I've been thinking alot (more) about Kite Aerial Photography, and I'm slowy getting the gear together that I'll need. By the end of the winter I hope to have a basic system built and all the bugs ironed out, ready for a summer of KAP.
My first KAP system will consist of:
- 2x Sutton Flow Form lifter kites. One #16 (16 square feet) for general use and a #30 (30 square feet) for light winds. These will fly on 150 and 200 pound braided line (lots of lift!)
- 1x Brooxes Basic KAP Kit which is an aerial cradle for the camera. Using remote control I will be able to pan the camera 360 degrees horizontally, and 90 degrees vertically (from the horizon, to straight down). And of course I'll also be able to fire the shutter from the ground.
- picavet suspension system to keep the camera cradle level, no matter what angle the kite flys at.
- 1x minolta 35mm compact fixed focus camera (second hand).
- Some sort of soild wooden reel (can't be hollow) that can hold several hundred meters of 200 pound line.
I already have the camera, and BBKK (cradle kit), and picavet. The kites are on route from... um... somewhere; should be here this week. All I need now are the RC bits (servos, transmitter, and receiver), and the reel. It's looking like I'll have to make the reel myself, as they just don't make them big enough, or strong enough.
In the long term I will build a second, custom camera cradle, big enough to hold my SLR camera. I could then use a variety of lenses (including fisheyes) and maybe even hang a small video camera from it too. I've still got alot to learn about remote control gear but I like a challenge.
Every where I go lately I find myself imagining what the scene would look like from 100 feet up!
6:00:57 PM 
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