GoPro Mounts (another option)

[Sven]

Over Christmas my flying partners and I accumulated between us 4 GoPro cameras of varying levels. We've been extensively researching the topic for some time. It seems that the suction cups have a varying degree of success holding onto a plane. Some make the fatal mistake of tethering the camera to another spot as a backup and when the cup lets go the camera bangs big dents in the plane causing more damage than what the camera is worth. We wanted to avoid both the suction cups and the often-used glue mounts. Although the sticky mounts rarely let go we didn't want to deal with removing them and risking any kind damage.

 

We took a good look at the plane and talked through many different mounting points and options. Photography is my other hobby and so I'm a bit familiar with different camera mounts. Here is what we settled on.

 

I went to our semi-local aircraft salvage yard and picked up four Mooney access panels for $5 each. I bought two of these smaller ones and two of the larger ones we're so familiar with. This would give us the option of moving the cameras on the underside of the plane wherever we choose. Since these plates are "extras" we can put them on whenever needed and still change everything back to normal factory mode when finished, no permanent modification made. I am familiar with the tie-down point option but we wanted to avoid that, too, in case we were making a trip and wanted to actually tie down the plane without having to switch things back.

 

A mechanic friend at the airport told us about rivnuts and how they very securely attached. So we drilled thru the little hole in the center of our salvage panels and he installed these 1/4-20 stainless rivnuts. It's important to note that 1/4-20 hardware is the standard used in most camera mounts.

 

Here you can see what the underside of the panel and rivnut looks like.

 

We used 3/4 in 1/4-20 stainless bolts

 

 ...and put it through the rivnut.

 

For $12 I used a mini ball head camera mount by Giottos available at Amazon. It's small and very sturdy. To mount the GoPro on top of the mini ball head I chose to upgrade the standard plastic tripod mount with an aluminum one from Smatree, also available on Amazon. These are just $11. I chose a mini ball mount because of our dihedral wings and I wanted the ability to level and secure the camera. 

 

Put them all together and you have one super-secure and simple solution compared to many of the insane contraptions I've seen out there.

 

We will also have two mounts inside the Mooney. One will be easily mounted on the ceiling for shots looking out the front window and the backs of our heads and another on the front bar at the very top away from everything and out of our field of view. I'll add pictures of how we mounted those later. We did not use rivnuts. We used rather standard methods for those. Once we get up-and-running I'll post more pictures and movies.

 

I've seen some crazy setups with duct tape, zip ties, string, and much more hardware than necessary. We tried to keep it simple, cheap, very sturdy and have the option of leveling or turning the cameras any direction we choose. We also didn't want to cause any permanent damage to the plane or make any permanent modifications. And, we certainly do not want to lose a camera.

[Hank]

Quick, simple and cheap. I like it! Really interested in your inside mounts, which sound as nice.

[DonMuncy]

I'm not a video taking kind of guy, but I still like your system.

[jetdriven]

We just used the Sportys camera mount which mounts a bung under a longer screw through the perimeter of the inspection panel

[Sven]

We did consider the Sporty's option but we are cheap and didn't want to spend $80+ for one mount. That option might be best for some as you don't need a salvage inspection panel and/or access to the rivnut equipment. Also, it's the least invasive. Our setup cost us about $27 for a mount including the inspection panel.

[BorealOne]

I see a Mooneyspace business opportunity - interested in selling a few to fellow pilots?

[Sven]

Haha! Unfortunately/fortunately I got the only 4 access panels in the entire aircraft salvage yard. Once I saw how rare they were I nabbed what he had. He said they don't get many Mooneys, which I guess is great. Cessna and Piper panels were everywhere.

[DonMuncy]

With some scrap aluminum, your hangar elf can turn out plate with little difficulty. Doesn't everyone keep some various thickness aluminum sheet around.

[bonal]

. "Hey Bud I got an idea lets use some inspection plates to make camera mounts". Good idea

[gsxrpilot]

I like this idea as it would allow me to move the camera further out on the wing. But for any of you who have the LASAR tie-down points, my tie-down point mount still allows for full use of the tie-down, only needs to be removed once a year for the annual, and can be done start to finish for under $20 + the camera.

[Sven]

image.jpg. "Hey Bud I got an idea lets use some inspection plates to make camera mounts". Good idea

Hahaha! Who are those two old guys?

[Mooneymite]

With some scrap aluminum, your hangar elf can turn out plate with little difficulty. Doesn't everyone keep some various thickness aluminum sheet around.

 

A non PMA inspection plate?!!!

 

That's pretty gutsy.  If the wing should fall off due to a mid-air, the NTSB would certainly cite the unauthorized modification and the experimental nature of the access panel as a contributing cause!   

[M016576]

kind of unrelated, but maybe someone knows the answer:

If I get ramp checked with a camera on my plane, and the FAA inspector had cause, could they request the footage (or take the camera)?

[Sven]

I know I'm just using common sense logic here and I've been told not to when it comes to the FAA but if the CAA can approve a bike rack surely a camera on the outside would be just fine. See what I'm taking about here.

 

My apologies for using common sense. Maybe NASA has a "Sorry I used common sense" form.

[carusoam]

Nice racks...

Some things to keep in mind...

Take a look at how speed brakes work.

They are a small surface area and really work well at dissipating a good amount of energy.

Leaving anything attached to a lifting surface outdoors may result in posting a thread like the "f the FAA" thread...

That was enlightening on how the FAA can walk down the flightline observing things that stand out...

Best regards,

-a-

[John Pleisse]

This is great...thanks for the info.... Here's some great footage from some great Bonanza guys in Paraguay. They not only have the Go-Pros on board, but used a Go Pro on a drone hovering at their, obviously, uncontrolled drome.

 

[wishboneash]

I tried something similar with different cameras (at least 4, including the GoPro). I lost the wifi or other wireless connection most times during "high-power" operations like take offs etc. Then I could never regain the wireless connection. It works great if you just want to turn it on and leave it on, then edit the video later on.

[Guest]

Another neat mount is www.nflightcam.com

Clarence

[jbs007]

What about the threaded mount where the tie down hooks go on the bottom side of each wing?