You are here: Home / Archives for Acro Camp

Acro Camp Cast Post-Production Debrief

July 15, 2010 by Leave a Comment


There are the show notes to an audio episode. You can listen to the show audio by clicking here: http://traffic.libsyn.com/airspeed/AirspeedAcroCampCast02.mp3. Better yet, subscribe to Airspeed through iTunes or your other favorite podcatcher. It’s all free!

The cast of Acro Camp got together on TalkShoe the evening of 14 July to reunite, talk about the experience, and offer suggestions for the next time we do this. Acro Camp campers Paul Berliner, Michelle Kole, Lynda Meeks and Jim Rodriguez joined IP Don Weaver, production chief David Allen, and MyTransponder co-founder Rod Rakic for an hour or so in the virtual post-production studio.

Be sure to check out www.mytransponder.com (and particularly the Acro Camp group on MyT) for details about the Thursday night gathering at AirVenture Oshkosh later this month where you can meet the campers and production crew as we help to promote the best in aviation new media and social media!

Filed Under: Stephen Force Tagged With:

More Acro and Camera Shakedowns

May 3, 2010 by 4 Comments

Beautiful day with 6,000 scattered and 10+ SM visibility. Yeah, I have a head cold, but cameras need testing and the acro tolerance needs extending.
So I went up with Barry for 0.9 in the Super D to fly some acro and test out the cameras. Four of them on this flight. These frame grabs are from the Panasonic placed on the left side of the dash. More on the other cameras soon!
Being a little blue about the first couple of flights of the year (10 minutes and 12 minutes of acro, respectively) and wanting to pour on the coal to build some real tolerance for an upcoming Air Force ride, I pushed it to the limit.
And then some.
Yep. Airplane hurl no. 2. (The first was in a T-6A after about 1.2 hours and the full SUPT syllabus of maneuvers.) But that’s okay. I’m good with that. You don’t build tolerance by pointing the airplane back at the airport as soon as you feel a little green. You tough it out. And sometime you hurl. And then you tie a knot in the little white bag, stow it someplace where it won’t float the next time you go negative-G, and keep on going.
Anyway, it’s off to bed. Something like eight days until principal photography kicks off for Acro Camp and there’s lots to do before people start showing up.
Filed Under: Stephen Force Tagged With: , , , ,

Airspeed Video Episode: Don Weaver’s Acro Sequence

April 19, 2010 by 1 Comment

Subscribe to Airspeed through iTunes or your favorite other podcatcher. It’s all free!

These are the show notes to a video episode. If you want to watch online, please use the Vimeo viewer above or download directly from: http://media.libsyn.com/media/airspeed/AirspeedDonAcro01.m4a.

Acro Camp IP Don Weaver and I launched last week to shake out a couple of new things with the cameras and audio system. We flew a wing camera for the first time (check out the blog entry at the Acro Camp website) and also used an attenuating 1/8” to 1/8” cable to capture the intercom audio. Both systems worked well.

It was my first acro flight of the season and I was done after just a few maneuvers. Not surprising. That’s par for the course for me. I’ll get it up to 20 minutes or more soon enough.

Don offered to drop me off at Romeo and head back out to really wring out the camera rig. This video is from his sequence. It runs more or less continuously except for a minute or two as be climbed back to altitude. Not only does Don hit his airspeeds pretty effectively, he conserves altitude pretty effectively, too. And he talks the routine pretty clearly as well.

This is the camera and audio setup that we’re going to use for lots of the Acro Camp shooting. Head over to http://www.acrocamp.com/ so see more about the movie!

Filed Under: Stephen Force Tagged With: , , ,

Aerial Videography Panel

April 11, 2010 by 3 Comments


Subscribe to Airspeed through iTunes or your favorite other podcatcher. It’s all free!

These are the show notes to an audio episode. If you want to listen online, please use the direct link below. http://media.libsyn.com/media/airspeed/AirspeedVideo01.mp3.

With principal photography for Acro Camp coming up in a just over a month, I thought that now would be a great time to gather some of new media’s most noted experts on capturing images aloft and pick their brains for an hour.


The panel includes Acro Camp director of photography Will Hawkins, Indianapolis Airshow Director Roger Bishop, and independent aviation video producer and enthusiast Rick Felty, each of whom brings a different view of the task of capturing the visual elements of flight and making them exciting for aviators and non-aviators alike.


We talk about equipment, mounting techniques, stabilization, editing, rendering, safety, and more.

Check out the movie’s website at www.acrocamp.com for news about production and building the buzz!

Filed Under: Stephen Force Tagged With: , , , ,

Meet the Campers of Acro Camp

March 22, 2010 by Leave a Comment


Subscribe to Airspeed through iTunes or your favorite other podcatcher. It’s all free!

These are the show notes to an audio episode. If you want to listen online, please use the direct link below. http://traffic.libsyn.com/airspeed/AirspeedAcroCampCast01.mp3.

The Acro Camp cast (the “campers”) were announced last week and it’s time to introduce them to you! We had the opportunity to get campers Paul Berliner, Michelle Kole, Lynda Meeks, and Jim Rodriguez and instructor pilots (“IPs”) Barry Sutton and Don Weaver all together on a Skype call to allow everyone to talk in realtime.

Michelle called in from the airport because she was getting reaedy to board a flight back to California after spending some time with her dad, Ed Kole, in Chicagoland. Michelle more than made up for having to leave the show early. She has met Paul Berliner and me in person and flown with Don. (Already! And all within 48 hours of the cast announcement! Now that’s Kevin-Bacon-esque!)

Look for more conversations with the campers on Airspeed in the weeks leading up to the camp 12-16 May 2010 here in Michigan.

Filed Under: Stephen Force Tagged With: , , , , , ,