Australia - I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here (Now incl pictures)

[Flying Lawyer]

I wouldn't normally suggest watching a tv show featuring a bunch of Z-list hasbeens and hosted by a couple of children's entertainers, but Rotorheads Forum regulars might want to watch tomorrow evening's programme.

It's from Australia. Watch for the helicopter sequences.
Some of us will recognise a certain well-known and distinguished Oz pilot.
I'm sworn to secrecy so can't say more. ;)

Mon 13 Nov, ITV 21:00

[Whirlygig]

I'm going to have to trust you on this one aren't I because I wouldn't otherwise be seen dead watching it!

Cheers

Whirls

[ShyTorque]

Not Rolf Harris with a PPL, is it? :p

[212man]

No, more likely to be Dame Edna:uhoh:

[SayItIsntSo]

Having had our curiosity whetted I hope someone will be kind enough to post the answer for those of us who are fortunate enough not to get the show.

Thank you in advance!!

[Flying Lawyer]

Can someone in the UK kindly record the programme - either on video or DVD?

It's not being broadcast in Australia and it would be good to send the recording to our Oz pilot.

(I haven't got recording facilities at the moment.)


Thanks

Tudor

[reacher]

Does our very own John Eacott count as distingushed? :E

[spinwing]

Well he does have a lot of Grey hair!


:rolleyes:

[Pan Pan Splash]

well whoever the pilot is, I want a darn good explaination why he didn't cut Jason Donovan's bungy chord when he jumped out!!!:p

[Ding Dong]

At a guess .. Dick Smith i would say !!!! ..... :8

[Ewe Turn]

Is it Australia's most bestest and most experienced helicopter pilot Mike :mad: Becker ? :eek:

[johned0]

It's being recorded FL. Please feel free to PM me with the address to post it.

Cheers,

John

Can someone in the UK kindly record the programme - either on video or DVD?

It's not being broadcast in Australia and it would be good to send the recording to our Oz pilot.

(I haven't got recording facilities at the moment.)


Thanks

Tudor

[rotorcraig]

Very nice! Bungee jumping out of a helicopter at 1,000ft.

http://celebrity.itv.com/Images/Content/News/bungee1.jpg

http://celebrity.itv.com/Images/Content/News/bungee2.jpg

Page on ITV website (http://celebrity.itv.com/News.aspx?edid=1&nid=53)

RC

[Heliport]

Well, well ....... our very own star of stage and screen (screen anyway) .......... John Eacott of the Helicopter Service Australia.

Well done John. :ok:

Hope those publicity-craving prats weren't as bad in real life as they came across on the programme. Two national embarrassments heree are that the programme always achieves high viewing figures and the presenting duo have been voted the most popular presenters on UK television. :rolleyes:
The helicopter sequences made it worthwhile. :ok:

When you have a moment to spare, please tell us what was involved in the planning, getting CASA approval etc.


Heliport

[jumpseater]

'When you have a moment to spare, please tell us what was involved in the planning, getting CASA approval etc'

Planning on throwing some out of your cab then Mr H?:ooh:

[Flying Lawyer]

John Eacott

Very impressive. :ok:
Lots of helicopter action and quite a few sequences featuring you talking to the participants.
You achieved what many would have thought was impossible - making a dreadful programme interesting. :)





johned0

Thanks very much for your help. I wanted the recording for John E.
I've sent address details by PM.


Tudor

[johned0]

Oh Tudor, I am disapointed, I was thinking you wanted to watch your favourite z-list has-beens :E

Video on its way tomorrow.

Cheers,

John


John Eacott
johned0

Thanks very much for your help. I wanted the recording for John E.
I've sent address details by PM.


Tudor

[Gerhardt]

any chance someone would post a short bit on youtube and provide us a link?

[ShyTorque]

Well, it looked a bit like Rolf Harris!

Good heli shots, however, I was very disappointed - Faith Brown didn't jump. I think it was something to do with an up front problem involving fluid mechanics and inertia .... ;)

[John Eacott]

Well, it certainly was an interesting experience! The production team were a pleasure to work with, and we had plenty of practice before the 'event' which refined some unknowns.

The CASA approval was dealt with admirably by our Ops Manager, although everything slowed once it left our FOI's desk: I suspect no-one wanted to be associated with it! CASA actually have an internal guide paper on bungy jumps, so we met their requirements and got the tick in the box.

The bungy crew came from Cape Town, and had previous experience from an S61N, and a Puma, totalling 7 jumps in all. We were set 1000' as a minimum height, but this was really too high as the jumpers then finished up 500+ feet above the water, and had to be flown down an excessive amount before landing. Deadweight drops showed up a couple of issues, the first was that a perfect hover results in the drop bouncing vertically, and bouncing, and bouncing, and: you get the picture! For static (bridge) drops, the anchor point is 30 metres from the jump position, to induce a swing that helps damp the rebound. To emulate this I had to shift the BK117 left and back as soon as the jumper left the helicopter, then hover and allow a swing. Looked a bit untidy, but worked well. There was no effect on the helicopter at all from the jumper leaving (backwards, facing into the cabin), nor from the rebound.

Lowering the load is just like a normal long line, right? Very, very wrong :eek: Ignoring the marshalling signal to hover, I put the first static drop neatly on the ground, only to watch it neatly lift off and land 10 feet away, then lift off, etc! The bungy cord stores a mass of energy, and even in the static mode it will stretch almost twice its length with a load on the end. As soon as the load touches the ground that stretch wants to dissipate, so the trick was to dump the collective and drop 100+ feet as soon as the load first touches, which always results in a smooth landing for the jumper. Not something that I even thought about, good job we had plenty of budget to practise :)

Due to the small door area in the BK, plus to help lateral balance, we put one bungy crew in the left door, with the jumpmaster and the jumper in the right door. The cord weighs about 40kg, so it is held by the bungy crewman until the jumper exits, to avoid the weight pulling on the jumper's harness and upsetting their balance. All the usual safety measures were in place, with the cord primarily off the cargo hook, and a safety line in place to take the strain if the hook failed. Safety knives all around to cut the lines if needed, jumper had one too, plus lifejacket and 'drop bag' with a line to lower when 50-70 feet off the ground.

There's a video cut of one jump here (http://video.itv.com/default.aspx?page=celebrity&categoryid=5&galleryid=12&action=ViewGallery&VideoID=89&PageNum=0) on the ITV webpage, and many thanks to those in UK who offered to tpe the show. I understand ITV/Granada even gave credits at the end, they must have read Rotorheads and noted our comments in a previous thread! Total "live" drops were 15, with a couple of deadloads before, so we were lucky enough to rack up a decent bit of experience: anyone needs advice on a similar operation, just ask :D

The cord:

http://www.helicopterservice.com.au/photos/pprune/Bungy%20cord.jpg


After the first "live" drop

http://www.helicopterservice.com.au/photos/pprune/Bungee%2011.jpg


from the cabin: it's a long way down


http://www.helicopterservice.com.au/photos/pprune/Bungee%2010.jpg

[SayItIsntSo]

John,

What did your insurers think about all this activity? Did they impose any additional premium? Who carried the risk if you ‘bruised’ the ‘cargo’ a little, you or the production company?

Thanks.

SIIS

[Colonal Mustard]

John,

Hope you enjoyed Myleene, thought we`d send her over to you for "entertainment", (keep her there if you wish).....:}