Morning over the WA wheatbelt

[Guest GordonM]

pic submission for Pacific Flyer

 

Morning over the WA wheatbelt

 

 

 

[sseeker]

Hi Gordon,

 

What an awesome shot :thumb_up: Was this taken last weekend?

 

Regards,

 

Andrew

 

 

[Bubbleboy]

Stunning Gordon...it reminds me of the Lane of entry out of Bankstown early in the morning past Hornsby. I remember the feeling of why I love to fly! Thanks mate!

 

Scotty :thumb_up:

 

 

[pudestcon]

Great shot Gordon,

 

The Avon Valley and Wheatbelt is a beautiful place eh?

 

Pud

 

 

[Guest davidh10]

Yep. Really great shot.

 

I've just completed a camera bracket to mount my camera on the control bar, so have taken a few initial shots. Discovered I hadn't taken some that I thought I had. Probably cold fingers through gloves.. it was -1 deg.

 

So far I have only done two relatively short flights with the camera attached, so it is still experimental at the moment.

 

 

[Guest GordonM]

The shot was taken a while ago, though the scenery last weekend was similarly spectacular,

 

we flew around the balloons that had flown down to York from Northam. didnt take a camera for that flight --doh!

 

 

[Guest GordonM]

We often see the balloons but they are quite a distance away and do not often go near them, when we do we probably wouldnt get much closer than 600mtrs, I figure thats more than close enough for both the people in the balloon and for us.

 

We dont hang around, just a quick pass and off. The people in the balloon get an extra 'treat' that they would not normally see.

 

Quite a while ago a friend of mine performed a 'balloon drop' in his hangglider, they descended at a similar rate and he was able to continue circling around the balloon, the balloon then descended faster than him and he found himself above it in quite a nice little thermal

 

 

 

[Thalass]

That's a great picture! The second one is great too! Makes me want to go flying in a small plane again. 25 hours in various airliners isn't nearly as much fun. :(

 

 

[Guest davidh10]

We often see the balloons but they are quite a distance away and do not often go near them, when we do we probably wouldnt get much closer than 600mtrs, I figure thats more than close enough for both the people in the balloon and for us....

Nice shot.

 

Balloons make really great photographs. You just need to zoom in a bit to compensate for distance.

 

I hope to get some balloon shots sometime when they are operating out of Benalla or Wangaratta. Saw a Notam recently about balloons operating out of Wangaratta, but that was before I got my camera mount sorted:sad:

 

 

[robinsm]

What sort of camera mount did you use and where did you mount it?

 

 

[Guest davidh10]

What sort of camera mount did you use and where did you mount it?

I'm not sure if this question was directed to me, to GordonM or both.

 

My camera mount is the top off an old "Focal" tripod. I bought it at Kmart about 25 years ago and one of the legs broke recently, requiring replacement of the entire tripod. I kept the "head" which provides azimuth and elevation swivel with a handle for aiming, which adjusts the elevation stiffness / lock. The camera attaches to the head in the usual way.

 

In order to mount it on the control bar, I finally settled on a pair of very strong spring-loaded clamps and all bolted together using an aluminium bracket fashioned out of an angle section.

 

It is thus installable / removable in a matter of seconds, but requires two strong hands to open the clamps. In addition, I wrap the camera strap around the control bar and secure it by unscrewing the handle and threading it through the strap to act as a backup in case of structural failure or the camera unscrewing. The camera is a compact (Canon G9), so is quite small and light.

 

I clamp it on the control bar outboard of the windscreen

 

If you are interested, I'll post a photo of it. Probably not till after the weekend from a logistical perspective.

 

 

[Guest davidh10]

Here's a couple of photos of the camera mount attached to the Control Bar. You cannot see the camera, because I need it to take the photos

 

Note: This site treats the links as if they are videos. They aren't, so just click on the title at the top of the video window to view the photos.

 

Custom Camera Mount - Trike on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

Custom Camera Mount - Trike on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

It may look as though it's grip on the bar is a bit tenuous, but believe me, it is very firmly attached and takes a lot of force to open the clamps.

 

The clamps were obtained from the tools section of Bunnings. The bolts are aircraft bolts with nylex lock nuts.

 

 

[robinsm]

That is a great idea, thanks for the information and photos

 

Cheers

 

Maynard

 

 

[Ballpoint 246niner]

Trikes get the best early AM shots- here's one of mine. On balloons, get to know the Ballonist and discuss with them first - if all's good then you enjoy and so do there customer's. Our local one lived next door so no prob's we even took them in the trikes- build partnerships- it's the way of the future!

 

[ATTACH][ATTACH]11253.vB[/ATTACH][/ATTACH]

 

 

 

 

[bluey the fly]

Great shots Neil must be difficult to take photos and fly a trike .. one hand on cam one on bar...

 

 

[Ballpoint 246niner]

Great shots Neil must be difficult to take photos and fly a trike .. one hand on cam one on bar...

Nah, all good Bluey- they fly them selves, plenty of time to let go and take snaps! As I get older I find the less I interfere in the flying part, the better these flying contraption things fly.

Hope you're both well- any a/c in the wings for you?

 

 

[Philthy]

Well done boys, lovely photos! :thumb_up:

 

 

[Guest GordonM]

What sort of camera mount did you use and where did you mount it?

Hi Robinsm, I guess one of the little advantages of being an instructor is that the student can fly the trike whilst I take some happy snaps --hand held.

 

 

[bluey the fly]

Nah, all good Bluey- they fly them selves, plenty of time to let go and take snaps! As I get older I find the less I interfere in the flying part, the better these flying contraption things fly.Hope you're both well- any a/c in the wings for you?

Yeh Neil ...Karen and I are well thanks ,Looking at flying photos and such but doing little myself not much time as i have purchasted the company i work for...Buying my own plane now on hold ,dont want to break the bank but if things go as plan i should have that tecnam and we will be able to fly up and visit one day and claim a bit of tax back ...regards Steven

 

 

[Ballpoint 246niner]

Yeh Neil ...Karen and I are well thanks ,Looking at flying photos and such but doing little myself not much time as i have purchasted the company i work for...Buying my own plane now on hold ,dont want to break the bank but if things go as plan i should have that tecnam and we will be able to fly up and visit one day and claim a bit of tax back ...regards Steven

That's right I remember you deliberating on this at Temora- hang in their -that plane will happen, I'm spending most days right seat now, flew today with student in 25kts- don't know when we'll get nice weather again. Love to have you both come up and stay. Keep in touch.:)