Posted by Bill Farnsworth on 10/19/06 00:30

"Steve King" <steveSPAMBLOCK@stevekingSPAMBLOCK.net> wrote

<<<< A bunch of great stuff that I snipped>>>>
Routinely, we shot
> using a steady cam with the base bolted to the seat tracks and the
> camera pushed into the slip-stream out the "stretcher" doors on the
> port side of the plane. The Lance was certified to fly with those
> doors removed.
>
> Of course, John is right that a Tyler mount will allow unbelievable
> shots, and is the way to go if the budget is there.
>
> Steve King
> Licensed Pilot, Commercial, Multi-engine, Land, with Instrument
> Rating (CMEL-I)

Great info Steve.
Yes sir, a Tyler mount would do a fine job with the right lens or lens
support.
But a three hundred dollar budget wouldn't cover half the cost.

And they won't work on a fixed wing aircraft.......... unless a middle
mount is employed with a Hughes 500 base that is then attached to hard
points on the floor pan of an aircraft with (as you mentioned)
"stretcher doors". Then you are restricted to straight out, down and
back shots. And forward through the struts and prop.

Even on a helicopter, a Tyler Middle or Nose Mount really wouldn't do
the job at full zoom without a canon (or equiv) Optical Image
stabilizer or the Tyler Kenyon Gyros (Middle Mount).
The nose mount which is hard mounted on the nose of a Jet Ranger or an
A-Star, or Twinstar and is ONLY a tilt axis platform, is rated from
Tyler at around 13mm (in 2/3") without an image stabilizer.

The original poster said nothing about the format. And no mention was
made of being able to pan and tilt in the air.
As you said, Lip Stick cameras are the best way to go. Or even hi-res
color servallience cameras could do the job quite well if he is just
going to go with a consumer format camcorder.
Mounting small cube cameras with an assortment of lenses of various
focal lengths on strategic hard points could be a lot of fun.

Then again, he could always install a camera with Steady Shot on a pan
and tilt hot head and put it in a surveillance camera bubble. Then
mount it on the belly and give it a go. Could be some issues with
glare. But it just might do the job.

Bill F.
www.billfarnsworthvideo.com

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