Basically, a kite to lift line, with camera rig attached to
the line, and some way of getting the camera to take pictures.
With the rig shown, I am able to rotate the camera (pan) and tilt it, as well as triggering the shutter when I want to. This is achieved by the use of radio control equipment, as used in model aircraft. In order to try and keep the camera as still as possible, there are a series of lines running through pulleys attached to the cross on top of the rig. This is known as a picavet cross, and allows the rig to stay reasonably stable whilst attached to the kite line.
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I am also able to attach a different camera to the same rig. This is a Nikon Coolpix 4300 fitted with a 183 degree field of vision fisheye lens. The idea is that the camera is suspended so that the lens is pointing vertically down, and takes a full circle picture. This can then be stitched to another image taken with the camera pointing vertically upwards to give a complete 360 degree image.
The main home made kites I use are the 8m KAPFOIL, designed by Ralf Beutnagel.
the FLED, shown here flying with a fuzzy tail in 26mph winds.
3 spars and very quick to assemble and launch/recover.
The Peter Lynn PILOT; this one is 3/4 size, and again flying with a fuzzy tail in 26mph winds; a soft kite with no spars, and it packs up very small, but I find the bridle lines can get tangled.
The GENKI, but this one does not get used much now, as it takes a bit of time to assemble; again with spars.
The FLOWFORM. The plans for this are from the web site of Harald Prinzler.
This is a big soft kite that lifts well.
This is a French Rescue Kite (FRK) and is very good in strong winds.
It is a kite with spars and takes a little time to set up, but is a very stable flier
and a good lifter.
This is a 3 metre wide DELTA, build from plans available from the
site of Dan Leigh. It is very quick to build and. provided
the wings are identical, it is a very stable lifting kite in most winds.
