Let's Go Fly A Kite....

I've got to make me one of these video kites. I'd love to get these kinds of shots of Bella under sail. The challenges are many. 1. You run the risk of losing the video camera which can be expensive. Fortunately, video cameras cost must less today. 2. Stability of the kite to provide this stable of a picture. Sure image stabilization will help but if the kite is swaying, turning and dipping significantly it will create an unpleasant picture. 3. Weight of the camera and rigging has to be light and not interfere with the kite and its operation. 4. Maintaining the boat in the frame. Obviously, this sailor solved these problems with excellent results. Unfortunately, he has not posted his solution nor has he returned any of my emails. So, Google has been employed. There is information out there but nothing that seems perfect for this application. It looks like a trial and error exercise that should be great fun searching for the optimum solution. More to follow.

5/21/09 - Found and ordered the kite! Super stable I'm told and very compact. I'll be testing it next week....on land of course. It's the Parafoil 5, patriotic theme and single line kite. It's said to be able to be stable in flight as little as 6 mph. Yet, strong enough to fly in 25 mph winds. Once I do some testing I'll post some pictures.

5/26/09 - Found what I think will be the video camera. It's the Pure Digital Flip Video Ultra. It's small, 4.17" x 2.16" x 1.25" and is lightweight. Best of all it has a small LCD screen for playback which will be an asset during testing and normal use. In addition, there are aftermarket waterproof cases available should the kite go down. I'm looking to score a good deal on both on eBay. The kite should arrive tomorrow so I'll be able to begin testing the basic mechanics of setup and flight.

5/27/09 - Found another possible video camera that is built very well and is possibly weather/water-resistant. It is 3.8oz. and 2.5" x 4.5" x .9" in size. It has a larger LCD display as well. So, a definite finalist candidate.

- I also found a device to stabilize the mounting platform relative to the motion of the kite. It's a Picavet suspension system.

- My kite did not arrive today, unfortunately. Tracking has it arriving tomorrow. So, kite testing will be begin tomorrow. I'm hoping that it's as stable as reported and able to fly well in 8 knots of wind and carry a payload of 6-10 oz.

5/28/09 - Kite arrived! I'm excited that it arrived but very excited that included was string and a hand string winder! Testing begins as today! Is it windy?

- The testing went well in one respect and poorly in another. It went well in terms of the kit's stability and low wind flying characteristics. Poorly in terms of it's ability to carry a payload the weight of the camera and rig. I think this kite is too small for my needs. So, I'll search for a similar design that is larger.

5/29/09 - Scored the Kodak Zi6 Pocket Video Camera today on ebay for half the MSRP. This should be a great choice but only testing will tell the real story.

6/01/09 - Kite update. What I'm learning is I'll likely have to have at least two kites and possibly three. One for high wind conditions and one for low wind conditions. I may have the correct kite for high wind conditions. So, still searching for the best low wind conditions.

- Video Camera update. Surprisingly the Kodak Zi6 showed up today. It's a bit larger than I had hoped but it does weigh less than anticipated. At $80 it is reasonably "disposable" should it become lost or damaged during testing.

- Platform build. The next step is to build the mounting platform. The Picavet will be the primary platform which keeps the camera stable as the kite sways and moves with the wind. I'm gathering sources for the parts now.

6/02/09 - Ordered the parts needed to build the picavet. Hopefully, they'll arrive tomorrow and I can get this built by the weekend. I'm anxious to test it. I still need to design a mounting platform for the video camera itself. Once I get the picavet built it will make it much easier to design the mounting platform.

- Kodak Zi6 flight test - Even though I don't have the picavet platform I wanted to test fly the Kodak Zi6 to see how well the Parafoil 5 handled the weight. Tests were perfect especially since I am now lofting it mid-string length. Looking forward to putting together the picavet and mount platform and getting some stable video.

6/03/09 - No testing today as there were massive lightening and thunder storms. Ben Franklin alreay demonstrated that kites are excellent electrical conductors. No experimentation necessary.

6/04/09 - Received the picavet parts today. Platform, pulleys, line holders and line. Then off to Home Depot to get the items needed to fabricate the camera platform. A bit of designing, cutting, drilling and building resulted in a very stable and usable picavet based video camera platform. So, off to the park for testing. The testing went great! I'm editing the video now and will be posting some soon. Stay tuned!

- Here's my first kite aerial video. The winds were light and variable so the camera wasn't as steady as it can be. Still a lot of fun and the video quality produced by the Kodak Zi6 was excellent.

6-07-09 - Here's some pictures of my picavet platform and camera mount with camera mounted. Notice the use of the model ship blocks (pulleys). These are actual ball bearing blocks that work great and keeping the platform level. Also, notice that I've used wing nuts at pivot points to allow for rotation and angle adjustments. I'll be doing more testing this week and hopefully out at sea. More video to follow!