the
concept
The company Derick works for is a mid-size architectural office, undertaking work for
public and private schools, together with some religious and
residential work. As an architect, Derick felt that there could
be some value in being able to undertake aerial photography
around their project sites for various reasons and applications.
Clearly, his idea appealed, and he now finds himself being paid
to fly his models - lots of fun, but very challenging,
especially when it's windy!the
models
Two models are used in the main
for taking the aerial shots. Both are electric-powered, which
must help cut down on vibration. Derick prefers to hand-launch
both planes, although the Wingo described below can ROG with the
camera mounted.  Firstly,
then, there's this Park
Flyers Wingo, with pusher prop. This lighter model,
weighing 22 oz., has a wingspan of 42" and is
used for small flying areas and calm days. The power comes from a
Speed 400 6V motor driving a 9-5 prop though a 1:2·33 gearbox
from an 8-cell 1600 mAh battery pack.
 The
second model is this twin-engined Multiplex Twinstar. This
plane is used for windy days and open fields and has a wingspan of
56" and weighs 49·4 ozs. It is powered by two Speed 400 6V direct drive motors
from an 8-cell 1600 mAh battery pack. It's nice to have the
option of aileron with flaps on this model, helping to reduce
speed on landings on calmer days.
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the
cameras
Camera
gear consists of one Canon Elf LT APS (Advantix system film) and
an Olympus Stylus Epic 80 using standard 35mm film.  The
cameras are strapped to the models in a very basic fashion and
the shutter release is activated by the simple means of
lashing a servo to the
camera, with the servo arm bearing down on the shutter
button, triggered from a spare channel. This makes each camera
unit self-contained and transferable. Incredibly
straightforward, but Derick's results show that it works very well.
The Wingo usually carries the Canon camera, but on windy days it
flies better with the heavier Olympus. The Twinstar can handle
either camera. Derick is
also taking aerial video using a mini 1" square video camera and a transmitter with a 900 MHz receiver.
the results
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| Derick
has obtained some impressive results from his work which has
also resulted in a rather unusual spin-off. One of his
company's clients, Acton Schools, liked what he was
doing and they have purchased five planes, two
cameras and one video camera for a science and
technology class, and Derick is now teaching the 7th and
8th grades how to fly and to take aerial pictures. It is
estimated that something over 2,500 aerial pictures have
been taken to date.
Shown to
the right are shots of a couple of building projects, a
lake nearby to one of them, and the CRRC flying field.
Thanks
to OMR-architects for use of some of the photos
shown.
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