AF100 on a Remote Helicopter - First Test

Thanks again everyone for the kind words!

Greydad, The helicopter is electric powered. I could never get this level of stability and lack of vibration from a gas powered helicopter. I am editing together a little piece that shows the chopper flying around some fun locations and will post it for those who are curious about the technology.

S. Matthews, I have dedicated about the last 5 years of my life to aerial filming from remote platforms. It is no simple endeavour and can get very expensive very quickly if you are not careful! I would recommend picking up a flight simulator for your computer and practicing with that for 6 months or so and see how it goes. At that point there are some commecially availble platforms that would serve for a good starting point if you decide to pursue it further.

Soeren, I have used both a HD and SD downlink. For this piece I was using a SD downlink coming out of the AF100 SD ouptut. I am not sure what the GH2 has for outputs?? Is it HDMi only? If so then yes you would need to run some kind of downconverter I suppose.

Grimepoch, there was absolutely no wind when I shot this so control of the helicopter can be very precise in those circumstances ;) In any case as long as I can see sky between obstacles and the helicopter I know things will be OK. The seagulls were my biggest concern on this flight! There is something about the frequency of sound the electric helicopter creates that seems to attract / agitate them. I actually cut the flight short because of how many came to investigate.
 
I would recommend picking up a flight simulator for your computer and practicing with that for 6 months or so and see how it goes.
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Any simulators you recommend?
And did you do much grading on this footage? Thanks!
 
Aerialpan said:
I am editing together a little piece that shows the chopper flying around some fun locations and will post it for those who are curious about the technology.

The seagulls were my biggest concern on this flight! There is something about the frequency of sound the electric helicopter creates that seems to attract / agitate them. I actually cut the flight short because of how many came to investigate.
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Lots of gearheads on this forum, so yes, please bring on the copter BTS footage :D

Seagulls? Whuddathunkit...
 
Looks great. At first I thought you were just joshing us and had a crane. Can't believe how smooth it was. Must have been a perfectly still day.
 
Aerialpan said:
The seagulls were my biggest concern on this flight! There is something about the frequency of sound the electric helicopter creates that seems to attract / agitate them. I actually cut the flight short because of how many came to investigate.
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Come on - I know what it really was: Remember the seagulls in NEMO and what they were shouting?

Yes - those buggers saw you AG-AF and also started screaming "Mine, Mine, Mine". Can't blame them.
 
So for a flight simulator this seems to be the one that most people learn on

http://www.realflight.com/

Snazzy, Yes it was very still air! It was a weird weather day here when I shot this. I had initially planned to go shoot this location ( http://www.aerialpan.com/temp/lucas_web.mov) but there were like 50MPH winds when I got out there. Then I came back to the city dejected and dying to shoot on the AF and there was no wind at all so I popped down to the marina for a flight.....very strange weather.

tipota, Honestly had it been another camera I probably would have kept flying and risked a birdstrike (prett low chance I think) but I have only had my AF for a little while now and we are still in the honeymoon phase!
 
That location is Lake Kachess just east of the summit over Snoqualmie, isn't it?

We live in Spokane, but travel I-90 every month or so to do work and visit in Seattle.

So was the footage of the boats at Shilshole Bay Marina over at the locks or someplace else?
 
David, I know the spot you are thinking of and it looks very similar. This location is at rattlesnake lake on the west side of the pass. The marina where we flew the AF100 is shilshole. There is a nice quiet dock there I sometimes fly from.

Tabb
 
Aerialpan said:
but I have only had my AF for a little while now and we are still in the honeymoon phase!
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Understandable, really. If I could fly I would have tried to snatch the camera from you too befroe the gulls could get hold of it..... ;-)

Maybe I've over read it: Electrical Heli but with more than one rotor I presume? We think about using one for indoor shots in a hall over here (Germany) - guy here has an octocopter. So I would be very interested to know a bit more.

Had my first and till now only remote helicopter shot in a film we made in 1989 when the heli-cam was used for the p.o.v. of a peregrine falcon.

And: What music you used in this short and great spot? Beautiful. Thanks.

postscriptum: Visited you website. Great demo reel.
 
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Tabb, that must be some electric motor you've got in there. Pity you're over there, when I'm here, I'd hire you like a shot to do the shoot I'm thinking of :) I haven't found an electric copter yet that could lift the sort of mass you're talking about with a gimballed AF101 - well, I did but it was like $200k and only the police and army use them.

And is that a single rotor? Looked like it from the gopro shots.

Don't you have all sorts of regulations about flying heli's close to the public? It's a minefield here, I'm not even allowed to fly one with a camera unless I'm CAA certified, which means taking a test involving flying a conventional unassisted single-rotor gas-powered helicopter, then getting a license and then following all sorts of rules about max altitude, can't be closer than 150m to people etc. As far as I understand it there's no way I could legally do an indoor aerial shot at a wedding or rock gig or whatever - certainly not allowed to overfly a crowd. Is it different in the US?

This stuff is just amazing though, the hotel video is great. I can't wait to see the behind the scenes film

Waiting in anticipation...
 
Great footage! When I saw that first image: water! I knew you had to be an experienced flyer :-) One can see the quietness though and no wind ( I still thought of the af100 up there :-). I guess this is a quad-or octocopter? to carry this weight plus the copter mount, af100 +gopro, it must be very strong! I am very curious to see your copter. whats the legal situation in WS regarding flying such a beast? Here in Europe its more or less complicated. After google earth view and google home view people are now worried of google skinview...:Drogar-Shock(DBG):
 
timbook2 said:
In Germany its becoming one as well...with regulations differing from county to county....
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Nightmare. We want to fly between the skyscrapers in Frankfurt - not allowed for "real" helis other than police / emergency - but I doubt very much we can get through with an octocopter.

Found this nice one a year o so ago.

http://www.vimeo.com/8677818

There are people over here in Europe who can do it too......

Still wondering about the music in the short clip with the guy standing next to this incredible lake. Weird mix of a capella style singing and extreme digital effects - can aerialpan throw me a hint, please?
 
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