Komodo, from a different perspective.
- Thread starter AleG
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OP
AleG
Contributor
Ale, I'm just catching up with the posts in this thread, and I have to say I'm utterly blown away by the vid of the mantas feeding near the beach with the dragons. Makes me want to go back!
Allison Finch
Contributor
Could you please post a photo of the tricopter and how the camera is mounted? I just love this concept. I hope you were able to seel the video not only to the operator you dove with, but others in the area. It would be a great video to add to any promo for that area.
OP
AleG
Contributor
No, I didn't sell the videos, I do this as a hobby.
Here are some photos of the tricopter and the airplane I used, both designed and built by myself to fit the kind of flying I do.
The tricopter is named Triton, all up weight is around 1.3 kilograms, with the motor arms folded and the landing gear removed it fits in a box not much larger than a shoebox, so it's easy to transport.
GoPro2 camera on the front and the blue thing on the back is the battery, it's there to balance the weight of the camera.
This gives an idea of the size
Landing on the Tatawa's wheelhouse
This shows the whole setup, tricopter, radio control transmitter, video goggles and the video receiver and antenna sticking out behind my head.
Up and away...
This is the airplane, nearly 2 meters wingspan and about 1.2kg in weight, the GoPro camera is mounted inside the nose. The wings separate in two pieces, and the tail also can be disassembled quickly, so it's also easy to transport.
If you haven't explored the travel, income, and expense write-off opportunities of your hobby, how about if you teach me how to fly them??? 
Mantra
Contributor
Many of the finest (and most valuable) musical instruments are passed from hand to hand rather than sold.
Amateur comes from the same Latin root as amorous, enamored, etc. In today's overcommercialised world, I find something subtle and elegant about a guy who builds his own flying cameras and shares the results with us for the *love* of it. The amateur practices a particularly graceful kind of art. Bravo, AleG
Amateur comes from the same Latin root as amorous, enamored, etc. In today's overcommercialised world, I find something subtle and elegant about a guy who builds his own flying cameras and shares the results with us for the *love* of it. The amateur practices a particularly graceful kind of art. Bravo, AleG
That's amazing technology. Much smaller than I imagined. The tricopter looks like it must be pretty stable. When I tried my hand with R/C planes in the early '80s, I admired the guys who flew helicopters. To pilot an R/C helicopter you had to have the dexterity of a juggler (in addition to a fat wallet--they were marvels of intricate machinery). And yours have video transmitters that beam video back to the goggles so you can pilot them remotely?! Wow. Just wow.
Allison Finch
Contributor
I agree....WOW!
Such a tidy little thing. I think you ought to market that little thing, but moe importantly, you should market your footage. I can't imagine ANY dive operation, anywhere, that wouldn't value aerial clips of the areas and boats that they use. Not just a way to make dollars up front, but you may get free dive trips and excellent tax write-offs for the trips you pay for.
If I thought there way ANY way I could learn to fly that cutie, I would be trying to buy one from you.
Such a tidy little thing. I think you ought to market that little thing, but moe importantly, you should market your footage. I can't imagine ANY dive operation, anywhere, that wouldn't value aerial clips of the areas and boats that they use. Not just a way to make dollars up front, but you may get free dive trips and excellent tax write-offs for the trips you pay for.
If I thought there way ANY way I could learn to fly that cutie, I would be trying to buy one from you.
OP
AleG
Contributor
I wouldn't mind free dive trips at all.
Actually I have got a couple vouchers for free stays at resorts were I shot some aerial videos while on holidays; the managers saw me flying, asked what was that about, saw the videos and loved them, so they told me to come back for free on a weekend. Alas, I haven't had the time to make use of the offer yet.So... here's another video, underwater this time. At the end you can see the same oceanic manta rays as in the aerial video at Horseshoe Bay. The rest of the mantas were shot in a single dive at Manta Point.
[video=vimeo;55211153]https://vimeo.com/55211153[/video]
By the way, most of that video was shot with the same GoPro Hero 2 that went flying, the rest with a Sony NEX 5N, very versatile camera.
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