Gro Pro Mount

MacCool said:

Flight Flix has a wide variety of mounts. Rock Steady worked great on the wingtip of my RV-9A.

Here's a great example.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0-On4RZ1O0

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SMRacer said:

Here is what I am using on my RV8

https://flightflix.net/product/maui-flight-surface-pole-mount/

Satisfied with the product, BUT:

Quite pricey for what you get. I chose the shorter pole, and still reduced the length extending beyond the mount to help reduce vibration.

I suspect anyone handy with metal working could fabricate something very similar at a fraction of the cost.

The pole sticking out beyond the wing is just waiting for someone to walk into it. I use a 3/4" pitot tube cover and flag to warn, and still put a chair in front of it to prevent accidents.

360 cameras produce some spectacular video(after editing), especially in formation flying.

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planenutz said:

I made my own mount from some material I had laying around and it essentially cost nothing but a bit of time and some argon. The fixed provisions - the items that attach to the wingtip - are two pieces of 1/8 inch angle I had left over from the build, cut and painted then screwed onto the wing using the wingtip attachment screws. If your wingtips are riveted on you might need to work out a slightly different method.

The pole is a piece of 3/8" steel rod with three fins welded to the rod, each 120 degrees apart, to strengthen and dampen the rod. Essentially it looks a bit like an arrow and it protrudes forward of the wing by about 18 inches. Photos show wing with and without the pole.

The mount works well at all speeds but can get a bit of a vibration at around 80 - 90 knots. I suspect its a combination of RPM and speed that sets up the oscillation as its not always present at that speed. Its rock steady at all other speeds. While its not perfect and I would make some minor changes if I manufactured another one, its perfect for the price I paid for it.

If you were a fibreglass guru you could make this in carbon fibre and have it weigh nothing... but I'm not so mine is made from steel and its a little heavier than I would like but works well. I did think about buying a cheap fishing rod blank but they are a bit flexible, although I'm sure there is a way to rectify this. My impatience and need for instant gratification meant that I could achieve the desired goal of knocking something up in the morning and go fly it in the afternoon. Job done.

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