Taking pictures and flying RC helicopters are two of my favorite weekend pasttimes. Therefore, it was only fitting that I develop an aerial photography side-business. Louisiana Helicam was started in the Fall of 2005.

All aerial photos are taken with an electric helicopter. The machine is around five feet in length and has a five foot rotor span. The electric power system is equivalent to a four horsepower engine.

The camera section of the machine consists of a 12.2 megapixel digital SLR camera as well as a 2.4gHz wireless downlink system. Remote video monitoring is possible via the use of video goggles that are connected to the receiver portion of the downlink system.

For video work, we use a high definition camera that films at 1080i native resolution.

There are many advantages to using this type of system. Several are:

• Single-man operation
• Aerial jobs can be done in a smaller area than conventional methods
• The customer can provide immediate input regarding the scope and angle of the images
• Cost is much lower than using full-scale aircraft
• On-site turnaround