Wingtip mounted camera

My RV-7 passed the 100 hrs mark during this flight, thought it would be nice to share. The plane is in paint shop now, I will be grounded for about 4 weeks.

https://youtu.be/AqQzv9oJovI

Shawn, Look at the flexing in your wing's skin. Actually, just look at the reflection of your HS. After a couple of million times, is that OK?

Many RVs have that

Donaziza,

Good observation. Actually, the wing skin deflection got my attention when I first looked at the video, and made me worried. Then I searched youtube and watched almost all the videos shot by a wingtip camera on a RV. Most of them show some deflection when the light and angle are right. Less reflective paint finish seems to make the deflection disappear (to the eyes). Normally, the skin is lightly stressed, it will take quite a while to fatigue. Only time will tell, but regular inspection is definitely needed.

Anyone observed any cracks on wing skin? at what flying hours?

Edit: Some other youtube videos showing similar deflection

https://youtu.be/hqjQ5uBZRxA?list=FLE8lw9eBidQ4vQXP3Br9XfQ
https://youtu.be/k05k3Rpvs3Y?list=FLE8lw9eBidQ4vQXP3Br9XfQ
https://youtu.be/y3A9EGYl1mw?list=FLE8lw9eBidQ4vQXP3Br9XfQ
https://youtu.be/xtCibxYtQ3k?list=FLE8lw9eBidQ4vQXP3Br9XfQ
https://youtu.be/BDjuI3p1XBs?list=FLE8lw9eBidQ4vQXP3Br9XfQ

jello effect?

I'd bet it's not true flexing, just the common jello effect of these cams.
not sure how to prove or disprove that....but something to consider.
try pointing the cam right at the tail, I'll be the 'jiggle' appears elsewhere in the frame.
or beef up the mount to make more solid.

I'd agree that this is likely jello effect (also called "wobble" or "rolling shutter") rather than actual airframe movement. Its hard to eliminate this effect completely unless you mount the camera very rigidly to the airplane. I think the problem is if there is any flexibility at all in the mount the camera tends to flop back and forth, amplifying airframe vibration. I was having this problem with a GoPro camera mounted under the wing for air-to-ground video; you could see the ground "wobble". The problem went away when I devised a mount with zero flexibility.

If you hold your camera against the windscreen you will see the same jello effect. I have heard there are filters to alleviate this problem. With my RV10 it is airframe vibration not camera mount flexing.

It only takes a slight amount of flex to cause the jello effect. For example the GoPro enclosure has plastic mounting tabs that seem very solid, but do flex a little. In my case this alone was enough to cause jello. I devised a more solid mount using an aftermarket aluminum frame (pictured below) and the jello went away.

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