Posted by nobody special on 10/19/06 20:29

I have flown a lipstick camera on a J-3's struts, for a view looking
back into the cockpit as well as one looking back towards the tail.
Under the direct inspection of an FAA safety inspection official and a
CFI, we completely encased the cable in gaffer tape around the struts
and it held together okay. The camera was fitted with a small mounting
plate and square of foam rubber, then taped up with many wraps of
gaffer tape, making sure there was no way cable could get into the
aileron gaps or foul the cables and pushrods in the cabin.
Takeoff vibration was modest, but smoothed once airborne. You are
right thinking you could do this kind of shoot using them, as they are
easier to mount and less draggy and heavy. But few lipsticks come with
a useful zoom. Mine came with three interchangeable lenses, a fisheye,
a normal, and a mild telephoto, and that was it. I once mounted this
type onto the side of a nightsun on a jetranger, giving us pan and
tilt remote control from the pilot's stick-mounted hat switch. The
cable was run thru a built-in weep hole/draining port in the underside
of the canopy, very slick and goof-proof. The panning motion was not
smooth enough to broadcast, but was handy for relative positioning and
framing up a shot.

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