Testing my Chase-Cam

I've been working a project, off and on for about 3 months.  I found a general plan for a home-made chase-cam online and modified it to fit my needs. 

The basics parts are:

• A 2 liter soft drink bottle
• a 1/4" screw and nuts and washers
• a swivel mount ( I used an unused suction mount for an auto GPS)
• a couple of small carabiners
• a used paraglider line.
• a bit of webbing 
• material for fins (I used remnants from a RC glider kit)

First cut the bottom end off the 2-liter bottle.   Then put three equally spaced, 1" diameter holes in the "shoulder" of the top of the bottle (see photos) to allow airflow through the body of the bottle.

Attach the fins to the bottle with epoxy cement.

Drill out a !/4" hole through the bottle cap and the mounting swivel.

Assemble using washers and nuts to provide a secure attachement for the camera mounting swivel.

 

Your camera and swivel mount may require different balancing; use small weights to make the rig balance properly.

I attached the webbing on the camera mount to the spare paraglider line and then attached the top of the line to a rear attachment point about 5 feet left of centerline.  You may want to try other mounting points.  B-lines or C-lines may be more stable.  I used the trailing edge on my Icepeak 6 since options are few for mounting points on a 2-liner.  The camera is aimed to provide a view of the pilot and ample view of the forward panorama.  

As can be expected,  this additional line and the mass swinging from your trailing edge can result in tangling during launch or accidental collapse.  I would caution use of this set-up to be limited to benign conditions and experienced pilotos.

Here's the result - 

Cayucos 3-31-14 from Tim O'Neill on Vimeo.

A challenging day at Cayucos. Fun to fly the Icepeak 6 this season. First good test of the chase-cam.