RC Plane/Helicopter Experts - Need Your Help
 

I just ran across this video on YouTube, so I was thinking it would be really cool to get a plane or helicopter that could keep up with a rider and film them from above with a Go Pro camera. Ideally, you would be able to have enough control that you could sit in the boat with the controller and follow the rider with it, so it would have to be fast enough to keep up and maneuverable enough so that you wouldn't be ditching it in the weeds every two minutes. It just seems like you could get some very unique footage from something like that.

Unfortunately, I don't know anything about RC planes and helicopters, so I'm wondering which ones would fit the characteristics described above and would also be able to handle the weight of a Go Pro HD camera (5.9 ounces) hanging off the bottom. Any help would be appreciated.

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G's brother is big in to RC stuff, drop him a line

Go the chopper - made a quick vid a few weeks ago with a gopro:

http://www.vimeo.com/13572765

Have since figured out how to remove the vibrations and took some more video of some wakeskating on sunday. Came out pretty awesome - will put together a proper video soon..

You will probably need at least a 500 size helicopter, not so much just to lift the camera but more to have a smooth flight etc. Expect to throw about a grand at it plus the camera

You might want to try an R/C photography forum, the hobby has become very popular with digital cameras becoming smaller and lighter

however, i dont think that an R/C plane or helicopter for photography would be the best for shooting wakeboarding b/c they are unstable (shaky image) unless you went with one of the professional helicopter mounted systems which have camera stabilizers similar to the ones they use on full size helicopters.
Also it would be difficult to fly from the towboat bc you are always looking at it in reverse ( always flying towards you ) I guess you could reverse the controls on it though

I was out the other day and thinking if you towed a R/C size glider plane on a line from the tower or from a pylon extending above the tower with a mounted camera facing forward you could get some cool shots from behind the rider
The glider would have to be on floats or something and towed from a pylon above the tower so the ropes wouldnt interfere
Also you could have the glider with R/C controls like a R/C plane so you could steer to the strbrd and port side of the boat and control your altitude somewhat
- This would be a lot easier to control and you wouldnt have to worry about losing it
- If the rider fell as you slow down it would glide down and land on the water and be pulled around just like the handle

It also takes a good amount of practice to get good enough to fly a copter in that way. They dont make beginner copters that will keep up with a boat. It is easier to fly a plane but i dont know if it will be harder to hold the speed and if the rider crashed you would have to keep the plane circling while the copter you can land on the deck.I have both and suck at both but its a super fun hobby.

Helicopter wins hands down every time.

I will post some footage I shot recently soon to show how smooth you can get it, plus operate from a small area (a dock in our case).

In the mean time check this out. pretty smooth


http://vimeo.com/12281806

Holy crap jamie that video is sick!!!!!!

Why do you think a helicopter is better than an airplane? Would it make a difference if you were controlling it from the shore or the boat?

What that a Go Pro HD in the wakeskate video? It didn't look like a wide angle lens.

That last video you posted is AMAZING!! What a great way to use the helicopter footage!

Wow that video was awesome!! Does the camera have separate controls to move the camera and control the zoom???

Yeah, that looked like more than just a Go Pro attached to a helicopter. That looked like somebody was watching the footage remotely and controlling the framing. What's that helicopter and camera setup?

Never mind. After reading the comments I see that it's a 7D mounted to a Photoship One helicopter with someone viewing the footage and controlling the camera while another person few the heli. Waaaaay out of my price range, but pretty amazing stuff!!

Try these links for sticker shock;

http://www.draganfly.com/
http://www.draganfly.com/VU-WRAP920-...o-glasses.php5

http://www.draganfly.com/images/home/x6-hero-tall-a.jpg
http://www.rctoys.com/images/products/VU-WRAP920_1.jpg

Now, if you could add a GoPro to, say a sub $500 heli, then I'd be all over it too.

The last video is a bit more tech, its a Canon 7D attached to a gyro stabilized mount that is separately controlled from the ground. The helicopter hauling it is a Trex 700 which is a mid-large size RC helicopter. All electric power too which means the vibrations are kept under control.

My set up is a Trex 600, so slightly smaller and less payload but it will carry a 7D too if I had to. I just wouldn't feel that comfy flying all that gear plus the heli over water if anything went wrong!

Planes really dont get the same smooth footage, and are much harder to shoot from. I played around with a go pro and a foam plane but the footage is extremely jerky and there is no way that you can maneuver it as easily to shoot. I find myself flying sideways/backwards at the time to keep the rider in the frame.

The hardest part from me is building a mount that stops the camera vibrating.

http://rc.runryder.com/helicopter/f10p1/

Everything you'll ever want to know about R/C filming. Runryder is about the best R/C Helicopter forum out there.

sneak preview for ya, making a wake skate video of a friend of mine and got some cool aerial stuff on Sunday.

http://www.vimeo.com/13659427

that looks sweet man

Dave I have been playing RC planes for about 5 months now. IMO the better the Pilot you are the Better the footage. IMO you can have the best equipment but if you cant control the plane or chopper steady your footage is junk. Yes I have seen some great Heli footage. But for some one trying to start off I have no Idea how much you wanna or are willing to spend. I would start with a "Foamy" thats what they call foam planes. That's what I fly easy to fly and repair parts are cheep and can be found at most shop's

You can get a Good RC plane ready to fly (RTF) that's EVERYTHING you need to open the box and fly for under $300. You can get a cheep video light weight cam for under $100.

Here is a Crappy video we made. But it gives you a Idea what you can do. This was the First Video we ever made I had no Idea what we were doing and we just stuck on the plane and went for it the Gum Stick Cammera was a $45 one. Im a much better Pilot now and can fly the plane very straight and steady. This video is all up and down and not a good rep of what kind of footage you can get because IMO you can get way better footage than I got. I now have a plane with Floats so I can land on the water. We now use a Go Pro.
http://www.youtube.com/user/MaxxPain.../0/vQ7bfN9rrZM

We hand launch (throw) the plane and fly it fight right becide the boat as the boat is going 30 Mph Its a Awesome sight. It would work PERFICT to film some wakeboarding The plane can fly for over 10 min's with a cam.

BTW this video show's my TRUE pilot Skill's. TOP GUN got nothing on ME
http://www.youtube.com/user/MaxxPain.../1/HfBubJA15jU

Grant what plane with floats do you have. Ive been looking online for one that will land and take off from water but they all look kinda crappy.

Paul : I just got a set of floats that can be used on almost any plane with a bit of work. I was given a set of these one's
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2vxyMjjRX4
But they turned out to be pretty crappy. So I just went down to the local hobby store and bought a set of floats that you would install on a Hobby Zone Super Cub. Its about the same size and weight as my T-28 they cost like $30 and your good to go. I now have 3 Park Zone T 28's
1 for Home
1 for Lake
1 for Lake with Floats

I think the Super Cub would be a great Camera plane they fly slow and are easy to fly and are steady.
When loading a plane up with a camera and then adding floats it wouldn't hurt to up grade to a larger motor and or bigger prop to handle the extra weight and drag of the floats. The floats really took alot of the performance out of the plane. Im sure a bigger prop and motor would fix that but I just like to leave it stock so my run time is still over 10 min's

Really?

Have you considered a boat?
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not an expert but we,ve tried that.Our Rc plane was to fast,we bought a glider but we have not tried it yet,..the gopro HD is a good cam

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eklYB...eature=channel

After I saw this post I started doing a ton of research on the R/C helicopters, more specifically the Octakopter and HexaKopters... There are instructions online to build one. The Hexa/octa setups are apparently super stable. However, the best part about what I found out is you can set yourself up with a sweet computer board that allows for GPS positioning and way-points. So Imagine going out and setting up way-points along your favorite riding spot....all I gotta figure out is how you would sync up the speed of the boat with the helicopter....

I thought about a boat but i would be worried about trying to follow a boat with a huge wake. It seems like it would be a problem or it would jsut have to sit in the middle of the wake.

It depends on the size of the boat but something like the one in the video is fairly large and can easily keep up with the average wakeboard boat. Check out http://www.proboatmodels.com/Product...rodID=PRB2050T. This boat is 36 inches long and could handle the chop pretty well and is pretty reasonable in price(369.00).