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Commercial aeroplanes ought to have downward facing cameras mounted on them to take better high-res aerial images than are available from satellite images. The only maintenance needed between flights would be changing the camera memory card for a new one.
[link]
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You'd want to log the plane's position to the memory card with each photo. |
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I expect the autopilot in a commercial jumbo jet has a pretty good idea of where it is at any point in time, so this shouldn't be too tricky. |
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You wouldn't necessarily even need to change the card. It could just be set to transmit the contents of the card when it detects the plane's landed. |
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//downward// sp. upward : a chance to get an observatory further upward in the atmosphere. |
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[+] an extra source of revenue that might keep prices down. |
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//The only maintenance needed// |
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And [19thly] has it right. Wirelessly transmitting the photos upon arrival at airport is probably the best way to go. |
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depending on the profits of such a system, planes
could change their trajectories slightly to cover
more ground. |
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// What if the batteries run out // |
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Even single engined puddle-jumpers have sufficent spare generating capacity to support a digital camera subsystem without unduly impacting performance. |
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Airliners fly in very narrow airways, over and over again. As a result there would be a fantastic aerial map... of a 20 mile wide stretch between New York and LA. I suppose airliners could be used to map populated areas and that would free up satellites to take pictures of more remote areas. |
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Not to mention those wonderful shots of the Atlantic ocean . . . |
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Who would have access to these photos? Would this be a publically-supported venture and the resutls publically available? |
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I've been on a few airliners that had a downward-facing video camera feeding to the inflight movie screen. So there is precedence and not much to add. |
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(The screen started off showing the view ahead, which was nice during take-off. Later it switched to a downward view, with no warning that I noticed. I looked up, and the "front-view" screen was showing us headed straight down.) |
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Ladies and gentleman we're circling Chicago on a beautiful clear
night. Let me remind you of the photo screens on the back of the
seats in front of you. Click away for a chance to win a free flight
in our contest sponsered by Fuji to Fiji. Your own and your
passengers photos will be available for purchase at a kiosk in
bagage claim and online at halfbaked-air.com. + |
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I'd like to see their website. |
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Availability
Schedule
Cost
Facilities
Reliability
Stealth
Ejection |
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I'd like to see their fleet! |
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I like this as a low cost alternative to services that let you request satellite photos. I've rarely been anywhere where I can't see panes flying overhead, which means they can probably see me. Most planes would have to be equipped with good cameras, of course, but if this is a source of revenue, I could see the airlines going for it. The web site could have a coverage map with the times for the projected flights, or the user could specify an area of interest and a time of interest and let the airline handle the details and stitch the picture together. |
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