@Teal everything is to be found here and in the preceeding posts, esp. #26.
I think I posted this in that thread but I disable wifi (and the camera has no bluetooth) because it’s obviously impossible to be 100% sure of no possible interference with avionics. The camera has remote control but a 128GB SD card (10hrs @ 1080P 25mbits/sec) renders that into a gimmick. However if you were doing 4K (100mbits/sec) that would be different but that creates all sorts of other issues esp. this practical one
But also as described here if you turn the camera on and off you get all sorts of issues arising and especially if you want to later superimpose the GPS data it would create a huge amount of work. I used to do an intermediate render to imprint the GPS data and that would run for ~ 3 days; now I have a different way of loading the GPS subtitles (about 10,000 of them!) which enables me to produce the video in one step so only the final length is rendered (this video takes 7hrs to do a 25mbits/sec 2-pass render; 3.5GB file).
Yes you need one of some specific SD card makes to make it work at the desired data rate. I think at 25mbps it’s not fussy but for 50 you need a faster card and for 4K there are only 1 or 2 which work. The basic issue is that none of these cheap action cams (the go-pro included) has proper buffering – even a cheap SD card will write at 5x to 10x the 4K bitrate…
The remaining problem is icing. If you go into any IMC below 0C the camera is instantly gone for literally hours (sublimation is very slow) unless you got back into warm air. There is no solution short of hacking an electrical supply for it which I don’t want to do. To do so safely is possible but not trivial (one method is to have a relay so turning on e.g. the wingtip lights turns off the camera power).
Feel free to ask anything, though I think the above FDR-1000V thread would be a better place for it 
I would consider the new -3000 camera if doing this now. It has a lot less optical distortion (the other features are IMHO irrelevant for this application).
Hi Peter, your camera setup looks interesting. I see the Sony comes with a waterproof mount. Do you use this mount, if so how or where do you mount the external battery?
Having never mounted an external camera, do people use the suction mounts?
I presume you use a Android or iOS device to control the device remotely, or do you just turn it on and let it run?
The reviews say the device is picky with SD cards, have you found this?
Apologies for the questions, just seems a good system that I would like to copy. My video through the Alps this year was disappointing in comparison to the one you have put up.
Many thanks.
Rgds
It took a few hours to create it. I have a good process for it now.
The camera has a 128GB SD card and an external battery. Good for 10hrs at normal temperatures, tested for 7hrs at – 25C.
That is a very entertaining and educative video, Peter!
I’ve done a couple of these myself so I know how time consuming the process is.
I like the camera under the wing as it gives an unobstructed view.
Can you run so long on battery power? I have a GoPRO but it will run dry in about one hour…
Video of the flight Shoreham to Colmar with all the ATC calls left in, and me talking to myself edited out
I was used to 30-35 € for lighting, but not 53 + VAT
Yep, as much as France offers great infrastructure for night flying, even at unattended airfields (PCL)… most places charge extra for the lights and the amounts tend to be on the high side…
The one turn-off was the price of the runway lighting for landing at night: 53,61 € + VAT. Total bill for two nights 109,78 € incl VAT! Yikes
Colmar looks a great place to visit, thanks for all the photos. Another one for the “list”!
