Overland Expo: Kite Aerial Photography

[Paladin]

You'd be surprised at how little wind you really need. It scales pretty well with the weight of the rig, and like I said in my first post, my 14sqft sled is more than I need to a lightweight rig.

I love the simplicity of the kite, but it just won't work in my topography. Average wind speed is pretty low around here. It also tends to be really gust and changes direction fast. Also, you have limited areas to go up. If the wind isn't blowing directly down a road, or out onto a lake, the kite will just get blown in to the trees.

Anyway, cool stuff. Nice and simple.

 

[Herbie]

New Shots

Well, I had the kite rig out at the SoCal Desert Rendezvous this past weekend and it has re-ignited some interest, so I've been sending people to this thread again. Might as well post a few updated images:

This was a very gusty day, so I was having trouble getting the main chute up as high as I'd have liked. Also, I'm still in the habit of rigging the Picavet on too-short lines, so I'm not getting quite enough damping of the sway, it seems. The horizon is moving around just a bit too much. Live and learn!

 

[Herbie]

Thought I'd post up a couple of new images from this weekend's SoCal meet-n-greet. I was just starting to fly the rig and shoot aerial photos when the local rangers showed up. It turns out their visit was unrelated, but I started the process of taking down the rig before I knew that, so I only got a handful of images. You can actually see their truck and them approaching the group in the last photo. ;-)