Kite Aerial Photography
The Picavet Suspension Cradle

Picavet in flight The Picavet cradle (named after its inventor) consists of a horizontal cross suspended from the kiteline at two points through an absurdly complex network of lines and pulleys.

The beauty of the system is twofold:
Click to enlarge First, the cradle tends to maintain its horizontal position regardless of the inclination of the kiteline, whilst also resisting rotation.
Second, the suspension lines insulate the camera quite noticeably from the random and usually violent pitching and jerking of the kite.

Click here or on the image at right for an enlarged (18k) picture of my Picavet with annotations and explanations.

At left is a drawing of the general arrangement. The Picavet with camera mount is attached to the kiteline somewhere around 30-50m below the kite at two points.


Go to an enlarged diagram and explanation of the Picavet suspension.
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