First tentative steps

Having spent a long time considering whether or not I was going to do this Kite Aerial Photography (KAP) thing, I finally decided to bite the bullet. First thing I needed to do was some serious research. To the rescue comes the wonders of the internet and the wealth of experience of people who have passed this way before and are pleased to share there experiences with you.

Some decisions needed to be taken. What sort of rig to use, what sort of camera to use, was I going to control the rig and camera from the ground, etc.?

The current wisdom is that a picavet suspension system is the way to go. If yo don't know what this is, then pop over to http://www.kaper.us for some detailed information. What soon became apparent was that all of the equipment can be bought rather than built. So with that in mind, a Brooxes Better KAP Kit was sourced from http://www.kapshop.com. This duly arrived just before Christmas.

Having made the decision to go for a compact digital camera and radio control, it was over to eBay to see what could be found on the second hand market. Lo and behold, everything was obtainable, and soon I was the proud possessor of everything needed to get started. This is an important point though. All the kit has to be collected before assembly starts. The rig has to be modified to work with whatever camera and radio equipment you choose to use, so make sure everything is available before we start.

Christmas break was spent in the workshop getting everything put together, and finally a couple of days before New Years Day, the rig had been finally assembled, had been tested indoors and was ready for its maiden voyage. All we need now is some wind...