Tag Archives: autumn

Another Clouds Time-Lapse

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With clouds in the valley before dawn, I set up a time-lapse camera to capture the cloud movement throughout the morning.

I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love time-lapse movies. They make it possible for us to see movement that is normally too slow to perceive.

On October 31, 2024, there were thick clouds in the valley below my home. I know from experience that our winter thermal inversions can put on a good cloud show and those inversions are happening earlier and earlier every year. I set up a GoPro in Hyperlapse mode and let it run all day. Here’s the first few hours of the cloud show, sped up with the hyperlapse as well as a 400% increase in speed in video editing. The result is a smooth, high-speed look at what the clouds did that morning.

Enjoy!

Clouds and Shadows Time-Lapse

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A time-lapse movie from a late autumn day.

I’m a huge fan of time-lapse movies. To me, there’s nothing that does a better job bringing what looks like a motionless scene to life.

So I make a lot of time-lapse movies. You can find a bunch here in the Time-Lapse playlist on my personal YouTube channel.

The one here was shot a few days ago on December 1. I used one of my GoPro Hero 8 cameras in time-lapse mode, set to take a shot every 10 seconds. When you do the math, this means each second of video is 5 minutes of real time. The video here covers from just before dawn to just after sunset.

What’s most interesting about this video — honestly, there wasn’t much cloud activity — is the way you can see the shadow of the cliffs south of my home move across the landscape. The sun rises beyond those cliffs and this time of year I don’t see it on my home at all. I blogged about this phenomena, which I call the Shadow Time; this is a chance to see it in action.

I hope you enjoy this quick video. I’m hoping to share a lot more videos over the coming months as I travel south in Arizona and California. If you haven’t subscribed to my personal YouTube channel, please do. Once I get 1,000 subscribers, I can do livestreams from my cellphone and I’d really like to do live presentations at some of the places I visit. I’m only 18 subscribers short of this goal!

Helicopter Flight: Autumn at Mission Ridge & Wenatchee

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Two videos from the Flying M Air YouTube channel.

COME FLY WITH ME as I take a flight in the Wenatchee area to show off the autumn colors. There are two versions of this video, as I explain in both videos:

The cockpit POV version of my Autumn at Mission Ridge & Wenatchee flight enables you to reference the instruments as I talk about them:

If you check out this video at 7 AM PT on Sunday, November 3, 2019, you’ll be able to participate in a “Premiere,” which includes live chat as I watch the video with multiple viewers. (It’s fun!)

The nosecam version of my Autumn at Mission Ridge & Wenatchee flight gives you a complete, unobstructed view from the nose of the helicopter

Some notes about this video (one of which applies to the cockpit POV version only):

Start to 4:20 – Yes, the carbon monoxide detector light is on during the beginning of this flight. I had been idling on the ramp for a while before the flight and when the wind blows just the right (or wrong?) way, it blows enough exhaust into the cockpit to trigger that very sensitive detector. I had opened the main (front) vent prior to starting the video and later, at 3:20, opened the vent on my side door. The light went off at around 4:20 and I closed that side vent. It really was cold!

9:50 – Hear the difference in the sound of the helicopter? I’ve reduced power and slowed down and what you’re hearing is called “blade slap.” It goes away when I pick up speed beyond around 80 knots as I start my descent.

12:40 – I’m descending at 1700 feet per minute! That’s about the same as an autorotation.

14:30 – The top end of Pitcher Canyon is on my right.

15:08 – Sorry about the throat clearing sound. I thought I edited them all out.

19:30 – There is no control tower at Wenatchee. Pilots use the Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF) to report location and intentions in flight. This is NOT required but is highly advisable. (Technically, a radio is not required at all for Part 91 operations at Wenatchee.)

20:15 – Yes, I can make what’s called a “quick stop” or turn very sharply away from the runway to avoid traffic there. I always look both ways and make a call before crossing the runway. If a plane is landing or taking off, I’ll usually alter my course to pass behind it.

About Me and the Helicopter

  • I have been flying for about 20 years. My nearly 4,000 hours of flight time is in Robinson R44, Robinson R22, and Bell 206L (Long Ranger) helicopters.
  • The helicopter is a 2005 Robinson R44 Raven II — the same one that appears in the photo at the beginning of the video. You can learn more about them here: https://robinsonheli.com/r44-specifications/ I own this helicopter. It is the third helicopter I’ve owned since 2000.
  • My helicopter has ADS-B Out and is picked up by radar facilities. You can see my track for recent flights on Flightradar24: https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n7534D This is a great site for tracking any almost any flight, including the airlines.

About the Video

  • The video was recorded with a pair of GoPro Hero 7 cameras (https://amzn.to/2Lxyzwl). The cockpit POV view comes from a camera mounted on the bar between the two front seats, which is part of the helicopter’s frame, using a MyPilotPro (https://mypilotpro.com/shop/?wpam_id=13) Helicopter Mount (https://mypilotpro.com/product/helicopter-gopro-mount/?wpam_id=13) in conjunction with a few customized RAM mount components. (I’ll do a show and tell about my camera mounts in another video.) The nosecam view comes from a camera mounted on the nose of the helicopter. That camera contributed ambient sound to both versions of this video, which includes wind, engine, and rotor noise, from the camera’s built-in speaker and has been incorporated into this video at 25% normal volume.
  • Narration was done using a Røde Podcaster microphone (https://amzn.to/2IFnbNr) connected to a Macintosh. I recorded the narration while I was watching the video in the editing software because the in-flight audio feed did not work.
  • The video was edited on a Macintosh using Screenflow software. Learn more about it here: https://www.telestream.net/screenflow/overview.htm
  • The intro music is by Bob Levitus, famed “Dr. Mac.” You can find him here: http://www.boblevitus.com/

I try to drop cockpit POV videos every Sunday morning and “extras” with more info about owning and operating a helicopter midweek. (Some channel members get early access to some of these videos.) I also host occasional livestreams with Q&A chats. Subscribe so you don’t miss anything new! And tell your friends. The more subscribers I have, the more motivated I am to keep producing videos.

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Want to see YOUR name on the member list? I do, too! Becoming a member financially supports this channel and gets you a handful of benefits — including discounts on merchandise in my Etsy store (https://www.etsy.com/shop/FlyingMAir) — on an ongoing basis. The Join button or this link will get you started: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLGD_GbGsS6YKK_Ekx0QMqQ/join