Tail Cam Details

How are you making them fancy in-flight movies?

I glassed a color 'bullet' camera into fiberglass cap of the VS. I got it from these guys for about $120. I also considered these guys, but they were a little more than I was looking to spend. The output goes to an RCA jack in the gearbox. I also installed an RCA jack for the audio. It is fed by the intercom using the output meant for passenger three or four. Just plug in the camcorder and go. I'm using a Sony DCR-HC40.

I chose this camera because it seemed to have all the rights specs: color, high resolution, high line count, etc. I'm strictly an amature, but so far it seems I've lucked out. The picture is not quite studio quality, but hey - it's a bullet cam, and I think it will be good enough for my purposes. It's 12v, & less than 1 amp.

The VS tip is held on with screws and nutplates. The camera itself is mounted more-or-less permenantly in a bed of microballoons inside the tip. I also made up a spare VS cap in case I need to remove the camera for some reason.

The whole set-up is working well so far. My RV-8 is a loud, shiney plane -- both of these characteristics are obvious during some recordings, but that's what video editing software is for. I'm still experimenting with different video editing tools such as DVIO, VirtualDub, TMPGEnc, and (gasp) even Windows Movie Maker.