Bulent Aliev wrote:

I thought I would throw this out to anyone interested. I purchased a B &

W Bullet Pinhole Camera

from http://www.eyespyvideo.com. This camera is low light, broadcast

video quality, very small,

cost about $100 and runs on 12 vdc. They also come in color but not

quite as low light.

I mounted mine to an inspection mirror handle, attached a super bright

LED for a lighting source,

a small 12 volt monitor and a 12 vdc power source. It's such a small

package I can carry it on the

plane and run it off the aircraft power. I was amazed the detail I could

see. I also made a small

tool to adjust the lens so I could focus on objects as close as a few

millimeters. I can now do

some of the airplane inspections in places that I could not get a mirror

in. I also found it handy

to look at wire bundles and control cables once the panels were put back

on to check for

clearances and chaffing.

If I see something of interest and want to monitor it over time I record

it a VCR and compare the

video with additional inspections, so if you suspect a crack developing

or something you can keep

track of it. It's also nice not having to remove the cowling everytime I

want to check for oil

leaks, etc.

This camera is not small enough to fit in a cylinder (just a few

milimeters too big in diameter),

however there are cameras that are small enough but they are more

expensive. You can still put the

lens in the sparkplug hole and see most of the inside of the cylinder.

Charlie

Vari-Viggen
N31WW

We've been using a similar set up, with a small security camera mounted in
the end of a peice of plastic pipe, for some strucural inspections on Pink
(http://www.pink.at/bilder/fde31.jpg). The view is much better than the $$$
boroscopes I am used to (although it's not a fair comparison as we have boro
equipment down to 2.5mm diameter). A very cheap, effective inspection tool.

Mark Wrathall
http://members.aon.at/wrathall/rotary/

 
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