I think I may have a solution. How about an auto inflation life jacket. Not sure if it would work but its the perfect shape. You get a full range of motion on the gimbal, its not heavy (although its a little unbalanced on one side because of the CO2 charge). May just tip over but you would still save the frame. I might set it off and test it in a pool.
That's intriguing, but for the 99.99% of the time that you're not actually crashing into the drink, that's going to produce some unwanted air turbulence. But I agree that something along those lines would be great. Just a very tightly-packed mylar balloon (or several of them) with moisture sensors would do it. Something like this: http://www.google.com/patents/US5357888
Interesting. It turns out this is a significant issue for big copters, too. Both civilian and military copters can be outfitted with this kind of thing...see here: http://embed.docstoc.com/docs/37108388/Bell-JetRanger-Lightweight-Emergency-Flotation-Systems---AWB- http://www.aero-access.com/products...Out-Emergency-Float-Kit.html?product_id=16408 <-- a bargain at $74,000 US http://www.stormingmedia.us/28/2806/A280623.html
I agree, if you could get something that is more compact but along those lines it would be a great setup. After all the lifejacket in the pic is rated for a grown adult, so there must be room for downsizing.
Hey, here's one I haven't seen yet. Reasonably-priced ($167 US), and automatic, with 35lbs of buoyancy (more than enough for even a heavy lifter). http://www.mustangsurvival.com/recreational/mustang-survival-rescue-stick-0?country=25
Hey Guys, I fitted the pool noodles and covered all but the front and back in black gaffers tape so I can see orientation easier. Worked great! I had 2 seperate shoots in humid missouri the past 2 weeks. Both mornings with fog over the water motors 7 and 8 would not start up. I pulled out my hair dryer on the boat ( i had a generator for charging batteries) ran the blowdryer over the BL's for 5-10 seconds, fixed the issue, good for the rest of the day. (I received my acrylic spray for the boards, but have not had time to spray yet) Note: I would not use the shower cap, everything gets super hot! Here are some video clips from the 2 shoots. The final result of the Wakeboarding comp for Devin Graham. (It was a competition, so we were limited on how close we could get, wish I had some one on one time with the guys.) A behind the scenes from the Bass Pro Shops shoot on thursday. Their crew filmed and edited this BTS vid. It's great, I never get BTS shots like these Filmed both days all over the water, talk about stress!!!
Very cool, Thats ballsy flying from the boat. one bump....... doesn't bare thinking about. gave me palpitations watching. Awesome Wake Boarding footage, no wonder you had problems thats a fog your flying through
Big fan of flying over water. Here is some b-roll samples from a bass show last year with the GH2. Cheers, Jeff
Copters and other aircraft (a) don't know about probabilities, and (b) don't know they're over water. Only Murphy knows. Andy.
I bought one of these!! Very light!! Just trying to think of a way to attach with some fishing line on a spool to float to the surface. Anybody got any ideas??
How heavy (in water) is your copter, Rex? It appears to only have 2.2 pounds lifting capacity. You might want to consider some kind of cylindrical container, one end of which has a water-soluble membrane over the end that would dissolve away in water. I started out thinking of something like rice paper, but there's got to be something better than that. Andy.
How about the small detergent filled plastic sacks that you put in a washing machine? Maybe cut one up and tape the material to the top of a tube. Not sure how quick it would dissolve
Or perhaps a small plastic cup that you seal with paper glued on with a flour'n'water glue? Don't know how quickly it dissolves, but some quick experiments would shot that. I would have suggested the plastic containers used for 35mm film, but they're a little harder to come by -- but they make great storage thingies. Andy.
I just came up with an idea. I am going to use a dental floss dispenser and wind with 30# or 50# test. I thought the floss was pretty strong but would only do about 10#s. If I get it working I'll post some photos.
http://www.watersolublebags.com/products/small-sizes How do you feel about owning 5,000 such bags? Andy.