00a0\u00a0 airplane, it is great, and the base attached very strong to the under wing of my\u00a0\u00a0 aircraft. Great product!\u201d<\/p>\n Suction\u00a0\u00a0 cups used on YouTube.com:<\/p>\n