Taking my Infrared Camera on a Helicopter ride. Advice Please?

[Brandon Clark]

I have a helicopter flight school about 10 mins from my house. I mentioned my interests in capturing Infrared Images of the town and my blog about the city and bla bla bla. I'll still end up paying $250 bucks but they offered a nice discount for what I'm wanting.

Does anybody know of anything in specific that looks really cool from the air(pertaining to IR) or anything I should specifically try and look for? I have the choice of staying over the city, going into the mountains, or going out over the great Salt Lake.

I was also wondering if the whole idea is dumb due to the vibration of the helicopter? I've never been in a chopper so I was wondering if they shake so bad that special Infrared imaging devices are needed?

The FLIR cameras used on the news helicopters during the oil spill seemed to work quite well.

Any advice is good advice?

[David A. Andersen]

The FLIR cameras used on the news helicopters during the oil spill seemed to work quite well.

Yea and they have camera stabilization mounted on the aircraft...

Advice: take a double dose of Dramamine and keep your seat belt on as you hang outside of the aircraft. Though windows are plastic, you have trouble shooting through them.

You have a FLIR GF306 also I assume?

[Brandon Clark]

Nope, I just have a FLIR B400 320 x 240 resolution.

The FLIR camera they were using on the news was just being held by hand. It was more of a camcorder looking camera like the B620 or B660.

They have a small chopper that will allow enough room for your arm and camera to stick out to not have to film through plexi-glass.

Maybe I should go with the quick $150 introductory flight before trying to rent an allotted amount of time.

I just figure that aerial IR shots of my little town would be great for blogging, a website heading, a blog background etc.. Maybe not.

[David A. Andersen]

Sure!

Make sure you fly over the industrial area.
Your B400 has GPS? no? Or bring one...

Take shots and then go door knocking!

[Chuck Evans]

Shoot a few flat rooftops after sunset if you get the chance and use it for marketing. The may not have a lot of wow factor but they are the moneymakers. Be sure to post some up here.

Oh, don't drop the imager and don't fall out.

[Jason Kaylor]

Originally Posted by dandersen

Sure!

Make sure you fly over the industrial area.
Your B400 has GPS? no? Or bring one...

Take shots and then go door knocking!

You know believe it or not that is illegal. I just recently saw a huge deal on this somewhere. I will dig it up for you when I have a chance.

JJ

[Brandon Clark]

Originally Posted by dandersen

Sure!

Make sure you fly over the industrial area.
Your B400 has GPS? no? Or bring one...

Take shots and then go door knocking!

You know this is exactly what I was considering. We have an enormous industrial district with companies ranging from Solomon Ski's to aircraft part manufactures. There is literally miles of flat roof tops that could be scanned within 30 minutes or less.

My Nikon P6000 camera has a GPS that actually marks a pin on Google Maps from every location that I photograph. I could take a Nikon photo from each building for the GPS location.

I'll have to look into what Jason is saying about the legal side of it. Hopefully there's some viable way around the law. Maybe if I just happened to stumble upon any findings vs presenting it in a manner that I was actually searching for defects. Heck, maybe I could even ask the companies for permission to take some pics.

I could really be onto something here. I just got my new B400 today and it's absolutely amazing. I'll be posting my B400 review along with several B200 vs B400 comparison images when I get some more time. From what I've already seen I have no doubts the B400 is more than capable of doing the job.

It's get's hotter than hell here in Utah in the day, but as soon as that sun drops it's immediately get's chilly. Prime-time for IR to shine!

I'll keep you posted. Anymore advice or thoughts is much appreciated!

[David A. Andersen]

I didn't know where you were from.
If you need help. Love to ski there (2 yrs ago) and I have a niece to shack with!