Cheap DIY Camera Kite for Gopro around £30/$50 - fun way to take KAP pics or video from above

I did a review of the flexifoil camera kite setup (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpWd9FThxo0) and felt the electronic gimbal was uneccessary and didn't like that camera could only point in a fixed position either side of line, so felt this could be done more simply and cheaply another way. The flexifoil kite/bag/reel are beautiful quality so this isn't bashing but for someone to give this a go this is a really cheap and easy way to try Kite Aerial Photography (KAP) or video.

A big thanks to Jim for help/advice and inspiration see his video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_g7o6iJVyo

You can find these items cheap on ebay/amazon etc, but links are just the ones I used, so always check for best price in your country:

1.5-2.5M single line parafoil kite will easily lift camera righ in 5-7mph wind or higher - mine was 1.5M from ebay for £14.99 if you search ebay "single line (foil, parafoil) kite" there are several types, just check the dimensions as you need 1.5M square or larger. I'm using is 175CM x 85CM 'galaxy' kite which is still on ebay. I tried to convert a 2 line kite to single line but it was not successful so you need to choose a single line kite.

Fuzzy tail I'm using a CIM Fuzzy tail for £9.99 https://www.kiteworld.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000004.pl?WD=fuzzy&PN=CIM_Fuzzy_Tail%2ehtml#SID=159
which has clip/loop on each end, but a cheap ebay search "kite tail rainbow 10" is under £2 and with slits cut in and extra hook sewn on other end works fine.

The CIM 18cm round reel for £2.99 works well https://www.kiteworld.co.uk/acatalog/CIM-Ring-Spool-180cm.html#SID=171

Line I'd recommend braided (not twisted) line, I'm using 500ft of 200lb braided line from Emma's Kits on ebay, but 120Lb line should be plenty strong enough - search ebay '500ft kite line' seller I used is emmaxiao - be aware there is a 60M/200ft altitude limit for kites in the UK set by the CAA but obviously kites don't fly straight up, so more than 200ft of line is OK.

Camera mount, I much prefer picavet style mount to the selfie stick pendulum, as its easier to clip on/off line and more stable, the 3D printed plans are:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2367626

I used 22m curtain screw eyes from wilco, and a gopro tripod mount with a 1" 1/4 BNC bolt to mount this.

Instructions on how to string the line on picavet mount:
http://www.brooxes.com/newsite/Downloads/Picavet.pdf

Clips search ebay 'longline fishing clips' 6cm size 10 for £2.62 delivered, just bend the tips out slightly with pliers to grip the line firmly.

Any gopro extension arm will work, the helmet type are cheapest (search ebay "gopro extension arm helmet").

The electronic rotating base was £16 from ebay search "puluz 360 head remote", it comes with the gopro mount for camera side, to attach this to gopro mount on Picavet/selfie stick you just need a tripod screw to gopro adapter ebay search "gopro screw mount adapter" - I got 2 for 99p and they are useful to have for lots of things.

I use Gopro Hero7 camera which has nice stabilisation for video but any wifi action camera will work fine (loads on amazon etc from £40 upwards), or a non-wifi camera you can just set to take photo every 2 or 5 seconds, or start video and let kite go up and see what you get. The nice thing about the Gopro Hero5/6/7 is they have linear mode which takes out the fisheye effect which makes it much easier to crop/straighten photos without any odd bending due to fisheye lens.

I strongly recommend you have a helper (or 2 for first attempts), once you have tried this with help then tethering the kite to a bench or railing should be possible on your own, but its easier (and more fun) with someone else.

Making a tether/handle out of paracord (again cheap on ebay search "paracord 550" its 99p for 25ft available in many colours and really useful to have)

Other options/things I tried are:

Selfie stick with tripod thread in bottom, I used Puluz PU55 £3.72 posted from banggood:
https://www.banggood.com/PULUZ-PU55-Extendable-Handheld-Selfie-Stick-Monopod-for-Action-Sport-Camera-p-1198861.html?p=MW2604548780201404KC

1/4 Inch D-ring for camera
https://www.banggood.com/14-Inch-Long-Quick-Release-Plate-Stainless-Steel-D-Ring-Screw-For-Tripod-Camera-p-986255.html?p=MW2604548780201404KC

A rubber tap washer as safety ring, you could use a piece of plastic or cardboard just as a ridge to stop string sliding out.

Loop knot to tie selfie stick to kite string: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iirCwYONnIY

This is also an option where you might need a PFCO or awkward permission for a quadcopter flight, kites generally are flyable in many more places, the only restrictions are 60M/200ft altitude limit, but this is the kite height not line length (as kite won't fly straight up), so just something to be aware of.

Hope this is useful info, any questions please ask below.

Видео Cheap DIY Camera Kite for Gopro around £30/$50 - fun way to take KAP pics or video from above канала jamesb72