(@SSD et al.) Agreed, airborne pictures of sky and scenery are a pleasure to watch.
But selfies? WTF?

(Besides, at least in my case, a selfie while flying would indeed be a risk to my "airworthiness". Not so much because of the immediate dangers of making one during flight, but I am so extremely handsome even when on the ground -- being exposed to the unearthly attractiveness of me while flying would probably blind me or drive me insane :E)

On the other hand, I have c2700hrs in my book, stopped flying 15 years ago, and don't have a single photo to remind me that any of it ever even happened. :-(

From Pace
Time to dig out Grandad's Brownie 127 :)

MF

MizzFlyer

I use Rocket route which is a brilliant programme for the money and have tha airways charts. I also have that backed up on my I phone 6 and its great to watch the jet I fly chugging along the upper airways as well as all the other programmes needed for flight backed up on the I phone as well as the I pad :ok:
Who knows both I pads could go down then I would be left with my phone for approach charts etc ??

as such it would be argued as a vital piece of equipment needed for the flight :ok:

Just because I accidentally hit the movie button or picture button :E not my fault ))

Pace

Shaggy Sheep Driver, Number one is keep a bloody good lookout! Which while you are pratting about trying to take photos with a loose camera, I doubt very much you can manage singlehanded.. I havn't got a problem with TWO pilots, one to fly the plane, the other to take the photos. But the scars on your camera case imply it wasn't secure in the cockpit. Ok, only a K13 glider, but a newbie in the front seat let his camera slide down behind the stick, which caused a nasty accident.

And of course air to air photography really requires experts. Not enthusiastic amateurs alone in the aircraft who should behave responsibly.

I thought solo glider pilots had to prove cross country flights by photographing turning points.(50 years and 5 weeks since last in a Swallow)

Mary, that is utter and absolute tosh. On at least 2 levels, maybe 3.

Expert at what, by the way?

Are you a retired school teacher, by any chance? ;)

I am a student pilot and i agree we must pay attention look out etc...

but..

we are aloud to fiddle with radios,nav systems altimeters do calculations on maps etc etc..

so why not take a picture with a camera? no less safe in my book than fiddling with any of the above.

depends on circumstances i suppose.

You must be joking about the expert bit.

First did it when I was hour building for Cpl.

Then had to do heaps of it while flying instructor mainly to stop the punter from barfing.

And the few jobs I did do doing it, it was 20 mins showing how the camera worked and then sent on my way with a load of lats and longs and instructions that I had to be not above 600ft agl over the top of the sites when I took them.

I wasn't joking when I was saying about hanging the aircraft on its ear at 600ft AGL with the door off taking photo's.

I think Mary would have a purple fit if she knew what we got up to while meat bombing.... All in the interests of customer satisfaction, of course! :ok:

If you have an artistic eye and appreciate beauty which we often see while flying it seems crazy to me and frankly far too anal an attitude to tell pilots not to take a photo.

Many flights become forgotten, a distant memory and a photo or movie is one way of capturing those memories for later years.
For me a pilot who takes photos means that guy/gal enjoys and appreciates what they see and frankly I have no time for the do gooders who dictate otherwise.

i Scuba dive and love underwater photography and try to make what i would cal creative photography with the undersea world, light and creatures

It the same with flying always carry a camera or a phone as one scene of light may change in minutes and be gone.

You need to be individual and a bit colourful in life and maybe a tiny bit rebellious or you become grey and anal :ugh:
It was Sir Douglas Bader who said the law is for fools to obey and wise men to question and a little bit of individuality makes the world a far more interesting place.

Mary reading your writings you are far from grey and anal but colourful and full of amazing stories and experiences so I am slightly puzzled at your anti Photo stance :ok:

Pace

I have taken the odd video on the iPhone and photo while airborne, and it is a rare event. I always get the RH seat to do it. Can't see what the problem is.

However I was at Breighton for a fly in maybe one or two years ago and parked up next to a 172 that had no less than four Go Pros set up in the cockpit. I mean, four Go Pros, what's that all about? I know we pilots are supposed to be egomaniacs but sheesh.

'This is one of me from the rear flying the aircraft. This is one of me from the side flying the aircraft. This is one of me from the front flying the aircraft.'

Get a life.

It'll make the AAIB/NTSB investigator's job much easier.....

You could almost have an Imax crash with four cameras.

Mounted cameras are very useful for post-flight debriefs for low-hour (<350) pilots.Not only for crashes, but for anything that didn't go well - poor landings, mistakes in ATC comms etc. Quite often the learnt lessons are shared, so it helps others not to repeat the same mistakes. Look up for example Flight Chops on Youtube, he also uses 3-5 cameras, but of course ,not all aimed at him :) instead they capture the cockpit, instrument panel, hands & legs, sideways, from tail to nose etc. So I dare to say that fixed cameras add to the overall safety of private flying. :ok:

Taking photos with a handheld camera is a greater risk, but passangers appreciate it, and they fly for fun too, there has to be a picture from their flight. Yes, there is a increased risk with them (dropping on the floor, jamming control, dividing attention), but c'mon, navigating with a paper map, folding it left right center is just as much distraction from wathing oncoming traffic or the airspeed. So if you can't prioritize flying and navigating, something else will catch you anyway. :=

Each to their own. Flying (for most people on here) is a hobby.

This guy obviously has filmmaking as a hobby and clearly enjoys capturing multi-camera video and editing it.

I really can't see what the issue is with combining the two, and it's a bit patronising to say he should get a life.

I'm sure you do some stuff in your spare time that would bore other people!

I am old and allowed to be miserable. :) It's the narcissistic, selfie society we have become that annoys me. I can see the point of camera(s) to take pictures of the view but these were all mounted so that the cameras were filming the cockpit. If they were for the purposes of an instructional video then fair enough I'm out of order.

I'm sure I do stuff that would bore the pants off of everyone else but I don't film it.

Thing

In some ways I think we are maybe talking on the wrong subject :ok: Maybe the thread should have been what do you do to kill time on long boring stretches between way points :E

Some do the sunday times crossword, some may flirt with the female in the right seat some may take pictures.

So its probably more a question of when its safe to take a picture or when taking a picture will distract you from a critical phase of flight.

i am sure there are some who flare to land with one hand on the yoke and the other holding a camera /phone :ugh:

The most interesting shots are taken low or against large cumulus clouds near sunset where the light intensity is not so great.
so the low shots are likely to be at a time when the pilot should have his full concentration on landing or taking off the approach and departure.

You also have to look at impressions that taking pictures gives to passengers ?
in my jet it does not give a good impression to the PAX to see the captain clicking away / its not professional especially in a private jet where the PAX arec more involved with the crew than in an airline where the crew are behind closed doors.
take my word for it Airline pilots do take pictures :E

flying private light aircraft for fun means the pictures are more acceptable to PAX and the non professional nature of the flight.

So really this is about safety and when its safe to take photographs or unwise to do so.

Into that mix comes the fact of how experienced the pilot is and it indeed may be the case that in rare circumstances the right pilot could flare the aircraft with one hand while filming with the other :ugh:

Pace

It's easy to ensure you don't drop the camera, either onto the floor or lose it outside the aeroplane if shooting through an open canopy or window; keep the neck strap around your neck! That's what I did.

Cessnas, BTW, are great for aerial photography if you dis-assemble the door window strut - the window then swings right up 90 degrees, well out of the way.

Assumtions!
 

I have enjoyed reading this article, as I ... shock horror ... like to take pictures when I fly. I do it carefully, when the aircraft is trimmed out, etc, and no other 'traffic' is around, and certainly not at 'critical' phases of the flight. I like taking pictures when I fly, and as one poster said, it allows you to look back and re-enjoy what you saw during your flight. I have some beautiful pictures of the Shropshire hills last summer, and also one of me joining of the mile hile club ... (reaching 5280ft) ... not the naughty one ... tricky in a 152?! Actually ... I think that my version of the 'mile high club' is much more exciting than the one that a lot of people aspire to ... yaaaaaawn!


I do have to pull up two posters ... Pace ... you are a culprit! ... 'some may flirt with the female in the right seat' ... that would make me a lesbian ... assumptions ... assumptions!