When Spokane resident Brett Nelson started tinkering with remote-control helicopters at age 13, he didnt realize the boyhood hobby someday would blossom into a business.


Nelson, a Delta, British Columbia, native and Washington State University graduate, began mounting cameras onto the miniature helicopters and found a practical use for his diversion.


A lot of uses, in fact.


In 1995, Nelson founded ChopperCam Inc., which operates a small fleet of ground-controlled, miniature helicopters with film, video, and still-photography equipment on board. Nelson pilots the choppers from below as they capture images for the motion-picture and commercial-production industries. Hes also contracted to shoot aerial footage for government agencies, research institutions, and small businesses. Recently, Nelson also began selling the remote-control choppers he builds in the garage of his Spokane home.


I get a lot of satisfaction making something from scratch, Nelson says.


ChopperCam is a one-man outfit, with Nelson filling the roles of president, marketing director, manufacturer, distributor and pilot.


Most of his work, he says, has been in the feature-film and TV-commercial industries for clients such as DreamWorks SKG, the Discovery Channel, ESPN, NASA, Nissan Motor Co., and Spokanes Sterling Savings Bank.


Nelsons first professional assignment was to film a commercial in Florida for Titleist golf balls. He sped the chopper down the length of a golf-course fairway and took on the point of view of a ball on its way to a green from the tee.


Nelson built his business out of Point Roberts, Wash., where he lived before moving back to Spokane last month. Residing 1,000 miles from Hollywood has had little effect on ChopperCams growth, Nelson says.


You dont need to live in L.A., he says. Its a portable business.


Nelson keeps some equipment in a Los Angeles storage facility, but stores most of ChopperCams gear at his home here because the companys assignments are usually somewhere remote and he can transport the equipment from Spokane efficiently, he says. ChopperCam has been put to work in the deserts of California and the mountains of British Columbia. Nelson has conducted business internationally and recently bid on commercial and feature-film projects in Mexico, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates.


The size and maneuverability of the miniature helicopters allow them to capture images that might be impossible, or at least dangerous, for conventional aerial film crews to shoot, he contends.


Each helicopter fits into a 6-foot-long box, which Nelson calls a mini-coffin. Although one of the choppers and auxiliary equipment weighs 400 pounds, Nelson can load one of the birds on an airliner and arrive at a work site within a day.


The blades on the miniature helicopters span either 6 1/2 or 8 feet. Two-stroke engines power two of the companys three current helicopters. The third model is the only one of its kind, Nelson claims. It is powered by a turbine engine and travels at speeds of up to 70 miles per hour and with no vibrationa must for the film industry, he says.


In the front of each chopper rests a three-axis gyrostabilized camera that rotates up, down, and from left to right. On the ground, Nelson keeps his eye on the sky and sends signals to a small computer mounted on the chopper, controlling the movement of the machine and the direction of the cameras eye. Nelson hires a friend as an assistant to watch a monitor that shows the images as theyre captured by the camera. The two constantly talk with one another during the flight to coordinate the orientation of the chopper and the cameras point-of-view.


But the critical coordination occurs in the planning, Nelson says.


Each shot is designed in advance so that both Nelson and his assistant know the flight path of the chopper and the required motion of the camera mount.


Nelson is also the technical mastermind of ChopperCam. He designs, builds, and perfects the helicopters, which are worth about $15,000 each. Add the professional-quality film camera, and the value jumps to $50,000.


Nelson chooses clients carefully when he sells his helicopters.


I give lessons and hours and hours and hours of training, he says. If someone was killed or hurt by a minichopper, it could affect all of us in the industry . Safety is a big concern.


Flying safely sometimes means saying no to a customer.


Nelson recalled a client once asking him to hover a helicopter over the head of a girl for a TV commercial. Although he hadnt crashed a chopper in three years, Nelson refused because he couldnt guarantee the young actress safety.


Occasionally, its the equipments well-being thats in question. Ice can form on a choppers blades in extremely cold temperatures, just as on airplane wings. Hot weather poses problems, as well. The choppers blades are made of layered materials laminated together. Once, those layers delaminated, or separated, in the extreme heat of Californias Desert Valley.


Each assignment poses new challenges, Nelson says.


Car commercials are hard because you have a car thats moving, a driver thats operating the car, and then me trying to follow him, he says. A lot of elements have to be in place when youre dealing with a moving object.


So how did a 20-something guy from a small Northwest town find himself working on a set with Steven Spielberg and his crew? (Nelsons 32 now.) By offering a rare service and advertising his product through the grapevine, he says.


When you have something new like this, word of mouth travels like crazy, Nelson says. The movie industry is actually pretty small. People like to share new things.


Reaction to ChopperCam is always positive, Nelson says.


You walk in with this thing and the red lights go off, he says. Everyones extremely interested in it and fascinated by it.


One could say that comparing the advantages of remote-control helicopters with those of conventional choppers is like pondering the difference between mans surgical skills and those of an elephant.


The small devices can hover in tight spaces that would destroy a conventional chopper. At the same time, they can cruise along the walls of huge canyons. Remote-control choppers are more time, fuel-, and cost-effective, Nelson asserts. Plus, since the chopper is piloted from the ground, the operators life isnt endangered.


Nelson wont disclose ChopperCams annual revenue, but says the daily rate for a movie project is $9,000. He charges $2,000 to $4,000 for jobs that require only still photography or video images. Sometimes he will charge as little as $900 if a job is simple or locally based. Clients also must cover his travel costs and expenses.


The companys flying business has grown from three assignments a year to 16, and from selling one or two helicopters to eight, Nelson says.


Nelson briefly partnered with his brother-in-law, Dennis Magner, who worked previously as creative director at WhiteRunkle Associates. Magner served as the marketing and public relations head of the company during his three-month tenure with ChopperCam. He designed the company logo. The partnership dissolved after Magner received job offers from former clients.


ChopperCams competition is scarce but fierce, Nelson says. He claims that although only two similar companies exist in the U.S. and just one is based overseas, he must promote his service continually at trade shows. Currently, hes booked for a few days every two weeks.


Nelson says he hopes one day to expand the business and hire additional help. But because the work is extremely precise and highly technical, he says he will approach taking on new personnel with caution.


Nelson plans to base ChopperCam in Spokane for the long haul, but Washington is better known for farming than films.


Nelson recently has begun emphasizing his ability to assist in research-related or small-scale promotional projects closer to home, as well as blockbuster hits.


Developers in Seattle hire Chopper-Cam to complete view studies before beginning construction on future high rises, Nelson says. They then use the footage in promotional videos sent to prospective tenants.


ChopperCam recently assisted the University of Illinois in agricultural remote sensing, which detects potential stresses in fields and helps farmers maximize yields and profit. The helicopters flew over vegetation and conducted crop and soil evaluations using infrared technology.


Its more efficient and cost effective than putting an actual (full-size) helicopter in the air, Nelson says.


The U.S. government recently contacted him regarding ChopperCams potential uses for the Department of Homeland Security, he says. He cant disclose the details of the departments interest, he says.


As ChopperCam swoops into small crevices and over lofty vantages, Nelson hopes to wind his way through an increasingly diverse landscape of clients. Nelson says he thinks ChopperCams greater emphasis on doing more for research and business-related projects is a good move. Working on a feature film sounds a lot more glamorous than it is, Nelson says. Its a