One of the reasons I have not put out a video or shown to much of what i am doing is the possibility of something going wrong. I have been taking it show and being very careful
with what i am doing. I explore the envelope a little bit at at time. Anytime pilot is doing anything that takes there attention away from flying chances of a problem increase. This is not something I recommend or condone, i just saw a powered parachute at oshkosh with a chase cam two years ago and saw the video, Long story but i finally got here so i can do it to. Still have lots of bugs and operational things to work out but making progress. A this point in time my chase cam and mounting does not concern me any more than losing and engine mount bolt, losing the engine or loss of engine operation. That can change in a heart beat as i go further into testing with stalls ETC. My concern is what is going to happen the first time i get it into the prop-wash, has not happened yet, not to say it won't.
Les, it sounds like you are going about this the right way. I really am intrigued by the camera angles you are getting, it reminds me of what I see when flying in a formation flight with the RV-6.
I had not considered prop wash, that is indeed a sobering thought. I saw a photo in the latest EAA Experimenter of a powered parachute with a chase cam, may have been the same guy you referenced. The chute doesn't have anything for the camera to get tangled up in, so that pilot doesn't have the same concerns we have.
You would think stall characteristics would be similar to what you expect as long as the ball is centered.....but who knows. If the cam line could trail the tailwheel it would reduce the concerns we have, but I don't know how you would retrieve it for landing. Maybe do like glider tow planes and jettison it prior to landing?? Might be hard on the camera, however.
Anyway, you are getting fantastic video, just continue to fly safely. I think you are wise to not publicize the details, it seems anything we post on the internet will get copied regardless of whether or not the individual understands the homework behind it.
