# Exterior camera on an airplane **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 5, 2014, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exterior-camera-on-an-airplane/697580 "2014-09-05T14:09:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exterior-camera-on-an-airplane/697580/1 "2014-09-05T14:09:56Z")
Yes, another GA-related question. I was watching a YouTube video last night of a kid (‘MrAviation101’) taking a girl up for her first airplane ride. One of the cameras on the plane appeared to be fixed to the underside of the left wing of the Cessna 172. How did he do that? AFAIK it requires paperwork to put a permanent mount on an airplane. I wonder about the safety of using a suction mount or duct tape on the outside of the airplane. The camera was somehow attached near the wingtip. . ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exterior-camera-on-an-airplane/697580/2 "2014-09-05T14:13:52Z")
People have been known not to follow proper procedure when it comes to planes: [Camera falls from airplane and lands in pig pen--MUST WATCH END!! - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrxPuk0JefA) Can you link the video in question? On this one: [- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nbEpyV7xKo) I’m not seeing anything on the wings. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Greenjeans](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.greenjeans/32/551_2.png) [@Mr.Greenjeans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Greenjeans)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exterior-camera-on-an-airplane/697580/3 "2014-09-05T14:20:55Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > People have been known not to follow proper procedure when it comes to planes: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrxPuk0JefA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrxPuk0JefA) So that’s what it looks like when your parachute doesn’t open. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exterior-camera-on-an-airplane/697580/4 "2014-09-05T14:25:29Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I wonder about the safety of using a suction mount or duct tape on the outside of the airplane. The camera was somehow attached near the wingtip. > . Sounds pretty dangerous to have something that could easily fall off. The duct tape part reminds of the movie[Fandango](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8F5MkP484E). Pick it up at about 5:30, but the whole thing is hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exterior-camera-on-an-airplane/697580/5 "2014-09-05T14:40:04Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > Can you link the video in question? There are several shots throughout the video (as far as I’ve watched it), but [here’s one example](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFWg3ZEoEqk&t=14m53s). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exterior-camera-on-an-airplane/697580/6 "2014-09-05T14:45:20Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > People have been known not to follow proper procedure when it comes to planes: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrxPuk0JefA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrxPuk0JefA) This morning I listened to a phone recording of a pilot relating an incident in the '70s. He was flying a Cessna 401 when he heard a ‘pop’. A toddler had discovered the D-handle on the upper half of the door, and the door popped open. When the pilot looked, he saw the grandmother holding onto some tiny ankles. (The pilot turned the plane into a 90º right bank, and the child was saved.) ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exterior-camera-on-an-airplane/697580/7 "2014-09-05T18:00:52Z")
GoPro cameras (commonly used for this sort of application) come with small plastic mounts that can be attached to any reasonably smooth surface by means of strong “double-sticky” tape. This isn’t a permanent mount (you can get it off with only a moderate amount of struggle) but seems to hold the camera quite securely. I suspect if you asked the FAA they would look askance. But I’ve seen a bunch of pilots do this, and know of no problems they’ve had. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exterior-camera-on-an-airplane/697580/8 "2014-09-05T21:01:19Z")
I don’t know about today but we were All the time sticking stuff on our planes with nuts & bolts and home made brackets. Need to define what is meant by ‘permanent.’ Just because you use a bolt or screw to mount xxx using a hold down screw of an inspection plate cover in no way indicates it is a permanent installation. It is obviously a temporary thing that will not affect nor effect the flight capabilities of said aircraft. Sticky tape or a screw in a hole already there or a clamp on a strut, all the FAA guys I ever were around who did not have a personal reason to harm me, even at their bureaucratic worst were never that stupid. Today’s crop, I can’t attest too. You can clamp a canoe to the underside of your 172 and if it flies, off you go… Big difference to making a permanent change to said aircraft. YMMV 😃 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exterior-camera-on-an-airplane/697580/9 "2014-09-06T00:19:13Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > You can clamp a canoe to the underside of your 172 and if it flies, off you go… One of the flying magazines {it may have been _Flying_) back in the late-'70s/early-'80s had an article about carrying a boat. IIRC, the aircraft was a Skylane, but I suppose it could have been a Skyhawk. The boat was lashed stern-forward (they said it actually caused less drag that way) to the right side. I want to say that the stern abutted the strut and the port side rested on the wheel pant, but I really can’t remember. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exterior-camera-on-an-airplane/697580/10 "2014-09-06T00:52:36Z")
I don’t know if anyone remembers the movie “Never Cry Wolf” but [here is the scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uI4XAGO2BY) where Charles Martin Smith departs on his adventure, in a DeHavilland Beaver loaded with supplies (including a canoe tied underneath). Brian Dennehy is great as the bush pilot. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exterior-camera-on-an-airplane/697580/11 "2014-09-06T01:14:24Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > GoPro cameras (commonly used for this sort of application) come with small plastic mounts that can be attached to any reasonably smooth surface by means of strong “double-sticky” tape. This isn’t a permanent mount (you can get it off with only a moderate amount of struggle) but seems to hold the camera quite securely. > > I suspect if you asked the FAA they would look askance. But I’ve seen a bunch of pilots do this, and know of no problems they’ve had. I see GoPro cameras on people’s motorcycle helmets. I’ve never looked to see how they are mounted. In filmmaking, there are suction mounts that people trust multi-thousand dollar cameras to. But when I think about using one to attach a camera to an airplane… Double-stick tape? I don’t trust it to hold something to the bathtub backsplash. It just seems iffy to me. First, you might lose a $400 GoPro. Second, that would be a hell of a thing to have fall on someone’s head. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exterior-camera-on-an-airplane/697580/12 "2014-09-06T01:59:43Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Yes, another GA-related question. > > I was watching a YouTube video last night of a kid (‘MrAviation101’) taking a girl up for her first airplane ride. One of the cameras on the plane appeared to be fixed to the underside of the left wing of the Cessna 172. How did he do that? AFAIK it requires paperwork to put a permanent mount on an airplane. I wonder about the safety of using a suction mount or duct tape on the outside of the airplane. The camera was somehow attached near the wingtip. > > . It doesn’t take a pile of paperwork to do this. There are [general guidelines](http://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC%2043.13-2B.pdf) for adding stuff like antennas. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exterior-camera-on-an-airplane/697580/13 "2014-09-06T02:50:00Z")
Remember underwater camera housings? The biggies are now dirt cheap (don’t know how digital avoids water leaks at 150’). those have heavy-duty mounting capabilities (ask me how many I have?). Any thin strip of metal (or, these days, several plastics) wrapedd around the wing chord-wise will provide support for many pounds of stuff. I once saw a device for scattering cremains - it mounted the box at the top of trailing edge - and had “clips” shaped for the leading and trailing edge. Just about any GA bird could be used. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exterior-camera-on-an-airplane/697580/14 "2014-09-06T03:07:54Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Double-stick tape? I don’t trust it to hold something to the bathtub backsplash. It just seems iffy to me. But it has quite a good service record. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exterior-camera-on-an-airplane/697580/15 "2014-09-06T03:12:32Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > I once saw a device for scattering cremains - it mounted the box at the top of trailing edge - and had “clips” shaped for the leading and trailing edge. Just about any GA bird could be used. That’s something I’ll have to look into. My late mom and her late husband wanted to be scattered together over RNO. (They liked going to the air races, and they were told there would be no problem as long as it wasn’t over the runway.) ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exterior-camera-on-an-airplane/697580/16 "2014-09-06T04:39:10Z")
when Gopro tested the early suction cup mounts (the story goes) they stuck one on a plane and took it up near 200mph iirc without it falling off. these are not your ordinary push and hope it holds mounts, and the sticky tape thing is some serious industrial stuff, to get it off you need a solvent. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exterior-camera-on-an-airplane/697580/17 "2014-09-06T04:51:41Z")
Maybe magnets? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exterior-camera-on-an-airplane/697580/18 "2014-09-06T05:35:18Z")
I emailed Mr. Aviation 101, and he said it was a custom mount he made from a GoPro quick-release plate. I’ve asked for more information. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exterior-camera-on-an-airplane/697580/19 "2014-09-06T15:30:16Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Maybe magnets? Pretty much all structure & certainly all skin on aircraft is aluminum. Which is non-magnetic. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exterior-camera-on-an-airplane/697580/20 "2014-09-06T16:45:24Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Pretty much all structure & certainly all skin on aircraft is aluminum. Which is non-magnetic. You need aluminum magnets. Work great, but a bit hard to find at your local store. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exterior-camera-on-an-airplane/697580.md?page=2)