ABOUT
SKYFOX

Special Projects
Creative Video of Washington, Inc.

 

Since August 1999 Peter Roof of has been working with the crew that flies SkyFox for WTTG-TV, channel 5 in Washington, DC. Helinet Aviation Services in Van Nuys, CA has the contract that provides the aircraft and crew. Roof currently serves as a backup for the staff photographer.

 Total Flight Hours

355

Date

August 2006

The Crew

 

Peter Roof uses a laptop controller to keep SkyFox's camera on the subject as the helicopter flies over the Washington, DC metropolitan area. (photo by Peter Josendale)

 

The regular crew consists of a pilot and a photographer, Beth Deeb. During the daily "Fox Morning News" program reporter Michelle Sigona accompanies the crew and delivers traffic reports every 15 minutes from inside SkyFox 5.

The pilot sits in the right-front seat. The photographer sits in the left-rear seat. The reporter sits in the left-front seat.

 

The Aircraft

About the helicopter:

  • Nickname: Skyfox
  • Tail number: N5FX
  • Manufacturer: American Eurocopter
  • Model: A-Star 350BA
  • General operating altitude for newsgathering: 1,000 feet above sea level
  • Minimum FAA altitude: none
  • Average cruise speed: 80 knots (92 MPH)
  • Maximum speed: 110 knots (127 MPH)
  • Flight time between fuelings: 2 to 2.5 hours
  • Standard fuel capacity: 143 gallons Jet A
  • Operating area: anywhere outside of a 7 nautical mile restricted area around National Airport
  • Engine: Turbomeca Arriel 1B, 641 shaft horsepower
  • Main rotor span: 35.1 feet
  • Tail rotor 6.10 feet
  • Height: 10.3 feet
  • Length: 35.9
  • Width: 8.30 feet
  • Empty weight: 2,550 pounds
  • Gross weight: 4,630 pounds
  • Useful load: 2,080 US pounds
  • Max rate of climb: 1,500 ft/min
  • Service ceiling: 15,000 feet

 

The cameras:

There are five cameras on-board SkyFox 5. The main camera is a nose-mounted, gyro-stabilized camera specifically designed for aerial electronic news gathering is a UltraMedia III made by FLIR Systems. Mounted in the white housing you see in the above photo is a camera head (Sony BVP-70 "T") and zoom lens (Canon 33x, up to 1,000mm focal length with doubler) all inside a nose-mounted gimbal that can pan infinitely and tilt from straight down to 5 degrees up. This camera is controlled with a panel that sits on the photographer's lap. You can control filters, 2x doubler, focus, and camera shading/painting/color balance/gain. Pan (azimuth) and tilt are controlled with a joystick on this lap-top panel. The output can be viewed on an 8" monitor the photographer straddles and is mounted vertically on the floor behind the left-front seat.

Three other "lipstick" sized cameras are mounted around the aircraft. One looks at the reporter's seat. Another looks from the rear of the cockpit forward. Another is mounted outside on the right tail-boom and looks forward.

Video can be recorded on a BVP-50 BetacamSP record deck and played back to the station.

Any camera's picture can be selected and sent back to WTTG-TV using a microwave transmitter mounted on the belly. The directional antenna is automatically pointed to the station using a GPS receiver.