2008-02-03

A Pelican's View of Coquina Beach

Today was a beautiful, warm, sunny Sunday on the OBX. Winds were near completely calm except for a slight easterly breeze. Conditions were perfect for an RC ocean flight, and Coquina Beach near Oregon Inlet/Bodie Island Lighthouse is a great spot. It was my first ocean flight with the SuperCub, and nice practice for upcoming bird's eye view surfing videos. The plan is to fly over the surf zone to capture the surfing action from a pelican's perspective. Should be quite cool, once the water warms enough for comfortable surfing conditions.

I worked out the camera mount and it provides a nice point of view, except for the black lines you will see in the video. They are caused by the propeller passing in front of the camera viewing area. Not sure if I can get around that hurdle, but perhaps I can figure something out. The GoPro is a great camera for the job, since the video is quite good, and the camera housing is near bomb proof! Additionally, the wrist strap grommets on the housing function well for the rubber bands used to attach the camera to the plane.

Enjoy the ride: