+RecPlanet My guess is the kite was somewhere between 180 feet (55 meters) and 320 feet (98 meters). I base this only on how long it took to pull in the kite with my line winder in about 3 minutes. Each full turn of the line winder is about 1 foot. It may seem higher than 300 feet, but that is because of the wide angle lens. But there is a formula that you can use to approximate the altitude of you kite. You need to know two things: (1) The angle of the kite from where you are standing. You can use a simple protractor that costs < $5 USD. I recommend a "Fiskars Swingarm Protractor". You also have to keep the protractor level to obtain the correct degree of angle to the kite. You can eye ball the angle by keeping the protractor level and lining up the swing arm to the kite. (2) The length of the line that will approximate the length of the slope. I say approximate because there is slack in the slope so the actual number will be slightly less depending on the strength of the wind. The stronger the wind and the lighter the kite string the lower the slack. So let's just keep the slack out of the equation for sake of simplicity. Next step is to take the length of the line and multiply it by the (sin of the angle degrees). For example: I'm flying my kite with 500 feet of line. I use my protractor and determine that the angle to the kite from where I am holding the line is 60 degrees. I google the "sin(60 degrees)" and get back 0.86602540378. I use the formula 500 times 0.86602540378 = 433 feet or 132 meters is the approximate altitude of my kite. You can use this chart below for sin values for different angles to the kite. 90 Degrees = 1 80 Degrees = 0.9848 70 Degrees = 0.9397 60 Degrees = 0.8660 50 Degrees = 0.7660 45 Degrees = 0.7071 40 Degrees = 0.6428 30 Degrees = 0.5000 20 Degrees = 0.3420 10 Degrees = 0.1736 nd Your kite is probbly in the trees or caught in power lines.
+Robert Zinn So there is actually a law that says you cannot put them above 500 feet? How is somebody supposed to know how high their kite is? And who is really going to enforce it?
+RecPlanet Yes the US FAA guideline is that any tethered object should remain under 500 feet. I actually mark my line every 100 feet to keep track. In this test flight I was not really paying attention to the exact height but I am confident that it was under 500 feet.
Keep your line under 500 feet and you should have no problems, right? If you have a longer line, make sure you're flying at an angle rather than straight overhead.
Used the flat plate mount that came on the GoPro box -Used cardboard about 16 inches wide by a little more than 2x the height of the flat square bottom of the GoPro mount plate. -Folded the cardboard in half of the height. -Placed plate between folded layers. -Cut a hole in the cardboard to have the GoPro mount poke through. -Duct tape around three sides of the cardboard. -Used 4 zip ties to kite struts + 2 ties. See video description for a link to a photo of the mount.
Yes, you answered part of my question. What I want is to hang my phone from a traditional diamond shape . But where. At the point where line hooks on or rear where tail joins. Stunning video. Better than a lot of drones where you get a jitter and flicker from props.
The only specific setting that I can remember was the it was on wide view. The advantage of wide view is the video appears more stable. The disadvantage of this setting is the you can see the kite struts on each side. Another disadvantage is that the horizon is distorted making the earth look like it is curved. We all know the earth is flat. Ref: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth
Great job! Video is much better than mine when I had the camera hanging from my daughters $1 Disney kite from wal-mart. Also, any tips on how to get that lovely pattern in your grass? !
If those kite were being towed by a car and there were no obstructions such as trees or the sort (and not much wind), would that be a good shot or would all the wind make the kite go too crazy? Or is there even some other logistical issue I'm not thinking of.
Greg Tamargo I really did not think about towing a kite before (other than by a boat. I would guess that towing the kite used in this video would fly just fine and would provide good results. I would do it when there is little wind. I would travel between 8 and 15 mph or between 13 kph and 25 kph. I have another video of towing a kite from a boat (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-AZp0MPEisvo.html), but it is a much smaller kite that is not nearly as stable. I picked that kite to fly since it was more portable (I could pack it in a small pouch and it had not rigid struts.)
I did that using fishing line also and it was so high it was hard to hold onto so I tied it up to a fence post. Next day kite was down . About 2 years later I was driving approx 4 miles East from where I flew the kite and I saw it on a power pole. It was a very distinctive kite and there it was.
I find it hard to believe that you flew a kite 10,560 feet. I guess it is possible, if so, I am curious about the type of kite you flew including style, make, size, and dimensions. I am also interested in the line winder that you used and how long it took you to wind the kite in from that height. As a kid back in the 1970's my brother and I flew his home made box kite out 975 yards or 2925 feet using fishing line. It probably never flew higher than 300 or 400 feet based on the angle. I know a 12 foot kite is barely visible at 4600 feet.
I use 80 to 150 pound test line in lengths of 500 feet. For this video, I was probably flying 80 lb line. Here is a link to the winder: www.kiteloft.com/single-line-kites/line/winders-1/windbreaker-line-winder-1 and Line: www.kiteloft.com/single-line-kites/line/bulk-line-1 If you really want to take higher quality shots while minimizing the white string in the image, then consider using an ultra clear fishing line with at least 50 lbs strength. The breaking strength values all depend on the wind, and this kite can generate enormous pull in 12 mph winds.
Check out the video description for more info. The camera is mounted to a Swept Wing Double Box Delta designed by Barbara Meyer. The kite is fairly stable for this type of mount. Check out the video description for more info.
Look at the description that provides a link of photos showing you the mount. I may do a video that shows how simple it was to create the mount with GoPro display mount plate, cardboard, duck tape and zip ties.
For this video that was taken back in 2013, I used Windows Movie Maker. Although it is a very limited video editor, it does contain ( shaky video feature) to reduce movement. In 2014, I began using CyberLink Power Director (PC) for its more enhanced editing capabilities. There are other 3rd party stabilization programs out there for PCs that just do the stabilization. I found a few years ago that many degrade the video quality, but they may have improved since then.
What a terrific movie! How do you manage to keep the camera this balanced? I've read your description, but I quite don't understand how it manages to keep so utterly still.
Here is a photo of the mount. zinnware.com/HighAdv/2013_05_05_Kite_Photos/pages/GoProMount.html Additionally, I did use a post production video stabilizer. You can tell that this is used by looking at the ground. At times it appears to be moving.
Yes, the folded cardboard, duck tape and zip ties is all that was used for the mount. My first attempt used a suspended mount, but it was way too shaky.
Usando un nuevo montaje personalizado (ver a continuación) para el GoPro Hero 3 que está montado al ras de la cometa. La cámara está montada en una Swept Wing Double Box Delta diseñada por Barbara Meyer. La cometa es bastante estable para este tipo de montura. Foto de la montura: http: //zinnware.com/HighAdv/2013_05_0 ... Utilicé el soporte de placa plana que vino en la caja de GoPro Utilicé cartón de aproximadamente 16 pulgadas de ancho por un poco más de 2 veces la altura de la base cuadrada plana de la placa de montaje GoPro. Doblé el cartón en la mitad de la altura. Coloqué la placa entre las capas dobladas. Se hizo un orificio en el cartón para que el GoPro se deslizara. Envolví la cinta adhesiva alrededor de los tres lados del cartón. Se utilizaron cuatro bridas para fijar el cartón a los puntales de la cometa + 2 bridas para controlar la posición horizontal para controlar el equilibrio.
This is a tethered kite. Tethered kites fall under different regulations than FAA UAS rules. I did however register my drones within a few weeks of the enactment of those rules years ago.
Do a search on "Swept Wing Double Box Delta designed by Barbara Meyer". See the video description to learn more about the simple and inexpensive mount made out of cardboard and zip-ties.
As a REALTOR...this is what I will be using from now on for my AERIAL TOURS.....now....with that said...I am looking for licenses to be issued by the FAA...
***** Unfortunately the FAA prohibits drone operators from using videos or photos taken from the drones to sell Real Estate. This includes a private individual using them to sell their personal property. The FAA rules go well beyond that. Their are currently being sued by many organizations including at least 41 Universities on the regulations implemented in July 2014.
Good New! A Realtor just received the first exemption from the FAA to use a UMV to take aerial videos and photos. It only took him 170+ days to get approval. Read more here: www.faa.gov/news/updates/?newsId=81164 Reading the specific exemption is interesting: www.faa.gov/uas/legislative_programs/section_333/media/Trudeau_Douglas-11138.pdf
Paul Mazurek If I was going to do it again, I might switch the field of view to "Narrow" to minimize the distortion and remove the struts from the sides of the video. The GoPro has three or four FOV modes (Wide, Medium, Narrow).
Jimmy Walker The GoPro Camera lens is a wide angle lens making the ground seem far away. The FAA limit for tethered objects is 500 feet above the terrain. This was filmed a few years back and I am not sure of the exact height. I would estimate that it was between 250 and 300 feet high. I base this on the time it takes me to bring it in. Each half-turn of the line winder is about 6 inches. I am turning the spindle approximately three half turns per second with a few pauses to prevent the kite from an overhead stall.
Jimmy Walker As described in the Video Description: "The camera is mounted to a Swept Wing Double Box Delta designed by Barbara Meyer.". Also in the description is link to photos of the kite, zinnware.com/HighAdv/2013_05_05_Kite_Photos/pages/vlcsnap-2013-05-13-11h27m01s83.html
Kite photography has been around for over 133 years. Nothing fake about that. All I need to do is stabilize the camera with a gimble on the kite and turn the camera down and backwards to remove the string from the video. One of the first stabilizers was the Picavet Suspension sysem developed in France in 1912. Learn more about KAP here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kite_aerial_photography
Specifically, the photo of the mount can be found here: zinnware.com/HighAdv/2013_05_05_Kite_Photos/pages/GoProMount.html I used the flat plate mount that came on the GoPro box. I used cardboard about 16 inches wide by a little more than 2x the height of the flat square bottom of the GoPro mount plate. I folded the cardboard in half of the height. I placed plate between folded layers. A hole was cut in the cardboard to have the GoPro mount poke through. I wrapped duct tape around three sides of the cardboard. Four zip ties were used to attach the cardboard to the kite struts + 2 zip-ties to control the horizontal position to control balance.
Thanks for the pic's, I have a good idea now that I seen this. don't like the strings in the view, thinking of a weather balloon and string. how about the plastic device that fits between the two strings and holds the go-pro ?
