A Supersimple NoFrills Kite Aerial Photography Rig

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A Super-simple No-Frills Kite Aerial Photography
Rig

• Design construction by
• Jim Day
• with Ali Fujino
• of the Drachen Foundation
• A non-profit kite research promotion
  organization based in Seattle,
• with worldwide tentacles

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To be effective, a KAP rig is

• Light weight,between 6 ounces and 1 pound.
• Not too light, as it will tend to bounce and
  vibrate too much.
• Pointable
• Hangable from the string, not the kite, as the
  string is more stable
• Cheap (Ali has a story)
• The most effective way to do this is with a
  plumb line suspension 1 rod hanging straight
  down from the kite string

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The heart of this rig is a simple windup
timer. Wind it up clockwise, it slowly unwinds
counterclockwise. While its slowly unwinding,
you attach the rig to the kite string, adjust the
aim, let out more string, and wait for the timer
to run out !
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This timer is almost done A tan colored plastic
dowel has been glued into the handle of the
timer. Well call this the pusher, as thats
exactly what it does.
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The pushers job is to give the gray bar a push
in the direction of the arrow.
You can see here how the timer is glued into a
hole in the camera housing.
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The gray bar, which well call the lever, sits on
a ledge. It wants to fall off the ledge, because
theres a rubber band (not installed in this
picture) which pulls it down.
A plastic screw, which well call the plunger,
lands exactly on the button of a disposable
camera and takes 1 picture !
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Heres a picture showing the pusher just about to
push the lever from the ledge
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A closeup with timer removed, to show how the
lever is held in place on the ledge and pulled
down by a rubber band.
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Heres the entire frame, rigged up and ready to
be hung from the kite string.
A second rubber band is used to position and hold
the camera all the way to the right, and back
against a wood stop. The plunger should hit the
camera right on the button !
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Advance the film in the camera. Hang the rig from
the kite line. Aim the camera as best you
can. Wind up the timer. Let out more line and
send the rig up.
Wait.. Wait some more Did it shoot the picture
yet ?
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From the back, notice the back stop and rubber
band positions. The camera is very securely
positioned, and the plunger will hit the button
every time.
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Plungerhits the button !
KaBOOM !
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A short movie of the mousetrap-like action of the
rig.
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Same thing, but with camera installed for the
big picture
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Well, yeah, you wait and wait, and finally, the
picture happens ! With a little practice, you can
learn to judge the timer better. Maybe you want
to take a stopwatch with you
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Heres a closeup of the other end of the rig,
where it hangs from the kite string. The pivot is
loosely attached, so the rig hangs straight down.
The string wraps quickly and easily around the
orange rubber washers. With a wrap around each
washer, the rig can be attached to a string in 10
seconds.
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A closeup of the other side, showing the pivot.
The rig cant fall out because the black rod has
a stop.
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A demonstration of the single loop around each
orange rubber washer.
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