Sunday, April 19, 2009

Successful first flight

Its been a long time coming and weather conditions have not been favourable. However today I was determined to get a successful launch no matter what the conditions. This was largely because of the upcoming Worldwide KAP Week (WWKW). The rig, camera transmitter, etc are all new so were badly in need of a test flight.

As usual for Capstone Park, the wind was tricky, swirling on the ground, turbulent at low level and pulling like a train once you get above tree level. Not to be put off, I decided to go with my favourite KAP kite, a Premier Rok. After a bit of a struggle launching we eventually got the kite into the steady wind.

So the rig was attached, powered up and tested - PAN fine, TILT fine, Shutter fine, vide downlink fine. Time to get some height. Another problem with Capstone is its proximity to Rochester Airport, so we are limited to 100 feet, just enough to get out of the worst turbulence. The final problem is that it is just fields, there is nothing there to photograph - or so I thought.

Up above the hedgerow that separates the event field from the barbecue field and with the camera pointing towards the barbecue field there were a group of cars in the far corner.

Pole Lathe workshop 1

You can see the full size picture by clicking on it. So after a successful first flight, time to pack everything away and prepare for the trip to Berck festival and the WWKW.

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