Aerial Photography offer.

[DannyO]

If anyone is interested, my brother recently got his private pilot license and is looking to get as many hours of flight in as possible, he is offering to take people up to do aerial photography and is only looking for the gas money for it, no profit, so he said it would be around 150 an hour for that.

I do not know the model of plane, but its your typical small plane.

PM me and I can provide his phone number.

Mods, I hope this is ok to post this? its not a business or anything, simply a way that both my brother and anyone looking for cheaper rates can both win, plus I posted it here as I don't want it posted in "General".

[lilmira]

That's an interesting offer. How long does he fly for usually each flight and how far does it go?

[ExtraSlow]

Where is he based out of? Springbank?

[DannyO]

He's based in Okotoks, but not sure if he flies from other areas though, but he has flown close to the mountains, over downtown, Airdrie and other areas of Calgary, he's usually up for an hour, but I'm sure he would stay up longer, he goes flying often.

[D'z Nutz]

I think anyone who is remotely interested should take the opportunity. My friend took me up in his little two seater last spring and I had a blast. Unfortunately it was an impromptu offer so I didn't have my camera on me but I really wish I did. I believe the mountains are only a half hour away too.

[lilmira]

I'm very interested in tagging along for an hour or so, sounds like a good experience. What time/day does he fly usually? Sign me up!

[taemo]

would definitely be cool but from my experience, on a small 2-4 seater plane, expect lots of turbulence as you get close to the rockies.

btw what's the lowest altitude that he can fly at?

[DannyO]

When I was up, we didn't go into the mountains but approached the foothills, and you could already feel turbulence hitting the plane, so I imagine when you get close, it would be very tricky to get a sharp image with the framing that you wanted. It didn't take very long to get close to you mountains, like D'z Nuts mentioned, it is about half an hour away I'd say.

The plane we were in and what he will most likely be using for the next few months at least is a 2 seat with a wide single seat in the back, I don't think you could comfortable put 2 people back there and it does look a bit cramped, but may be better for taking pictures from, I was sat up next to him and did find the area tight, so I would recommend for anyone that does go up to be prepared in advance for the gear you would be using, I would not want to be trying to change lenses and filters often.

I'm not sure what altitude he usually flies at, we were around 6500 feet most the time I believe, I know he is restricted when he gets near Calgary airspace which I think is around 5000-5500 feet, I'm also not sure if there are requirements for flying over a certain height from ground level, if not, then I think he would be fine with flying low, we did do a bit of low flying at first, plus did a touch-n-go at the local airport which we flew low into and out of.

As for his flying time, right now it seems to be whenever he can really, he seems to go up most weekends and chooses the time depending on weather, don't think he goes during the week right now due to work, which he is a Airplane Technician, so he has a lot of knowledge on planes for ease of mind, I guess it runs in the family as my dad also fixes planes.

I'll speak to him soon to get some straight answers on this instead of taking guesses at it.

Oh and there won't be any free ride alongs, even I have to pay for gas when I go up, although he would probably take anyone up if they help with gas money.

[msommers]

I'm not very familiar with smaller aircraft, but is there a photographer hole opening or some way to avoid having to shoot through the glass?

[Mitsu3000gt]

My only comment would be that unless you can open a window or door, you aren't likely to get many photos worth keeping. Aircraft glass (at least on helicopters) is more like plexiglass, and reflects EVERYTHING inside the cockpit, as well as isn't perfectly flat, so it distorts. It's also usually scratched to shit.

If you can open a window or door though, it would be doable.

[DannyO]

From what I could see, there is a large window that opens from the bottom, I never opened it so don't know what the wind would be like coming in or how much it opens, as yes, the windows did look like plexiglass and were scratched to hell, you would not want to be shooting through them as your pictures would look pretty bad.

I did find out from him briefly that where he can fly around Calgary and the surrounding area does depending on traffic control that day.

[Maxx Mazda]

If he's flying a 172 you can open the window up to 110 Knots. It's windy but you can easily stick a lens out.

[Aerobat]

I have my own 4 seat piper in Airdrie with a removable rear door, i'm off over breakup and will be building hours aswell, I wouldnt have a problem taking a friend up for some cheap aerial photography, id go 50/50 on the gas but it will be cold with the door off until it warms up

[msommers]

DannyO, PM me his schedule for mid April for early morning flights. Not sure how early they can go up but I'd like to get over the city and then close to the mountains while sunrise is going on. Also ask him if he's willing to do 75me/25him for gas.

[Go4Long]

Originally posted by msommers
DannyO, PM me his schedule for mid April for early morning flights. Not sure how early they can go up but I'd like to get over the city and then close to the mountains while sunrise is going on. Also ask him if he's willing to do 75me/25him for gas.

Cheap bastad...lol. Keep in mind he's already paying plane hours, which are really the more expensive part of the equation. A 172 will fly for a while on $40 in fuel.

If it's a high wing aircraft it is almost certainly a 172 of some vintage...

look like this?:


Skyhawk by Steven Szabo, on Flickr

this shot was taken out of the side of that 172:


Zimm by Steven Szabo, on Flickr

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by Go4Long


Cheap bastad...lol. Keep in mind he's already paying plane hours, which are really the more expensive part of the equation. A 172 will fly for a while on $40 in fuel.

No kidding, avgas is cheap compared to the cost of the machine.

[msommers]

I didn't mean to offend anyone. Just after someone said they'd go 50/50 on gas, it seemed reasonable. And $40 is much different than $150 originally stated. I'm not in the know.

[Cooked Rice]

$150 is the going rate to rent an aircraft wet out of Springbank, and most larger cities in Alberta. That includes everything including gas. An older carb'd 172 will burn about 8.5 gallons an hour. A newer fuel injected one will burn around 10.5 gallons an hour. 100LL AvGas is around $1.80-$2.00 per liter at the moment IIRC. $150 is more than cost of fuel per hour for something small. By law you cannot charge someone more than what is consumed by the plane in fuel and oil under non-commercial aircraft operation. You can fly over the city anytime after noon. Prior clearance via phone to Calgary VTA is required beforehand, I have never had any issue with getting clearance. I had full reign over the city during Stampede fireworks. They will usually get you to stay South*edit* of 16TH ave AND/OR West of Macleod trail depending what RWY is in use at the International. Altitude is generally 5000 or 5500 ASL (about 2000 above ground level). I generally request 5500 for safety and to avoid the whirley birds(helicopters) that buzz around at 5000, HAWCs, Traffic copters etc...

[msommers]

Originally posted by Cooked Rice
$150 is the going rate to rent an aircraft wet out of Springbank, and most larger cities in Alberta. That includes everything including gas. An older carb'd 172 will burn about 8.5 gallons an hour. A newer fuel injected one will burn around 10.5 gallons an hour. 100LL AvGas is around $1.80-$2.00 per liter at the moment IIRC. $150 is more than cost of fuel per hour for something small. By law you cannot charge someone more than what is consumed by the plane in fuel and oil under non-commercial aircraft operation. You can fly over the city anytime after noon. Prior clearance via phone to Calgary VTA is required beforehand, I have never had any issue with getting clearance. I had full reign over the city during Stampede fireworks. They will usually get you to stay North of 16TH ave AND/OR West of Macleod trail depending what RWY is in use at the International. Altitude is generally 5000 or 5500 ASL (about 2000 above ground level). I generally request 5500 for safety and to avoid the whirley birds(helicopters) that buzz around at 5000, HAWCs, Traffic copters etc...

Thanks man, appreciate the information.

[Go4Long]

totally didn't see the 150 thing. yeah, he's not looking for someone to pay for fuel... he's looking for someone to rent a plane for him.