Mounting a GoPro to the outside of aircraft
 

Just wondering if anyone has done this? There seem to be a few youtube videos and they all say that it stays on no worries.

What are your opinions on such an endeavour?

For those of you who dont know, a GoPro is a miniature HD sports camera that cam be mounted to stuff.

Did you get the mounting gear with it when you bought it?

I'm told my many people that the suction cup won't fall off in flight but I don't trust it. You might get to 8,000ft, come down again and be less 1 go-pro.

I have seen people use the mount that comes with it but have drilled a hole in the factory bracket and mounted it on an existing airframe screw, eg like the ones that hold on the wing-tips. Seem to work well. If you don't have that luxury, perhaps some duct tape but make sure you don't take the paint off with your 100mph tape if you are hiring someone else's aircraft.

If you have an aircraft with struts order the 'handle bar mount' for a motorbike. There is no way with this mount that the camera can come off in flight.

I mounted a Tachyon XC underwing, using the tie-down point which has a female thread, and a wedge packer to make the camera horizontal.

Using the Tachyon mounting adaptor the camera was upside down, so the picture needs to be flipped up the right way with software.

With good quality batteries you can video continuously for about 3 - 3.5 hrs.

As you would expect, the CAR 35 approval cost more than the camera.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f.../TACHYON02.jpg

And the result: ILS RWY 26 YMEN

We have them mounted on the strut of a C182 used for skydiving, never come off yet. Ive seen another local guy stick one on the nose of a twin Commanche, the tail of a winjeel and tail of a CT4, never lost one yet.

yep, a few hard mounts on my aircraft, mounted with 3m Tape adhesive, (and its kit built before you go complaining) never moved once, seen suction cup mounts on race cars up to 300Kph with no issues, same for my bike fairings.

watch tv series like Flying wild Alaska and Ice Pilots NWT, and the gopro seam to be hanging off everything from DC3s to Caravans with no issues.

Suction cup at 100 Kts. (tethered to rear tie down just in case) survived an hour of circuits.


or using bar mount on nose gear


hard mound with the double sided tape that comes in the kit.
-8 deg and 90 kts for 3 hrs.

I'll put my hand up as one of the people stupid enough to put and subsequently lose a go pro off the side of an aircraft.

It lasted for 3 sectors on the tail (great video!) but once on the outboard underside of the wing, didn't.

I dont recommend it.

In other news if anyone is after a cheap though slightly dropped go pro, 20nm east of coonamble. ;)

How was it attached? Suction cup? if i use the suction cup i will use a custom made tether, strong cable with 2 swivel fitting to prevent the cable twisting up if it does come loose and spin in the breeze for a few hrs. usually suction mounted somewhere near a good tether point such as a tie down point and where it cannot interfere with a flight control, such as the rear strake of a jabiru. i dont want any video evidence landing on someones head/car/boat/house etc.



Just how much force would be exerted on a Gopro in flight? and its mount, when you consider most engine cowlings are held with just 4 or 6 dzus fasteners, not know for being super strong in the fastener department, yet strong enough to hold a sometimes large cowling on at VNE.. and up to the G limit.

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i use the swivel mount. brilliant. The mounting legs can flex to suit curved surfaces.

It's not the force applied in flight that's the problem, you could mount one on an L39, it's the pressure changes affecting the suction mount.

Have you ever had an iPhone or 296 or similar suction mount drop off the windscreen? Same story...

Seems to happen to me at around 8,000 ft.

You need a ForkMount (patent pending) !

Dr :8

I have no first hand experience with the following but I understand them to be quite good:

Contour | GPS Video Camera and HD Helmet Camera

I'm using one and have mounted it to where the strut meets the wing via the suction cup. Its come off once, luckily I had it cable tied to the tie down hook. This is attached to a caravan with IAS of 140.

The one time it came off was at 3600 ft. Have taken it up to 11,500ft with no worries.
The 3M tape mounts I doubt will ever come off! Dunno what the boss thinks about that though...

I do!

Looks realy good on the web. Mine arrived on Wednesday - took me less than an hour to break it!

Bugger it! :E

Dr :8

Hmmm, I'd be careful with "swivel mount safety tethers"

Ever seen what a seatbelt "Spinning in the breeze" can do you your airframe?

Not suggesting it's a bad idea, just make sure your tether is long enough to easily clear your aeroplane!

Okay very much tongue-in-cheek here ..... but there is a wing in view there!

I'd recommend against a tether also. If the thing flops around it will do serious damage to the aircraft.

I'd love to stick it on my aircraft, 250 at 500ft down the coast looks spectacular. but once bitten twice shy etc.

A spinning tethered object in the slipstream would do a lot of damage to whatever surface it was pounding against, probably punch a hole in a fabric surface, and possibly the same on a metal skin if the tether was long enough.

Too long a tether runs the risk of being wrapped around the air-frame and/or interfering/jamming a control surface.

Before anyone does it in an aircraft where life and limb are at risk, tether a loose camera to a car, preferably your own, drive at 160kph for 15 minutes and see what damage it does. :cool:

18 Wheeler. I'll wager that is not taken out the back of the Toyota Corolla or the Toyota Starlet? :E

True, it's a little faster than those.
Though not any more - A few hours later it all came to a crunching halt.



I came very close to snapping my neck. Smashed my sternum badly and some other damage as well. Car is going to be repaired.
Apologies for the thread hijack.

Back on-track ....
A GoPro in a rattly old Metro I used to fly.