Cameras used for aerobatic joy flights and warbird adventure flights

We have tried many different cameras over the years, and have finally settled on the ContourHD cameras from the US. Our original digital-tape Sony Handycam remains the best camera for overall vibration dampening and lack of ‘strobe’ effect when shooting through the propeller arc. Unfortunately this Standard Definition camera (520 lines) is no longer near the quality required by modern TVs and computer screens.

Low resolution example VIDEO (for fast streaming)

To replace the old Sony we trialled a Canon high definition digital tape camera, which shot excellent quality full 1080 line when hand held but could not handle even the slightest vibration. This camera had ‘optical image stabilization’, whereas the Sony uses digital stabilization. This must be the crucial difference.

Then came the popular Sony CX-100 full HD solid state camera with 16GB of storage. This is what all the skydive tandem masters use up in Cairns. A great camera, it did everything well for about 100 flights then started turning off un-commanded. The fault was finally traced to the battery packs that could not handle the vibration. Replacement batteries soon packed it in which indicates a camera fault that is effecting the batteries.

So while the Sony CX-100 was away getting fixed, we ordered a ContourHD camera (around $400 off eBay). These small, light weigh Point-Of-View cameras are full HD (1080 lines at 30 fps) and can be stuck anywhere! They have no camera shake dampening, but are so small and light they can be rigidly mounted and therefore eliminate most of the shake.

ContourHD 1080

Editing the inflight videos takes a little longer now as we are using two cameras: one fixed pointing at the passenger and one mounted on a swivel to capture either wing or over the nose. Now there are two streams of raw video to mix together, which does take a little bit more time, but not much.

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Better than a jet fighter flight – Melbourne’s Warbird Air Adventures

Ok – jets are cool. ish. Well not even, most of us have flown in them enough to realise that they are a pretty sanitised version of flight. You can fly in an ex-military jet which is cool, until you see how expensive they are – a flight in one of these gas guzzlers is around $2,000 for 20 minutes! Not cool.

At Warbird Air Adventures we do more for less.

Our aircraft use big supercharged radial engines for that thumping 9 x Harley Davidson all-at-once sound. They are seriously cool – ask any petrol head.

Our aircraft are genuine ex military trainers. You sit in your very own fully working cockpit, not a jump seat or co-pilot seat – your very own cockpit to yourself – communicating with the pilot via intercom.

Because our velocities are lower than a jet fighter flight’s, we can actually do much more aerobatics. This is because at higher speeds it requires higher G just to do very basic manoeuvres. The average person off the street can tolerate up to around 4 to 5 times the force of gravity (4 to 5 G).

In piston engined WWII style aircraft this means we can do stall turns, spins, snap rolls and more all within this tolerance range. This keeps passengers comfortable and able to complete all the manoeuvres planned. In fact – over 95% of passengers surprise themselves and complete every single manoeuvre!

Very cool.

The best bit – the price. Rather than $2,000 we can achieve all this for as little as $350.

Seriously Cool.

fighter plane flights

Ready to roll

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Raining in Cairns – Warbirds are on the ground!

Another rainy day in Cairns – continuing the unpredictable dry season this year. Seeing as we hardly ever see rain with the aircraft being in an endless summer it is actually quite nice to see. Except we’d rather not, of course, because we could be flying.

Aircraft goes in for its 100 hourly inspection next week and will be back in the air as soon as it is finished. The weather has timed itself perfectly for this.

Seven more weeks up north before we head down to Barwon Heads Airport – first weekend down there is nearly fully booked, there are three spots left on Sunday the 7th of November.

Order a gift voucher or book a flight here, or give us a call on 1300 341 006 7am to 7pm 7 days per week.

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Warbirds Cairns

We’re just nuts for flying warbirds! Cairns offers the opportunity to fly over some of the most spectacular scenery in Australia. Generally a flat country with old, worn out mountain ranges, Cairns sports steep mountains going from sea level to over 5,000ft in only a few miles. In fact Queensland’s highest mountain, Bartle Frere (5,297ft) is only 10 minutes flying from Cairns. A Warbird Adventure Flight from Cairns Airport will take you towards this spectacular mountain, often cloaked in cloud with the peak sticking through.

Cairns Warbird scenery

As your adventure flight takes you out over The Esplanade and south of Cairns, you will cross a mountain range that stands between Cairns and the Coral Sea to the south. These mountains are covered from top to bottom in thick jungle. Depending on Air Traffic Control, our path back from the aerobatic area often takes us zooming over ridge lines and deep valleys all at over 300 km/h. This is what flying in Vietnam must’ve been like!

Cairns Warbirds

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Nanchang CJ-6A: not a Yak-52!

Often confused with the Soviet Yak-52, the Nanchang CJ-6 actually predates its Russian counterpart by over ten years. The genesis of the Nanchang CJ-6 traces back to the continuation of a long tradition of the USSR supplying arms and equipment to the Chinese Communists.

Yak-18 Nanchang CJ-5

Yak-18

After successfully installing a Communist regime in China, the Soviets began supplying aircraft for the Peoples Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). The aircraft supplied was the Yak-18, built under licence in China as the Nanchang CJ-5.

Introduced in 1954 the CJ-5 did not offer sufficient performance to allow pilots to smoothly transition to the much higher performance jet fighters that were increasingly being deployed in front line air forces, relegating piston engined fighters to history.

In 1956 a design team was launched headed by Mr Shunshou Xu. Their job was to design a Chinese primary trainer aircraft. By 1958 they had completed the first aircraft, built in an amazing 72 days from detail design to first flight.

On August 27, 1958, pilots Lu Maofan and He Yinxi made the first test flight in the new trainer; however, its performance fell short of the PLAAF requirements. It was felt that the problem may have been in the choice of the M-11FR engine instead of a Czech built, horizontally-opposed engine originally planned. A change of engine was sought and when this didn’t cure the performance woes, the prototype was sent back to be redesigned. Just over two years later on October 15, 1961, the remodelled prototype made its first flight and this time it was successful. After gaining official approval, production of the aircraft commenced in early 1962 as the Nanchang CJ-6. A change of engine from the 260 hp Zhuzhou Huosai HS-6 (a Chinese version of the Ivchenko AI-14R) to the 285 hp HS-6A in 1965 led to the CJ-6 becoming the CJ-6A. Between 1964 and 1966 small numbers of an armed version, the CJ-6B, powered by a 300 hp HS-6D engine were also built and used for border patrol.

The Yak-52 came about as a tricycle gear upgrade of the Yak-50, and entered production in the early 1970s. It features a bigger engine than the Nanchang CJ-6A (360hp vs 285hp), an inverted fuel and oil system for inverted flight, higher roll rate and high drag airframe due mainly to semi-retracting gear. This results in superior aerobatic performance and inferior cruise performance and fuel burn. Generally parts are more costly and not as easy to obtain as Chinese spares.

Yak-52

Yak-52

Those who have looked closely at both aircraft will notice they share many similarities, especially in the cockpit. This is mainly due to the fact that instrument manufacturing was in its infancy in China during the Nanchang CJ-6A’s development, and also many pilots transitioning to the CJ-6A had flown the CJ-5 which was essentially a Yak-18. This meant the Chinese basically copied many of the instruments from the Russians.

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Fathers Day Gift For Him

jocks

Fathers Day Gift For Him

A Fathers Day Special not to be repeated. For every flight or gift voucher booked for Fathers Day receive a FREE pair of BONDS UNDIES – dad might need a change for the drive home!

This is the ultimate gift for him – and not the usual Melbourne, Cairns or Townsville joy flight, this is a Warbird Adventure Flight!

Call 1300 341 006 for details.

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Warbird Air show

We might even sneak up there ourselves for a quick look! Can’t help it, we are warbird, Nanchang, joy flight nutters. If we are not flying ourselves then usually looking up at someone who is. A local Cairns/Mareeba Air show is even better!

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Warbirds Mareeba Airshow

The annual Mareeba Warbirds Airshow is on again this weekend 22nd August. The weather forecast is looking great and this year promises to be one of the best with another appearance from the RAAF Roulettes precision formation team. Also a contingent of T-28 Trojans are set to arrive from down south, joining the local Mareeba Warbirds T-28.

For those that want to actually fly IN warbird aircraft and experience them first hand in all their ear-splitting bone-shaking glory call Warbird Air Adventures, Cairns Airport on 1300 341 006. Flights depart Cairns Airport daily.

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The Dry Season Finally Arrives in Cairns

It’s been a while in coming but this week has been absolutely fantastic weather for joy flights Cairns. This is real adventure flight weather, the water is a striking blue this week after several days of calm winds, onboard DVDs are looking better than ever!

With the clear blue skies comes many flights – we have been flat out this last week, taking over 20 newly minted fighter plane flight jocks on the ride of their lives.

port-douglas-far-north-queensland$15258-25.jpg

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Daddy Cool? The ultimate in gifts for men

Get your dad the ultimate Fathers Day gift, see if he still has what it takes!

Gift Vouchers are available, to order yours today.

Warbird Air Adventures – the ultimate in gifts for men

Our flights pack as much into the time available. You will be back on the ground with wobbly legs and a grin from ear to ear before you know it. This package is available in Melbourne, Cairns and Townsville.

At Warbird Air Adventures your safety is our primary concern, followed by loads of fun, adrenalin and unforgettable experiences. Our highly trained pilots will fully brief you in all aspects of flight, and as a passenger you have full control over how much or how little you want to do. Each joy flight is fully customised to suit you. However, we are proud of our over 95% rate of everyone doing ALL the manoeuvres, thanks to our meticulous briefing and customer focused flying style.

gifts for men

Warbird Flights from $350

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