Helicopter in the Sun

[gost]

Here's a photo that me and my friend Jonas Grinde took today. I was standing on the ground with the camera and Jonas was piloting the helicopter. It was tricky to get the heli just in front of the Sun, but in the end we managed to get some frames.

[thenews24]

That is pure awesomenesssss!

[thenews24]

And question: this is a real helicopter or a remote controlled? If it's real, I'm assuming he'd have to fly at least a couple hundred meters in the air to get that kind of angualr diameter.

[gost]

Thanks.

Yes, it's a real helicopter. I will confirm the height with Jonas later.

[Ganymede12]

Brilliant photo!

I presume it's remote controlled otherwise the helicopter would have to be very far away!

Edit: Must type faster, just been proved wrong!

[PapaPlanets]

Great shot

[thenews24]

Lets say the length of the helicopter cab in view is roughly 3.5m and it's angular diameter is roughly .4 in degrees (at least, given the angualr diameter fo the sun as .5).

Using:

.4 = 57.3(3.5m/x)

x = 501.4 meters

x is the distance at which the helicopter must be to have an estimate angular diameter of .4 degrees, assuming the visible part of the heli is 3.5 meters long.

Edit: just realized that distance was calculated assuming the object is a circle, so it should be a lot closer than 500m.

[Moonshane]

that must be the most expensive solar shot ever!

[Grinde]

Good job on the processing, Göran(gost)! & a high5 for the teamwork, let's do that again!

Only time I get to pose as a modell is when I'm a half kilometer away, lol! That'd be me in the photo, flying my companys AS350 B2 (definitely not radio controlled)

that must be the most expensive solar shot ever!

Not at all, I was just returning from a slingload mission over at Åre skiresort, & Göran texted me telling he's out shooting the sun in case I was flying(we've been wanting to do this for some time now). I flew over gost's house on the way back to the base. It just took a couple of minutes framing the shot (using the helicopters shadow on the ground as "crosshair") before landing at the base, located just 1km from gost's house. Finally a way to combine my work with my hobby

[Moonshane]

either way very unique and original !

[Ganymede12]

Submit it to Sky at Night magazine. I'm sure it'll be a winner!

[Atlas]

I love it!

[Montana]

Certainly the most interesting transit I have ever seen well done!

I would have been very worried about the dust and wind on my scope, I hope it's OK.

Alexandra

[E621Keith]

Amazing shot, I'd love to see the video of the helicopter flying past.