Up to now we have been flying blind. But that will change. I just finished building a ground station down link that will receive live video from the GoPro. We will be able to see what the camera is seeing as we fly. This will help us better compose our footage and save valuable flight time.

I also received my new GoPro Hero 3 Black. My original camera stopped working after a bad firmware up-date and had to be replaced. Looks like they got it right this time. Everything is working as expected. What a pleasure it is to operate the camera with the phone app.

The complete Aerial Filming System: Photohigher AV130 Camera Gimbal, GoPro Hero 3 Black, The GoPro phone app.,  a 1.2Ghz video RX with a 1500mW TX and a monitor for live video feed back.

 ~ Doug

While we are still trying to figure out what makes the helicopters fall from the sky on cold days.. (not good!)..  we ended up testing one theory long after the sun went down.  Maybe next time, both the chopper and the pilot will have night vision goggles.

The first night flight of the WooKong (click here)

What’s being affected by the cold? It is the batteries?  The controller?  The on-board electronics?  We are close to an answer!  Just as the warmth of March starts rolling in, of course..

-Submitted by Courtney Ley

 

Well, it’s back into the editing room.  We are getting ready for the Catskills Ice Festival this coming weekend and along with tuning the helicopters, the footage needs a little tuning as well.  I won’t be able to go, but I’m handing off the film to Doug to bring down with him and show off during the festival.  Learning Final Cut Pro has been quite the undertaking.. from figuring out how the program deals with files and file types, learning how to apply the endless array of image and video filters, how to adjust those filters, crop, stabilize, change speed, add text, add transitions, you name it.  And now that I am getting a grasp on editing and discovering new filters and effects to improve the quality of the video, I am spending more time in front of the computer doing it.  Yes, late nights are no stranger here.

I can’t wait to see the footage Doug gets in the Catskills.  It will be added to the growing library of clips for my hard drive to file and my editor to play around with.  Soon after the ice festivals are over, we will be posting some footage to the site, so stay tuned!

-Submitted by Courtney Ley

We were having problems with the cold (single digits) at the Smuggs Ice Bash. We think it is the radio so I got an insulated carry case that we can put hand warmers in…Let’s hope this works.