In this page, I will describe some of the projects which I undertook over the years and which were endowed with either no success, partial success or complete success. I will be very glad if you would submit your comments on the contents of this and the other pages, especially if you have tried any of the projects mentioned. You can e-mail me at fzh@onvol.net.
The wish to capture the view from up there is undoubtedly one of the foremost dreams that a modeller must have. Since I always wished I was in the cockpit of a flying contraption, it follows that if I could take a glimpse of the ground from the air I would satisfy some of my dream. It all started about 12 years ago when I acquired one of the largest (and oldest) models on the island. It was an eleven foot span De Havilland Beaver which has its own quite interesting story(click here if you want to know more about this particular model). But sticking to the subject, I thought that this model, with its cavernous fuselage was ideal for aerial photography. The problems were various, however - the model was very old (about 30 years) and was powered by an OS 91 which managed to drag the monster around with just enough power. I daren't increase the power due to the delicate construction and so I had to look for a very light camera. Lack of finances prevented me from getting the ideal camera, so I started off with an aim and shoot 110 size cheap "tourist camera". The shutter was activated by a servo stuck to the camera itself, which was mounted on the left side of the cabin (instead of the cabin door) and point slightly forward and slightly downward. This position was settled upon after various other positions which did not produce satisfactory results. The results were quite poor, with no good definition, obviously due to the small size of the negative and the lens quality. But during the experiments, I learned a number of things - what was the best position of the camera, how to aim at a specific area when you are not behind the camera, and vibration problems associated with our engines. The next step was therefore to find a better camera and a better model which could take some more payload.
The model was acquired in a short time - it was the Big Lift - a German kit of a high winged large model used for towing model gliders. The kit was slightly modified, ailerons and flaps were fitted and the model rigged so that it could take a payload in the cockpit.
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The result, as can be seen from picture No 2, was a success. The camera used was not the perfect one - it was another aim and shoot camera with an automatic rewind (of course) with a finer lens and a 35mm negative. The vertical blurred line from the bottom to the top of the picture is the wing strut and the underside of the wing can also be seen. You can imagine I went through quite a number of rolls of film to get acquainted with the process - I have therefore lots of other pictures to show you, but lack of space on this home page prevents me from doing so.
Some comments on picture no 2 are also in order. The shot shows our flying site and clubhouse. As can be seen, it is part of a disused runway (the cross at the bottom right is the international sign) and ideal for our needs, if not on the smallish side, measuring about 660 feet in length and 400 ft in width. More information on our club and activities will be made available as soon as they are on hand. Just click here if you want to know more of our club and activities.
The novelty wore off after some time, and after attempting to get a close picture of myself shooting myself (the closest I could get still showed me a small speck - the camera must have wide angle lens) I dismantled the camera and used the plane for tofee dropping during our annual shows until...
My uultimate objective became a possibility when I bought a Sony camcorder whose size fitted the Big Lift cabin! It took some time to pluck up enough courage to put such an expensive item at the pity of my flying capabilities and I was aware that aerial video could be done with an onboard camera and transmitter and direct vision on the ground, but that meant considerable investment and since my objective was not commercially oriented I started working on the idea. Actually, it was simpler than a still camera because you did not need to actuate anything, just put the camera on prior to take off and there you are! Editing could be performed at will later.
At first ther results were not good at all. The camera was mounted on stiff rubber looking forward and downward at an angle, which again gave the best results. But the vibration of the engine ruined the shooting. You could actually see the effects as the engine was throttled down, and the picture steadied out and colourified. The first results actually gave me the impression that I had ruined the recording head of the camera. But everything was all right and I proceeded to mount the camera completely on softer rubber and the engine was also softmounted. The propellor and spinner were balanced and off I went again. This time the results were beautiful! Some training was needed especially when turning, but that was easily achieved. People seeing the video could not believe they were taken from a model.
Making Smoke trails
Another challenge which was always on my mind was making lovely thick coloured smoke from my models at will. Seeing the full size aerobatic teams, (Red Arrows, Freccie Tricolore, etc) whetted my appettite even more! Several articles on the subject could be found in model magazines, and I started experimenting - it was easier said than done!
First of all, smoking becomes more difficult if you have a small engine and conversely, the larger the engine, the better the possibilities. Secondly, four strokes have a higher exhaust temperatures than two strokes and so chances of getting a good smoke are better. With gasoline engines, it's even better! There are also accessories which can be bought, like the Du-Bro smoker, an after exhaust heater and so on. I tried all of them with very limited success on a Carl Goldberg Super Chipmunk with an OS 61 up front. I used crankcase pressure, and then a pressurised smoke tank and an after heater. I experimented with smoking fuels, but I was not satisfied at all. The Super Chipmunk met its end due to a radio failure and that stopped further experiments for a while.
Very lately, the bug bit me again and I acquired the simple pump, a product consisiting of a gearpump which is connected directly to one of your receiver channels. I rigged up the system in my Ultimate, which was powered by a Webra 120 and used the usual mixture of diesel oil and automatic transmission fluid (50:50). The silencer used was a J-Tec and was equipped with about 12 inches of 1/8 inch copper tubing wound inside. Flow control was by means of a simple line pincher. And it worked! Nice puff of white smoke on switch on, and a continuous trail of white smoke - not very dense but satisfactory. So the secret is a good flow, and a small silencer with as much wide diameter copper tubing inside.
The project is still in the perfection stage, because I intend to experiment with different brews of smoking fluid, and maybe coloured too!
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