Car Mount on airplane

D

DDirector

Veteran
I want to know if you get a simple car mount for a DSLR, can you mount it on a window of a plane to do a time lapse?

Which car mount would I need? - So the camera fits with the lens.
Will they even allow this on the plane?
Will the lighting inside the plane have any effect? - Especially if flying at night.
 
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I wouldn't see this is practical, or even attainable. most car mounts are suction cup of some sort, and aren't rated for the kind of wind an attachment to a plane will experience. That's a hazard to the camera, but more importantly to the plane if the camera pops loose mid-flight.

So I don't see the mount as being appropriate, but I also don't see any pilot in his/her right mind (or left mind) approving it.
 
Well I'm in the aviation industry so I might shed some insight.

If it is a commercial aircraft (ie you rented it – it's registered for commercial use) then there is almost no way they would let you do that. First, nearly anything that is attached to an aircraft must be of an approved design for that specific situation. I'm not sure if this includes nondestructive attachment by way of suction cup, but I'm sure the potential (and very, very likely) damage to the aircraft based on the camera either falling and impacting the aircraft or adversely obstructing airflow inadvertently, would scare the pilot. Second, Aircraft windows are very delicate. They are usually made of plastic, scratch very easily, and flex quite a bit. I know for a fact the company I work for would never let you put a mount on a windshield; they don't like it when you even touch them. So mounting it TO the window is very likely out of the question. Also, the fact that any other structure would also very likely need to be certified for use, limits your options significantly.

Although, many commercial outfits (especially those accustomed to working with photo/videograhpers) would have the appropriate apparatus or access to it.

If you know someone who owns their own airplane, and it is registered for non-commercial use (ie purely a personal pleasure aircraft) then I believe it's up to the owner/pilot.

Call Transport Canada... they'll be able to tell you the hard and fast rules.


As far as lighting the interior of the plane... What kind of plane are you thinking of? If you are in the cockpit there is essentially no chance they will let you light it. If it's a separated passenger cabin and you have battery powered lights (batteries are dangerous goods – check into if you can bring them on installed in lights, and what type you can use) they may let you.

I can't help you chose a car mount because I know next to nothing about them.

And, renting an aircraft is extremely expensive if you want a pilot included.
 
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I believe he is asking about mounting it on the INSIDE of the plane on the window. Yeah you can do that, you will probably get some reflection problems especially at night because the window is double layered so you can't get your lens right up on it, because the outer window will still have reflections.
 
I think Ben might be right about where the OP wants to mount it. Is this a commercial passenger plane? You may get some interesting looks.
 
HAHAHA!! I knew this would come up!
Yes, Ben is right, on the INSIDE.
Really? Did you think you could mount the camera on the outside? Is that even possible? Yeah, I don't want to know. Don't care.

Noel Evans said:
Is this a commercial passenger plane? You may get some interesting looks.
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Yes, a regular commercial plane.
Might get some looks, but a lot more questions and people stating with interest. :P
 
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I've done it before but I was sharing the row with some people I know. They'll make you take it down for takeoff and landing which are the most interesting parts. :(
 
Ben_B said:
I've done it before but I was sharing the row with some people I know. They'll make you take it down for takeoff and landing which are the most interesting parts. :(
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Sucks. Hope I never run into those problems. Besides, I will probably be beside family at the time.

What mount did you use, or which would be best to use?
 
DDirector said:
HAHAHA!! I knew this would come up!
Yes, Ben is right, on the INSIDE.
Really? Did you think you could mount the camera on the outside? Is that even possible? Yeah, I don't want to know. Don't care.


Yes, a regular commercial plane.
Might get some looks, but a lot more questions and people stating with interest. :P
Click to expand...


Your question is hardly clear. Nathan tried to help you out, you could thank him for the info, rather than laughing at his answer.

Show some appreciation for his time.
 
DDirector said:
Sucks. Hope I never run into those problems. Besides, I will probably be beside family at the time.

What mount did you use, or which would be best to use?
Click to expand...

I used a little mount I made myself out of an old GPS mount. Removed the little holder for the GPS unit and drilled a 1/4" hole and put a bolt through it with a washer and a wingnut. I didn't use it for a timelapse or anything, just for getting some steadier shots out the plane window.
 
DDirector said:
HAHAHA!! I knew this would come up!
Yes, Ben is right, on the INSIDE.
Really? Did you think you could mount the camera on the outside? Is that even possible? Yeah, I don't want to know. Don't care.


Yes, a regular commercial plane.
Might get some looks, but a lot more questions and people stating with interest. :P
Click to expand...

An example of mounting cameras on the outside of airplanes. Hope you like it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQpXjs3KuNA&feature=related
 
FWIW, i was a commercial glass installer for a couple years, and professional suction cups come in varying degrees of weight threshhold. the kind i used could dead-lift 600lbs. but i don't know how do the math to determine wind velocity/altitude affects....someone other than me would have to figure that out, but for $100 a cup, it sounds like it would hold up just fine...outside at 12,000ft...2 cents.
 
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I would think (this could all be wrong) that suction cups would lose their strength as you ascend because the air pressure outside the cup would be getting lower and lower until it equalizes with the pressure inside the cup, if that pressure can be reached.

Moisture could also affect the cups, no?
 
Inside or Outside, unless the plane is Pressurized inside it wont hold. When you Fly up pressures decrease outside the Suction cups and they become dislodged. it has nothing to do with wind speed, its all about pressure.
 
most suction cup systems will fail the vacume inside the cup wont be greater than the vacume outside of it.
 
I prefer to just duct tape my cameras to the outside of the plane. I like to do that while boarding when I am standing just outside the door waiting for some fat lady to get her stuff into the overhead bin and then decide she needs something else while holding up 50 other people that need to board. I use that 100mph duct tape and them a piece of bubblegum as a back up.


Sorry, I couldn't resist bumping this thread even more off topic ;) I am a sarcastic mofo sometimes.
 
It's perfectly possible, but I think that you would need something as a backup, to prevent it falling and getting damaged.
 
This is a fun little debate that has gone far afield from the OP. But hey, it gives me an opportunity for shameless promotion...

I shoot from helicopters, ultralights, cars, boats, RC airplanes, you name it, if it moves and you need to mount a camera on it I do it. I just do this for myself, I'm not a professional. Funny thing is, figuring out how to accomplish this on your own nickel is radically different from hiring someone to do it.

With that said everyone should also be aware that there are significant restrictions to what and how you mount things to aircraft. As a rule of thumb the FAA doesn't care if you kill yourself but they take the unattended consequences of hurting others very seriously. Look at what happened recently to the poor extra sitting in a car when an effect went terribly wrong. A spokesman for the production said that the extra wasn't a "professional" stunt person - really, like that would have prevented the object from going through the windshield.

Anyway, you can mount a 7D to just about anything, however even if you can doesn't mean the footage will be any good. I've tried about five different lenses and all of them "breath" when the camera is placed directly into a slipstream that is greater than 40 MPH. At some speed, and its different for each lens the air pressure differential is too great between the inside of the camera and the outside and the elements inside zoom lenses will actually move - depending on the build quality of the lens. But for me it has happened with all zoom lenses.

The speed or pressure can be much greater with Prime lenses but I don't know any primes that have image stabilization so you get those micro shakes which turns the image to jello. So you really need to test what your doing. Of coarse thats the difference between what I do as a hobby and a professional does as a career and that's also why aerial footage cost so much.

here's the shameless self promotion part of my diatribe:

Shooting from an Ultralight:

[started with the sexy one first, see how I did that?]

Shooting from a Helicopter:

[Kinda boring, but if you want to see handheld from a helicopter and you like Manfred Mann's Earth Band you'll like this]

Shooting from a Car:

[This is just showing off :)]
 
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