Anyone ever use a remote control plane to take aerial pictures of your pond and/or property? I saw this plane online.

I thought it might be a good idea to help me design my pond, build on my acreage and document things as I go along. Not a lot of money but I'm not sure how easy it is to use or well it works.

Rob,

If the camera has decent quality (at least 1mp and preferrably 2mp) it would be useful

If you've never flown an R/C model, it can take weeks to learn, even with a good trainer helping you.

I would think that you could use Google Earth or other aerial view just as easy, But for the money that sure looks like a neat toy to have around the farm to play with. It says easy launch, but nothing about the easy landing and I think thats where you could get in trouble. If its made of a material that would take a rough landing or a all out crash that would be a bonus.

I have flown many model planes over the years and I know a lot of guys who are really good at it. I think that even some of the best would never be able to accurately tell when they were over the things you wanted pictures of or whether the pitch and tilt of the plane were correct to get a picture of what you wanted. IMO this would be fun but definitely would require great skill and patience.

bobad: turns out the camera on that plane is not very good. Neither is the plane according to a message board that caters to remote control enthusiasts.

trialsguy: I've used google earth/maps and others as well as the aerial pictures I can get from my local county office. I want to take pictures a lot more often than that. I'd love to take overhead pictures as I make progress. I've got years of work.

bz: the more I read the more I think you and bobad are right. Not as easy as it looks. Maybe I'll look at a remote control helicopter.

Helis are alot harder to fly and more expensive than airplanes. Goto ezonemag.com and look at aerial photography in the forum tons of info. I just realized you asked this question on tractor by net in my 12x12 shed thread i put some good link in there also.I have been flying planes and helis for many years from nitro to electric so feel free to ask any questions.

Here is what you need.

I bought one of these to take pics of my place i havent built it yet but it gets great reviews. I am going to build it the summer. You can get more info at www.mountainmodels.com on this plane. I have built some of there other planes and they were nice kits.

Wicked,

For a while my brother was into RC models. One of his "planes" included a flying lawnmower. Perhaps you've seen pictures of this?

RobA,

Just a thought. Our local small airport use to offer 1/2 hour introductory flights for a nominal fee. My brother received one of these for a christmas gift one year. I imagine it would be a good opportunity to snap some aerial photos.

Hey russ, i have seen a few flying lawnmowers at our local flying field they are pretty cool. I have also seen a flying witch on her broom stick it was pretty neat with her hair and cape flying in the wind.

My ex-wife was in Louisiana?

Thats funny!LOL

RobA,

Here is a link to the E Zone Aerial Photography forum that wickedinhere mentioned:

http://www.rcgroups.com/aerial-photography-128/

The forums there work pretty much like PB so just sign up and you can ask and get good info and see what everyone else is doing.

The more I thought about it the more I realized using an RC plane might be fun but I don't have time for it. I hired a local aerial photographer to take the pictures for me. I got about 40 high resolution aerial photos of the pond and acreage for $275. He gave me the digital files and I can do what I want with them.

He took the picures 1 day after a snow/ice storm about 10 days ago. After viewing the pictures I was glad he took them right after the snow. It helped to make the property features more visible.

lol fun idea, but I'd probably crash the thing!

Can anybody put up a link to the flying mowers?

Ask and ye shall receive!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_3vLmm5tC8

Pretty neat. Still trying to figure out the steering on the mower.

Thanks Lee.First chance I get Im gonna shop around for a rc boat.

I'm just getting in to RC AP myself. I've been flying RC planes for about 20+ years. Just got rid of my largest at 121" wing spand, 40% scale of a extra 300 with a 18hp motor turning a 31" prop. Awesome plane to fly around.

I'm currently have a trainer with a 57" wingspand that I'm using for a ap platform.
My advise is to get a good simulator that will play on your computer to learn how to fly.(Realflight G-3)
Or find a local RC flield that will explain how to get the plane up and down in one piece :).

RC AP is a very doable thing. With a little more practice I'll get it down soon.
If you ever come down here to Gainesville Texas I'll be happy to get you started on the right foot.

Shaun

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PICS! PICS!
(any flying video?)

Well..........I can't figure out how to upload a image?

See the Archive thread on posting photos.

Ok this is new to me but I'll give it a shot. Here's goes nothing?

[img]s304.photobucket.com/albums/nn190/1Redneck_album/?action=view¤t=0100_19391.jpg[/img]

[img]//s304.photobucket.com/albums/nn190/1Redneck_album/?action=view¤t=P1010035.jpg[/img]

s304.photobucket.com/albums/nn190/1Redneck_album/?action=view¤t=DOD_AVITAR_125x125.jpg

LOL...........I knew it!!! Theo, What did I do wrong?

One more try

Whoooo Hooooo........You can teach a OLD dog new tricks.....LOL......

I have a AP picture I took from my trainer but they were lost when my old computer crashed a couple months ago. When the weather gets better I'll try to find a pond to fly over and post some pics here.
Shaun
Acts 6:4

Another method to get a pic of your land, is to use a model rocket with a built in camera. From the pics I have seen they give a good overview of the ground below them.

Like this: http://wondertrail.com/hobbies-collectib...ets/p_5844.html

Or step it up a notch and take video with it (video near bottom of linked page):

http://holden.customer.netspace.net.au/rocketcam.html

GET OUT!
Has anyone ever used these things? Are there links to typical photos?

Minnow...that is unbelieveably cool. As I usually ask, gimme spec's. Did you build it all?

To the tune of "People Who Died" by Jim Carroll Band:

Mickey was a mouse that I kept in my pocket
I put him in the nose cone of my new model rocket.
The rocket took off and flew over the trees
And Mickey was subjected to 22 Gees.
The rocket came down and blew up with a flash;
The rocket had crashed, Mickey got trashed.

we are soooo lucky

Wow, I haven't heard that song in a long, long time.

Skyline Globe is another satellite image program that I use quite often. The images are not as good as google earth or terra server but the free tools are a lot more useful for those of us designing lakes or looking for quantifiable info. My favorite feature: free surface area calculator.

Can these planes be outfitted with a trolling motor? It sounds like fun to rip fish out of a pond with an airplane.

Nah...scrap all those silly, irresponsible ideas about R/C planes. That's just plain crazy.
Here's where the smart money goes. Grab your camera and pick up one of these.