Aerial Video on my RC Plane (T-28 Trojan)

Ever since I bought my first plane I have always been curious about mounting a video camera in the plane and capturing video from the plane while flying. I've had my T-28 Trojan for over a month now, and I've been able to get 20+ flights in it now, so I figured I was ready to push my limits a little more. What's the fun in flying if you don't add some risk?!

A few years back I bought a small pocket HD video recorder made by Creative called a "Vado".  It's about the size of a small cell phone and weighs around 4 ounces. It is a little heavier than I'd like for a plane the size of my 800mm Trojan, but I was determined to make it work.

This model is made entirely out of foam and is very light, the camera added about %25 more weight, which is pretty significant, so I wasn't entirely sure how it would fly. I was confident that I could get it into the air, but I was a little more unsure of controlling it.

First I had to mount the camera in a safe/secure fashion that also kept the center of gravity over the plane's wing. I removed the canopy of the plane, leaving me with most of the fuselage to work with, and I was able to secure the camera in the cockpit area with some strong velcro tape. I shook the plane vigorously to test out its hold, and it all seemed good to go!

I took the plane down to my favorite spot on a nice calm late afternoon. I Hooked up the battery and the camera, gave the flight controls a test, held my breath and pushed the throttle to full down the runway. The plane lifted off much heavier than before and almost immediately stalled itself after nosing up, but I recovered just in time to roll up into a second stall. I was finally able to gain enough altitude with the plane to get some time to trim out the controls and level out the plane, it had been want to climb too much which was making it stall.

After everything was trimmed correctly the plane actually flew really well. It was certainly more top heavy than normal and really wanted to roll over on turns, so I had to remember to compensate for that while banking. I ended up doing 3 flights that afternoon; one front facing view on the camera, a second facing the rear, and then finally from the ground. The flights were a total success, and no crashes! Even the landings went smoothly! Be sure to check out the video of the flights below.

Watch the First Person View Video on the Trojan below!