[TowerTalk] Inspecting or even de-icing antennas from the ground

[John W]

Santa is bringing my nephew a radio controlled helicopter for Christmas. It has a camera built in, with 4 GB of memory.
 
It just occurred to me that being able to fly a camera up to the top of a tower could be a handy way to inspect to see if something is broken or amiss without having to climb.
It also occurred to me that perhaps one could suspend some sort of a loop under the helicopter and, if it's highly maneuverable, maybe even use it to gently shake an element that has got ice building up on it, as a way of maybe knocking some ice off.
 
Wondering if anyone has ever considered using a RC helicopter for this purpose, and wanted to throw the idea out there as a suggestion in case it hasn't been tried yet. I plan to give it a try.
I assume a telescope, or at least a good pair of image-stabilized binoculars, would need to be used by the pilot, in order to be able to see exactly what you're doing from the ground.
 
John
W2ID