helium blimp camera platform
I am considering trying a R/C helium blimp, with electric motors, as a camera platform. I expect this would eliminate vibration from the camera mount, and the noiseless vehicle could be launched almost anywhere. Payload is a problem though. It takes a very big helium baloon/blimp to lift any usefull weight, and the blimp envelope is fragile. Helium could get to be a major expense in the volume required, so perhaps a van or truck would be required to carry and store the fully inflated blimp, so as to save the helium between flights. I dont know about losses of helium due to envelope porosity. This whole idea is posing some interesting challanges and I'd like to hear from others with some experience with any of this. I hope to use a camera and transmitter on board, sending the video signal down to a ground based receiver and recorder. I need to learn about the video quality required to provide a clean and useful image, and the weight of such equipment. Another question is how to keep it from floating away, since it will be flying free and not tethered.. Full scale blimps apparently have "balloonettes"; air chambers inside the envelope which can be inflated/deflated as required to adjust bouyancy and trim. I am obviously early in the learning curve, and would appreciate hearing from others who have perhaps tried this, or something similar.