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**astjp2** · 12-23-2008, 02:03

Re: Made an interesting video in the Tcraft today

I can just image that the camera mount was certified on the type certificate! hahaha Just kidding, good videos

!

**M Jones** · 12-23-2008, 05:53

Re: Made an interesting video in the Tcraft today

Good job Chris. Do you ever touch down on that last landing??

I haven't flow into Rolla yet. Looks like someone is collecting DC3s that are parked on the closed runway huh?

**Hank Jarrett** · 12-23-2008, 07:03

Re: Made an interesting video in the Tcraft today

Those are GREAT! You need to take some pictures of your cover mod so we can do some too.
Hank

**PT13Pilot** · 12-23-2008, 08:37

Re: Made an interesting video in the Tcraft today

Yes the camera was only added after a long and expensive field approval process!

I left my digital camera at the hangar. I'll take a picture of the setup. With the extra battery, reciever, camera, and inspection cover, it weighs 6.9 ounces. I used an old, heavier, flat inspection plate with 2 tabs. I filmed more on the way back to the owners hangar, but it was overcast then and gettting dark. I'll definately be playing with it in the future. If you look on my Youtube page the same camera was used on the model airplane videos I made on an airplane that weighs about a pound.
The DC-3's are ex-freighters that were phased out for Caravans in 1990. The 4 you can see got hit by a tornado this spring. Pushed them sideways so hard it tore engines off some, and snapped the gears off of most. They are sad to see. There is another on the ramp that flew as recent as 5 years ago, it could fly again with some work. The owners don't care any more and have made their millions. They have everything in their hangars, T-6's, T-28, P-51, Goose, Widgeon, Beaver, you name it.
CJ

**VictorBravo** · 12-23-2008, 12:07

Re: Made an interesting video in the Tcraft today

Pretty landings Chris, the wheel landings are nice and smooth.

Great idea on the R/C camera setup... DJ are you listening, gonna do that with your stuff too???

You can take most of that float (and all of the extra distance) out of the landing by keeping the airplane in a forward slip all the way through the roundout and flare and then some, just letting it out of the slip only about 2 seconds before you touch down. This takes a little practice and please creep up on it from the conservative side... but the Taylorcraft has a very well known trick of speeding right back up in ground effect when you straighten it out.

Get it ALL the way through the descent and slowing down process while it is still in a high drag (slip) mode, and then all the way into the high drag pre-stall mode, before you let it out of the slip. You will be rewarded with several hundred feet reduction in overall landing distance.

**Dan Michaels** · 12-23-2008, 14:28

Re: Made an interesting video in the Tcraft today

Originally posted by VictorBravo View Post

Pretty landings Chris, the wheel landings are nice and smooth.

Great idea on the R/C camera setup... DJ are you listening, gonna do that with your stuff too???

You can take most of that float (and all of the extra distance) out of the landing by keeping the airplane in a forward slip all the way through the roundout and flare and then some, just letting it out of the slip only about 2 seconds before you touch down. This takes a little practice and please creep up on it from the conservative side... but the Taylorcraft has a very well known trick of speeding right back up in ground effect when you straighten it out.

Get it ALL the way through the descent and slowing down process while it is still in a high drag (slip) mode, and then all the way into the high drag pre-stall mode, before you let it out of the slip. You will be rewarded with several hundred feet reduction in overall landing distance.

I cannot wait to try it in the Taylorcraft, that is how I learned to land in the 172 (mostly crosswinds) The DE said "You know you can keep the nose straight don't you" I calmly said "Yeh anyone can land like that".

I'd kick it out 1 to 2 sec before wheels hit.

Dan

**Dan Michaels** · 12-23-2008, 14:34

Re: Made an interesting video in the Tcraft today

Originally posted by astjp2 View Post

I can just image that the camera mount was certified on the type certificate! hahaha Just kidding, good videos

!

At best it is a minor altercation that requires nothing more than a log book entry.

Dan

**Rick Hadley** · 12-23-2008, 16:10

Re: Made an interesting video in the Tcraft today

Great videos Dan! Were those shot at Cuba or up at Vichy? I remember seeing DC3's on the ground there.

**PT13Pilot** · 12-23-2008, 19:49

Re: Made an interesting video in the Tcraft today

Bill,
Thanks, was just messing around. Some days I feel like long pretty wheel landings, some days I like making the turn onto the runway, especially if someone is sitting there waiting, fun to see the look on their face when you taxi off the runway and behind them. Last year when I was burning in the new brake linings I shot 3 pts on that runway and had it stopped easily before the end, there's a 2-300 ft displaced threshold on that runway because of the highway, and I've been known to scare the crap out of people on the highway for a laugh. My friends now gone L-2 had spoilers. I would come around at pattern height, then full spoilers and make the numbers. I miss that airplane! Problem was it took 5 minutes to climb back up to do it again.
I was tempeted on the way home to land at my buddies 1200 strip, but it's been real wet here and his strip is rough, and I'm not gonna do anything to hurt those origional metal wheel pants, so I just sucked the shingles off his house and kept going. That's what FAR stands for right? Frequently Abused Rules?
And Rick, I'm at Vichy and so are the DC-3's. After the tornado this spring, what was left of them was pretty much destroyed. They got pushed backwards off the abandoned runway, then sideways untill the gears dug in and finally snapped. I'm amazed at how many people I meet all over the country that know that airport from those -3's sitting there.

**Guest** · 12-23-2008, 19:58

Re: Made an interesting video in the Tcraft today

Really neat Chris!!

**Rick Hadley** · 12-23-2008, 20:03

Re: Made an interesting video in the Tcraft today

You do get some mean weather down there, Chris. The time I spotted those DC-3's I was dodging a very nasty thunderstorm as we were driving north toward Rolla and I detoured out around to the east and came back in past the Vichy airport. That was a couple of years ago, not the storm that wrecked them.

**PT13Pilot** · 12-23-2008, 20:09

Re: Made an interesting video in the Tcraft today

Ok, here's the setup. Total weight as it sits is 6.9 ounces. The camera is capable of 640x480 @ 30FPS in video, 1024x768 stills, and has many different modes. You can also attach a servo to the lens and pan it up and down 90 degrees. Neat little unit. Camera is $99 and a 2 GB card at Walmart or where ever is dirt cheap now. It has a built in battery that's good for maybe 15 minutes of video or quite a few stills. The remote switch which will also power it is another $30 I think. I can get the camera and switch for under $100 through a dealer I know. On the back side of the inspection cover is just a 600 MAH pack I normally use for a reciever pack and a micro 6 channel reciever I had laying around. From a spare channel you can trigger video start/stop or stills. But you can't change modes in flight.
And like I said, if you want to see some other cool things I've done with the camera on models, see my other video's on youtube.

**PT13Pilot** · 12-23-2008, 20:23

Re: Made an interesting video in the Tcraft today

Rick,
You're right, Vichy is a bad weather magnet. It's the highest elevation by several hundred feet around here and 1500 acres of flat land, with hills and trees everywhere around it. It's always windier, colder, and just plain weirder weatherwise than any other place in the area. Love the old airport though. Started flying models there when I was 12, and glad to be back "home" now.
And if it wasn't for that neglected little red Tcraft with broken spars a few years ago, I'd probably still be working for someone else and hating life. On my last day, at my last job, I tore it apart, put it on a trailer, and drug it home. And decided that day I'd never work for another shop that would tell me how to do my job again. So I have a soft spot for that airplane and the guy that owns it. It was 10 degrees Sunday and I spent all day cleaning it up and waxing it (for free of course), after I was done with the annual. That airplane was a life changer for me.
CJ

**N74DV** · 12-23-2008, 23:28

Re: Made an interesting video in the Tcraft today

Very cool thread! Great video clips! I love this type of stuff!!

DJ are you listening, gonna do that with your stuff too???

Yep! I started a new endeavor this summer designing and manufacturing camera gimbals for RC aircraft & robots. I'm working on scaling down one of my 2 axis gimbals and plan to mount it to the strut of the Tcraft as soon as it's back in the air... 3-4 weeks hopefully.

Planning on shooting HD video and stills. In about 3 months I should have an IMU stabilized gimbal for super smooth shots.

Here's one of my gimbals I intend to scale down & modify

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