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GoPro Video Landing the RV-8A

jjhoneck

Well Known Member
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIKy4WW8u64&feature=youtube_gdata_player

As always, best when viewed on a big HDTV with a high speed internet connection.

A few observations:

1. It's easy to see why it's best to land the -8A like a taildragger. Even a greaser like the second landing induces a fair amount of gear oscillation.

2. The GoPro Hero3 has a ridiculously short battery life when you use the WiFi remote controller -- only 15 - 20 minutes. It is better to just let it run, and you'll get 1 hour plus.

3. I was surprised to not experience any adverse yaw from having the GoPro mounted on the wingtip. I've done video with it atop and on the bottom of the wing, and could not detect any impact on handling.

We've had to cancel our aerobatics lessons FOUR times now, due to weather -- but sooner or later I will post some cool aerobatics videos. :D
 
Nice videos

Hi Jay, Very cool - thanks for posting. Those were greasers that's for sure, and it looked like the gear movement is exactly what I would have expected, probably a bit less. Would be interesting to see the same with the -8 model to compare.
 
Jay added a wooden stiffener to the nose gear leg. It looks to me like it is working nicely. :D

Nice video Jay, keep them coming!

Aerobatics with more than one person in the plane requires chutes. Especially, if you are shooting videos and posting them. ;)
 
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Brave man posting videos here!! But it does look nice.

Might look at a more rigid camera mount to prevent some of that "jello" effect. I use a custom three-point camera mount and no jello.

2012-11-03_10-30-23_637.jpg
 
Cool video. I like the perspective. How did you mount the cam? I have a pair of GP2's I might like to play around with. Thanks! Andy
 
Here's a picture of the mount I devised:

https://app.box.com/s/yifw45cb6bfkxcsq9kfp

Believe it or not, it's what the GoPro Hero3 comes mounted to in the box when you open it!

All I did was drill/countersink appropriate holes, so that it spans two of them, and trim off the corners to eliminate any lifting areas. It's stout.

It works great, top or bottom of the wing. There is less jelly effect on the top, for whatever reason. Here's one taken from atop the wing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXgjaR_IV9c&feature=youtube_gdata_player
 
Jay, it looks like you are letting the nose wheel down way too early.

Try to keep the plane on the mains only as long as possible.
 
Jay, it looks like you are letting the nose wheel down way too early.

Not possible when solo. With a passanger, you can keep the nose wheel
off forever. I've also filmed landings for the same reason, currious about
what the landing gear looks like after touchdown. Mine is very similiar.
 
I've found this on a 7A, too, even with a FP. I can keep it off for, maybe, 7 or 8 seconds when solo... and the trick is to not have TOO much back pressure so that the nose gets too high when on the mains, because then it just slams down.

In fact, this is the primary reason I want to get a Go Pro set up, just to look at what's going on up there and try to use the video to be better at the "art" .
 
Thanks! I always hesitate to throw those base plates away too but I could never see why I would need it. Good job!
 
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