GoPro stick resistance

ALMARTON · #1 03-14-2011, 07:20 AM

Hi Folks,

Does anyone who uses GoPro camera mounted on the 3M sticks can tell if it is safe to fly it up to 200mph without loosing the camera?

Does anyone lost a GoPro due to drag at high speeds ripping the 3M stick off?

Thanks in advance.
Alexandre "neck" Marton
Brazil.

Capflyer · #2 03-14-2011, 08:01 AM

I fly with mine mounted on the wing regularly but do not use nor trust the pad. Even if the glue holds the sticky pad itself could split. It is easy enough to file down the ridge on the mount in the center then drill and countersink a screw hole. Use a tinnerman washer and mount it to one of the existing screws already on the wing.

flynwest · #3 03-14-2011, 10:07 AM

I also put a screw in one of the pads without the sticky tape. I have gone to 230 mph no problem.

ALMARTON · #4 03-14-2011, 10:21 AM

Hi thanks for the advice but I do not intend to put any screw , I will only use the pad, I'd rather loose the camera than to screw it to the plane. If I loose the camera screw it ... lol!!!!

With the pads alone I went to 147 mph IAS that would give me arround 173mph TAS, with no problem.

But I posted the question here to gain from others experience, and certify myself of the pads resistance/endurance.

Like to hear from folks out there that has being using the pads alone to secure the Gopro for long time or anyone who has lost one when using only the pads...

BruceS · #5 03-14-2011, 11:27 AM

On the Cozy MkIV, we take the camera out of it's water proof case and use just Gorilla Duct Tape to attach only the camera to the airframe. We've mounted it on the wings, upper winglets, top, bottom, nose and sides of the fuselage. Haven't lost one yet.

Some advantages of this method, 1) pictures are sharper/clearer (not having to shoot through the plexi glass cover). 2) less wind turbulence around the camera (we were getting a lot of that "jello look" until we took the camera out of it's case), being able to screw it to the wing would really help that. Hard to do with a fiberglass wing though. 3) easier to mount.

Some disadvantages, 1) Rain (one does need to be a little more careful in the type of weather you fly in

2) the residue that the tape leaves (it does need to be cleaned off).

Just a suggestion, take off the little lens (6 screws I think?) that's on the GoPro camera and shoot some cockpit footage, you'll notice a much sharper image with more contrast.

RBD · #6 03-14-2011, 11:45 AM

Alexandre, if you insist on only using the sticky pads (not sure why you wouldn't want to use a screw in an existing nutplate?) you might want to pick up the surfboard mount that GoPro sells. It is a much larger adhesive pad (it is a round pad approximately 4" in diameter.) I put this on one of my surfboards and it is on there for good - pretty sure I'd delaminate the fiberglass from the foam core before the 3M adhesive would let go of the fiberglass.

http://gopro.com/camera-mounts/surf-hero-expansion/

...And if you haven't seen this, here is a great/simple way to modify one of your mounts to accommodate a screw.

flyboy1963 · #7 03-14-2011, 01:34 PM

....and of course, the magic 3M adhesive is only as good as the surface it's adhered to.....so you have to THOROUGHLY degrease - removing any wax etc. from the surface. If water beads, it's still waxy! A good idea is to test the 'peel strength' of some duct tape first.
If it's really tough to get off, then the 3M pad will probably have good adhesion. Remember, most pressure sensitive adhesives 'flow' for quite a while after inital adhesion, so the bond will increase for up to a day or two after application. ( at room temperature).

Capflyer · #8 03-14-2011, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ALMARTON

Hi thanks for the advice but I do not intend to put any screw , I will only use the pad, I'd rather loose the camera than to screw it to the plane. If I loose the camera screw it ... lol!!!!

You may not care about losing the camera but the poor guy on the ground that has his windshield smashed from the falling camera might.....good thing it didn't hit him. You may want to rethink your strategy and help keep everyone safe.

ALMARTON · #9 03-14-2011, 03:08 PM

Capflyer, good thinking and thanks for the advice but I plan to fly only over unhabitated areas with this set up (my airfield is on the mountains, very very sparse population there).

RBD I did not know about the surfboard mount, I will use one of these seems the best solution yet.

But another compromise was given by BruceS he made me think in using the pads reinforced by duct tape...

Well until know I flew 2hours with the pads only up to 147mph , I was just considering the adhesives loosing strengh with time, elements, sun... so was think in made it more secure...

flyboy1963 good thinking , I cleaned very well the surfaces before aplying the pads and waited 24 hours to first operation...

Well many many thanks all you guys I will use pads + duct tape until got the surfboard pads.

ALMARTON · #10 03-14-2011, 03:28 PM

Folks,

Some more data can be read on page 4 of this 3M document.

The Gopro 3m VHB 4991 adhesive sustains 65lb/in2 on normal mode or 22 lb/in2 in 90 degree angle.

http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawe...6EVs6E666666--

So... 22lb/in , I think the camera does not generates that much drag even at 150mph IAS....