For our flight, we took a Cessna 172 up north of Sporty’s to a little airport outside Columbus, Ohio (TZR). They have a real BBQ pit with some of the best ribs we’ve had. I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a fantastic lunch spot. During the flight, I was co-pilot/videographer/radio man.
While testing the camera mount, here’s what I liked and what I didn’t like.
1. Magic Arm
The infinitely adjustable arm is simple and intuitive to use. One twist at the elbow is all it takes to tighten the arm to a rock-solid position. Using the GoPro HERO4 for the flight with its touchscreen viewfinder let me easily frame up the shot but naturally my first guess wasn’t quite the best. Since I only need one hand to loosen the mount I could see exactly where I needed to position the camera and then tighten it once I got what I liked. This is pretty key to the mount. Some other mounts have a very limited amount of positions that you can place the camera. For the most part, they offer 90-degree angles and small increments of pivoting. In a 172, there isn’t an abundance of level surfaces to mount on. For example, I like to mount on the side of the windshield and position the camera just above the panel facing forward. The magic arm does this easily and when you want to flip the camera around for a shot of the pilots, one twist is all you need.
2. Vacuum Suction Cup
The vacuum suction cup raises the bar for your normal suction cups. For pilots with changing pressure altitudes traditional suction cups can lose their pressure. If you’re using the vacuum pump suction cup, you’ll see a red line when the pressure is beginning to weaken. It’s a warning to let you know to pump it a couple times before it falls off. The other great feature of this suction cup is the ability to mount on a variety of surfaces. Of course glass and smooth plastic will work, but I didn’t expect it to work on the textured plastic roofing in a 172. It grabbed the roof without any hesitation. You won’t be able to do that with your typical suction cup.
3. Aluminum Construction
The magic arm is made of strong aluminum, not plastic - that’s bonus points in my book. I’m less than gentle with my flight gear most of the time so I was happy that this arm seems extra durable. The arm uses the standard “blade” style mounting fork seen on all GoPro cases, mounts and accessories so it’s compatible with the gear you likely already have. This is also metal. Another point where Nflightcam’s mount won’t let you down. The suction cup and vacuum system are made of plastic but that doesn’t hold it back and likely is because it needs to be plastic.
4. Versatility
One static shot for an entire flight is a bad idea. If you’re going to show off the video and you only have one camera, this mount works great to move around. Shoot out the front of the plane, inside, side views and cross views from one central location with only a few adjustments.
This is hands-down the best feature of Nflightcam’s mount.
If you're looking for the most usable suction cup mount on the market right now for action cameras then the Nflightcam Vacuum Suction Cup is exactly what you're looking for.
