mounting action cameras on the outside?

korben88

korben88

Line Up and Wait
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Troy
I just want to make sure that mounting cameras to the tie down eyelets on the c172 isn't gonna cause any problems.
 
You won't be able to to use that tie down loop if there's a camera mounted there, but it will capture your flailing efforts pretty well if it is recording.
 
Sure, lots of people mount GoPros and the like with mounts that screw into the eyelet socket. Do the 172 eyelets use a threaded attachment?
 
Ryanb said:
What kind of cameras are you using??
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I'm actually going to buy one of those cheap gopro knockoffs that are all over ebay and see how they are.

I'm not looking for quality, just want to record for my personal education.

Once I get my license I may upgrade them, but for now I'm going the cheapskate route.
 
korben88 said:
I'm actually going to buy one of those cheap gopro knockoffs that are all over ebay and see how they are.

I'm not looking for quality, just want to record for my personal education.

Once I get my license I may upgrade them, but for now I'm going the cheapskate route.
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When you said the cameras may weigh over a hundred pounds it had me questioning. A small GoPro type cam will not pose any issues.
 
@SoCal RV Flyer

I'll check the cube out.

I've totally watched that video. I didn't realize that was you. I've been researching building myself an rv so I'll probably be picking your brain about it.
 
Right now I'm working out the logistics, where am I gonna build it being the biggest one. I am a machinist, and the shop I work in does a lot of sheet metal work so I have access to most of the tools I would need. The owners of the shop are the ones that talked me into getting my ppl and are all pilots themselves so they won't have an issue (more like would be excited) with me building it there, but there just isn't room.
I talked to the big boss today about renting one of the other bays in the building, and he said they are all occupied but one of them might be willing to share the space. He's gonna talk to them next week.
If that doesn't work out then it will make things much harder on me. But I can get a storage unit close by and just transport the parts I'm working on back and forth. That seems like a huge PITA though.

Also I'm leaning towards the 9A, but working out if I should build a 10 instead. Haven't quite made up my mind yet.
 
korben88 said:
I just want to make sure that mounting cameras to the tie down eyelets on the c172 isn't gonna cause any problems.
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What kind of problems are you worried about? It's unlikely to cause any flying problems. But be aware that at least somebody at the FAA has stated that any type of external mounting requires FSDO approval.
 
The wing mounted are boring. You should mount it on the vert stab. Then we can critique your control inputs and pattern.
 
I hope you can get a bay in the same building. The key to completing these things is to work on them, if only a little bit, every day if possible. I built mine in my 2-car garage, usually putting in 5-6 hours a day. Roughly 1300 hours, then four months of final assembly in the hangar. Being recently retired certainly helped in the free time dept!

The -9A vs -10 decision can be a tough one. It'd be nice for me to occasionally have a 4-place plane, but for 95 percent of what I'm doing, a 2-seater is fine. I figure I can always rent a 172 if I want two take two friends up at once. The -9s are really efficient with the Roncz-airfoil high-aspect wing (compared to the aerobatic RVs). On a recent trip to Phoenix, I was cruising at 148 KTAS at 6.7 gph at roughly 10,000' DA. That's with an injected engine (IO-320-D1A) running 30-40 F LOP, and a fixed-pitch Catto prop.

On the camera mount, I've tried the vert. stab location, but it tends to shake a lot. I think the next location I'll try is external, on top of the canopy and facing rearward. It'd be fun to see the elevator action on the flare.
 
@SoCal RV Flyer

Quick question. How wide is the fuselage and empennage when built?

The space I'm looking at doesn't have an overhead door, but does have a double entry that would give me 6' with th doors off.
 
I think they fired an early Sidewinder from a 182 at China Lake, though I'm guessing the mount was on the strut, and don't know if the tie down was part of the lash-up ir nit, or if the ilde 182s had the retracting tie down. . .
 
korben88 said:
@SoCal RV Flyer

Quick question. How wide is the fuselage and empennage when built?

The space I'm looking at doesn't have an overhead door, but does have a double entry that would give me 6' with th doors off.
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You're going to bolt the empennage on during final assembly in a hangar, so no issues getting that out. I stored all the tailfeather pieces in my climate-controlled aircraft warehouse (spare bedroom)...not a problem getting them through a standard front door. With the main gear in place, IIRC, the track width is about 81", so that's not gonna fit. The fuselage itself is only 50" wide or thereabouts, and easily carried sans engine by two people, and the gear can be installed later...the bulk of the work is fitting the internal gear weldments and doing all the plumbing/wiring that threads past/through them.
 
Lindberg said:
What kind of problems are you worried about? It's unlikely to cause any flying problems. But be aware that at least somebody at the FAA has stated that any type of external mounting requires FSDO approval.
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Somebody may have, but the powers that be recently issued an official statement essentially saying "it's fine as long as it doesn't fall off and hurt anyone" which will probably be given a bit more weight than some random persons opinion.
 
SoCal RV Flyer said:
You're going to bolt the empennage on during final assembly in a hangar, so no issues getting that out. I stored all the tailfeather pieces in my climate-controlled aircraft warehouse (spare bedroom)...not a problem getting them through a standard front door. With the main gear in place, IIRC, the track width is about 81", so that's not gonna fit. The fuselage itself is only 50" wide or thereabouts, and easily carried sans engine by two people, and the gear can be installed later...the bulk of the work is fitting the internal gear weldments and doing all the plumbing/wiring that threads past/through them.
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Nice. Sounds like it would work nicely then.
 
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