Your flying tales sought for BBC One Show

[Ballywalter Flyer]

Reposting a plea from a friend who is looking for your flying tales for a 3 part feature on the BBC One Show.


My name is Jane Gillow and I’m a Researcher for BBC1’s The One Show.

We’re currently developing new ideas for One Show films for 2014/15 and we’re very interested in looking at flying clubs as we think they must attract people from all walks of life and are full of potential for great human interest stories.
...
I was wondering, would you mind putting some feelers out amongst your members to see what stories are out there with a view to turning this into a series of short documentary-style films for The One Show?

Some areas we are interested in are:

· The interesting and surprising places the aircraft are flown to

· Stories of bravery, camaraderie, friendship and teamwork

· Big characters in your club

· Enthusiasts of aerial photography who go out to capture landmarks or incredible views

· Someone with an interest in birds who goes out to capture a kestrel or other bird

· Someone who has been caught up in a dramatic situation while flying their aircraft – maybe they were involved in a rescue of some sort

· Firsts – if you were the first flying club to achieve something we would love to hear about it

· Unusual things that are transported via the aircraft

· Famous people who have a passion for microlights and other small aircraft

· Any big events or happenings planned for 2014 and 2015 that we could cover

Any info you could send me would be gratefully received. We would like to get some stories in by early next week if possible so it would be much appreciated if someone could look into this for me as soon as possible.

Many thanks,

Jane

Jane Gillow

Researcher

BBC

| T. 02890 338029| |E. [email protected]

[robin]

No offence, but I think most GA pilots steer away from over-dramatising our flying.

We fly for pleasure and the idea of the media looking for items of bravery, drama etc is not a good approach.

Rather than asking for stories, why don't you visit your local club and see what goes on.

[Ballywalter Flyer]

Been flying for over 20 years, so personally I know what goes on at the average GA airfield.

They are not looking to over dramatize, but looking more at the variety of people that get into GA. (i.e. it is not just the millionares playground, but ALL walks of life)

So many (or rather - Too Many) times, whenever GA appears in the media, it is when things have gone wrong. All to often we hear about the lastest crash - which often is no more than a perfectly safe forced landing.

Here is our opportunity to show GA in a positive light. A chance to showcase the good.

[Heston]

Hmmm well if the Propellerhead tv prog about the microlight Round Britain Rally is anything to go by, then this will surely turn out sensationalist and not a good advert for recreational flying...

[shortstripper]

I thought the Propellerhead tv program was quite good and surely made a few people consider taking up microlighting?

Most people these days know that TV tends to sensationalise a bit, but can see past most of it. Showing that aviation is fun and not out of reach for most "normal" people can't be a bad thing!

SS

[sapperkenno]

GA will be dead by 2014/2015 anyway, what with the closure of all the RFs and extortionate fees to become ATOs bankrupting all the grass roots level flying training.

[stevelup]

What a miserable bunch!

[Three Mile Final]

My experiences of the press on many subjects and over 40 years have not been good.

Personally I wouldn't say a word to them that I wasn't prepared to see twisted, and sensationalised.

Respond to them at your peril.

[foxmoth]

I would have thought a look at the LAA and the aircraft and people there would be a good one for the show, lots of variety in both people, aircraft, building and the places they fly from.

[Ballywalter Flyer]

Thanks for the positive feedback 3mile - Very Helpfull

I have certainly pointed her in the direction of a few people, along with such events as the Dawn to Dusk, Royal Aero Club - for air racing. Homebuilding community & LAA.

These are great, but there is always that one person in GA that has a remarkable story to tell.

Pilots have taken microlights over Mount Everest. or flown solo around the world in a homebuild. Clubs may have run flying events to raise money for charity. Sensationalist - not, but facinating for an audience to be able to watch and share in their triumph, no matter how small

[foxmoth]

Another one that might be worth looking at is the "Fly to Help" Charity, Aviation with tons of human interest stories.

[Ballywalter Flyer]

Thanks Foxmoth.
Had not heard of this one.
I will take a look, and pass it on to the team

[jollyrog]

Project Propeller is about to happen, that certainly must make good telly and you couldn't make GA look bad with that if you tried.

[Ballywalter Flyer]

Another brilliant charity.
worth a look

[Tay Cough]

I could be interested on condition I get to take Alex Jones flying. :}

[AdamFrisch]

Miserable old bunch.

Anything, and I mean anything that can give some attention to aviation, ignite a spark is a good thing. All publicity is good publicity. Even bad. If we want to save GA aviation then we need to be welcoming to these efforts and not be insular or suspicious like some freemasons club. It's up to us to be collaborative or we won't have any GA left in a few decades.

I'd especially like to see a highlight on grassroots flying and aircraft ownership and try to help steer it away from the commonly held notion that one needs to be rich to fly. If this takes the form of profiling big 'characters' or a frightening emergency and adventure, then so be it.

[Ballywalter Flyer]

Adam, you appear to have hit the nail on the head.
They are trying to show the wide variety of people who get into GA.
Speaking with some of the team, they were not aware of the homebuilding community, or the fact that market traders rub shoulders with CEO's etc.

[BEagle]

Had it been a reasonable BBC show, we could have been interested...

But in my opinion, The One Show really is complete and utter rubbish - presented by some rather vacant, often-unintelligible woman and a grouchy, sulking side-kick, in my opinion.

I invariably switch channels before the wretched programme starts as it is so cringingly awful....

[The Fenland Flyer]

Showing the home-building/LAA side of things would be great as it's a side the public doesn't get to hear about much. There is some great characters in microlighting as well.

Filming at a fly in or at Cromer airfield on a busy day would be fun too. Project propeller would also be a great one.

Or how about showing a modern microlight such as a C-42? I have a share in one and wouldn't mind taking part in filming if it would promote the club at Chatteris.

[Ballywalter Flyer]

Getting some great results here folks
Can there be anything better than a grass strip on a warm Sunday afternoon among friends. Pootling around in a t'craft or cub.

[Crash one]

I'm with BEagle on this. The One Show is the biggest waste of air time in creation. Well respected celebrities that I/we would love to hear are given 10seconds of speak time & then ignored by the bimbo & it's mate. Utter crap. Bring back Raymond Baxter & some sense.

[jecuk]

And we wonder why many women find aviation to be an unwelcoming environment. Fair enough you don't like the show (nor do I) but what a childish comment.

[peterh337]

One would need to do this sort of thing with extreme care because the current standard of TV reporting is almost without exception abysmal.

The problem is that it is not possible to retain a right to review the finished job and object if it contains ridicule of GA.

Any any coverage of GA will be full of ridicule, especially the whole flying school environment if one is looking for sensationalism. Straightforward flying to interesting places (examples (http://www.peter2000.co.uk/aviation/)) will be just plain boring to the general viewer.

Many years ago a reasonable attempt was made with a programme called the Air Show which covered light GA among big airline etc stuff and that was fairly well done. They threw in some silly stuff when a not unattractive but implausibly nervous journalist did her PPL, with the instructor holding her hand every minute of it including talking to her on her first solo with a handheld radio to make sure she didn't crash...

[gemma10]

How about you filming a trip where I fly Joanna Lumley back to northern Norway, where we can lay under the stars and watch the Aurora Borealis. Oh and you can pay for the trip as well. :ok:

[BEagle]

Hmm, yes jecuk, I do seem to have been rather rude about that woman....:= Sorry, post now amended and I would be grateful if you would edit yours accordingly.

Nevertheless, I still consider The One Show to be an utterly dire programme and the standard of presentation woeful. Or at least it was when I last saw it several months ago - I've avoided it ever since.

[stevelup]

The One Show has a huge audience share.

I'm mystified why getting exposure for light aviation on a TV programme that more than a fifth of the TV viewing public regularly watch can be considered anything other than a good thing.

[mary meagher]

Well, I'd be happy to tell them all about gliding. As most of you may have noticed.....

Including snakes on planes....true!

And I'm pleased that somebody has stepped on the Beagle for being rude....

Adam Frisch points out, correctly, that "all publicity is good publicity, even bad!"

We certainly notice a surge in enquiries when a prang becomes newsworthy; however, usually when a glider goes splat, the pilot walks away. In one recent incident, he had to swim away......

Mary

[Heston]

I'm mystified why getting exposure for light aviation on a TV programme that more than a fifth of the TV viewing public regularly watch can be considered anything other than a good thing.

Read again the OP. The tv researchers are not interested in light aviation. They are interested in finding "characters" and "human interest" stories, and believe that flying clubs may be fertile ground in which to find them (which is probably true!). The pieces that are shown will not be about aviation, but about weird and wonderful people. The one most powerful message that the viewer will get will be "people who fly for fun are strange, mad, and possibly bad, folk".

If thats OK, then fair enough (there's no such thing as bad publicity), but don't expect to like it when it comes on air.

[stevelup]

What a ridiculously negative view.

Of course they will feature the pilots, airfields, aircraft and flying - it would be an utterly pointless exercise otherwise.

[maxred]

Well, I had my five minutes of fame, when we filmed an episode of the Two Fat Ladies cookery programme. It was called the Air Race. Apparently it is still one of the most watched episodes. Globally.

What did we get, nothing really, but that was not the point. We got a really good few days flying, with lots of laughs, and a bit of excitement to watch the end result. Working with the film crews, and of course the Two ladies, was a good giggle.

Now, for about two days flying and organising, we got about 5 minutes in the programme, and that is the rub. Most of the film goes on the cutting room floor. I have no doubt this idea may well produce a similar result. But....if set out correctly prior to any filming, and whoever takes part has a say in the direction and image that the piece will take, then no harm.

Yes the prgramme is pretty dire, but tell me one decent piece of TV since the demise of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA:8:)

[Heston]

Of course they will feature the pilots, airfields, aircraft and flying - it would be an utterly pointless exercise otherwise.

Precisely my point - they won't feature aviation in a way that you'd recognise, so it is an utterly pointless exercise.

...if ... ...whoever takes part has a say in the direction and image that the piece will take, then no harm.

They won't have a say.

[maxred]

They won't have a say

With respect, you don't know that..

[peterh337]

This has come up here before.

One could make a series based around a flying school, which would make good viewing.

The various relationships, the instructors routinely shagging female students (two of mine got students pregnant, and a 3rd had to vanish totally for years after doing something, ahem, more borderline, and is out of aviation totally now), your prebooked lessons getting bounced because a group with half the world's supply of titanium in body piercings and bags of lard hanging halfway to the floor drops in for a pleasure flight, the student getting lost and phoning in 2 hours after the fuel must have run out saying she landed on some runway in the south east but doesn't know which because there is nobody around, the old ladies spending their inheritance because they like sitting close to young virile instructors and never mind being way past 100 hours with zero chance of ever getting a PPL, the instructor getting students to fly over the instructor's house to take photos of it, the lessons where you do the NDB stuff in the plane in which the ADF works and you do the VOR stuff in the plane in which the VOR works but the ADF doesn't, the instructor doing a "pretend DME" by calling out the distance off a £50 GPS from Milletts because the DME in the plane always reads some plausible figure between 3nm and 7nm, you name it. And that is just from my 1 year hanging around the scene.

Post PPL, as an owner, the stuff you could come out with could get you evicted from the airport. Non owners have no idea what goes on.

There are some great grey-haired characters, ex cargo 747 pilots, who tell great stories about stuff they did flying illicit British arms cargo to Africa. But most of them won't talk on TV about the best of it.

Then you get the fast talking conmen who can spin a fantastic yarn about their (fake) ATPL, their (fake) flights across the world (nonstop UK to Singapore in a PA46)...

So, yeah, you could make a fun programme, along the lines of the recent KAVOS (http://www.club18-30.com/kavos-corfu/) expose on TV not long ago where drunken Brits were puking and bonking and puking all over the place, but I don't think it would do GA any good unless it was done responsibly, with input by real pilots who care about GA, but there are no such guarantees in TV production. They can use your material and use it any way they like no matter what they told you beforehand.

[maxred]

Peter 337 - pretty much sums up the whole scene.

Now the maintenance arena. That would be the producers of Crimewatch with the CAA as advisors:uhoh:

Who said good old fashioned cynicism was dead

[Pace]

Peter

Personally I like very technically detailed flight films!
There was one on the daily running of a budget airline and a flying school could be made in the same manner?
The airline one was called 'come fly with me ' or something similar !
They even had a husband and wife crew who hated each other !
Many of the staff must have been related as they all looked the same but if you want hardcore realistic aviation programmes this is the one for you ;)

Pace

[RTN11]

the instructor doing a "pretend DME" by calling out the distance off a £50 GPS from Milletts because the DME in the plane always reads some plausible figure between 3nm and 7nm

That one really made me laugh Peter, so true, often without even the GPS, just local knowledge.

Any film along these lines would end up the same as the microlight one, painting the people involved in GA as mad eccentrics.

[maxred]

That actually reminds me of my last IMC check out. In the club plane, cause it has all the IFR bells and whistles, except, the brighlty lit readouts on the King NAV/COM, and the DME read outs, were failing. So you got half of a three, which read a couple of lines, the top half of a five, you will get the picture.

Instructor states before we go, dont worry about that I will shout out what I think is the correct DME number, as you carry out your various procedure holds, and I will input the frequencies, therefore that is another load off your plate!!:confused:

It developed into true farce, when most of the fading read outs began to actually fail, and at this stage we had trouble actually inputting the approach frequency.

At one point I was stoating about the VOR hold, at 4500, not having one iota about where I was in relation to the beacon.

Make a good show that..

[Tay Cough]

There was one on the daily running of a budget airline and a flying school could be made in the same manner?
The airline one was called 'come fly with me ' or something similar !
They even had a husband and wife crew who hated each other !
Many of the staff must have been related as they all looked the same but if you want hardcore realistic aviation programmes this is the one for you

Pace

Messrs Lucas and Walliams obviously did a lot of research and did a great job. There were some very "in" jokes which would probably escape the notice of anyone who wasn't in the business.

[Bob Upanddown]

When the BBC can make a headline story out of silly tourists paying £50 for ice creams in Rome, can't you imagine what they would make of all the silly playboys in their rich boys toys??

[Ballywalter Flyer]

Bob, what you fail to have read from the original post is that they are trying to dispell the Hoo Ray Henry myth that all PPL's are multi billionairs.
They ARE looking for those who have ordinary lifestyles, and jobs, but have that passion for escaping the bonds of earth.

[Morris542]

Didn't realise the One Show had any researchers

[stevelup]

No, of course they don't.

The multiple features they run every day just materialise by magic!

[Bob Upanddown]

Bob, what you fail to have read from the original post is that they are trying to dispell the Hoo Ray Henry myth that all PPL's are multi billionairs.
They ARE looking for those who have ordinary lifestyles, and jobs, but have that passion for escaping the bonds of earth.

Is that information from the person named in the OP or is that your opinion??

What I saw in the OP was ........we’re very interested in looking at flying clubs as we think they must attract people from all walks of life and are full of potential for great human interest stories.
...
I was wondering, would you mind putting some feelers out amongst your members to see what stories are out there with a view to turning this into a series of short documentary-style films for The One Show?

I believe some of the documentary-style films shown on the TV show ordinary folk who come from Essex and Chelsea.

Do not trust the BBC.

[stevelup]

Do not trust the BBC.

Let us know when it's your birthday... We'll all chip in and buy you a new tinfoil hat.

[Heston]

More precisely "do not trust the BBC anymore than you would any other part of the media - in other words don't trust them at all to present a balanced and generally supportive view of light aviation"

Tin foil hats not required. One develops a healthy cynicism and thick skin after 30 years working alongside marketing and PR people who's job was to generate exposure in the media.

[Crash one]

Just goes to show how much BBC credibility has been lost recently.
Dont blame the naysayers, try to understand why.

[Ballywalter Flyer]

Thanks for the PM's folks, the One Show team are getting some great feedback into the world of GA

[Liam_Mulholalnd]

Thanks for the PM's folks, the One Show team are getting some great feedback into the world of GA

You mean most of the people in this thread don't trust the BBC to do a good job when reporting about GA and that the One Show isn't the greatest of programs either.

I'm in the group who think GA needs some sort of publicity no matter what, when was the last time you saw something outside of the normal aviation circles (i.e. Normal daytime programming) because I haven't ( FYI I did see the Microlight show on BBC 2).

Working at flying school I can see that younger flyers aren't staying as members once they have their PPL as they go straight onto CPL training, flying as a recreation hobby in the younger generation is nowhere to be seen. The simple answer is that its just too expensive, an hour in a PA38 is around £140 which in the eyes of some people could be spent on nights out, clothes, food etc.

To be honest I can't really say much as I myself am only 22 but its fair to say I've been bitten and can see myself flying GA for the rest of my life, even if I do hopefully gain a CPL.

[snapper1]

Try Battleback, the charity that's getting injured service personnel solo in gliders.
Sky's the limit as student glider pilots go solo - British Army Website (http://www.army.mod.uk/22146.aspx)

[Lone_Ranger]

Don't tell him Pike....:ugh:

[Chipmunk Janie]

I've already been interviewed by Matt Baker :ok: on Countryfile on 17 May 2009, standing beside my Chipmunk at Kemble. I really and truly did not want to be on TV, so I spurted out a diatribe of rubbish in the hope that I was not included on the show. It was ... about 30 seconds worth.

Once broadcast, my phone rang off the hook from friends who had spotted me. Strangers at airfields started saying hello. It was all rather amusing for a while.

[Chipmunk Janie]

Where's Rob Weaver when you want him?

[loaded as a dice]

How about covering the children's charity day at Sherburn Aero Club, a large collection of pilots / aviation enthusiasts come together for 1 day to give poorly children and their families a day to remember!! Pm if interested .

[rgsaero]

A word of advice from a (retired) professional!

Be very, very careful about getting involved with television, whether BBC or any other broadcaster. The same applies to radio as well.

Having spent a lifetime dealing with media professionally there is a number of “rules of engagement” which everyone – especially “amateurs” should know and respect.

The most important is that the individual has absolutely no control whatever over what the broadcaster transmits. Thus it is possible that what is transmitted has a markedly different meaning from what the contributor intended. This is achieved by editing and the insertion of commentary and other information after the individual's contribution has been made. This is often done either to "spice-up" the story, or to bend it to fit the preconceptions of the producer, director or presenter.


Thus, while the contributor might think that he/she is part of a “good news” story for GA, the comments / information can be used in such a way as to give a different “slant”, particularly where the original contributor may not be in full control of the events being covered.


Remember, the only duty the broadcaster has is to entertain, to fill the programme slot and in many cases to enhance the reputation of the presenter / interviewer! There will be no opportunity for the contributor to see or comment on the edit or the way in which the story is presented. Once an item is broadcast, perhaps in such a way as to give a different “take” on the story to that which the contributor intended, there's no recourse. It's out there.


Be very careful!

[Microlight FI]

I agree wholeheartedly with the 'be careful and make it good publicity' threaders. It's a wonderful opportunity so I have proposed my local flexwing and 3-axis microlight school close to the coast with wonderful views and full of interesting and varied characters be considered. Let's get more people up and away!

[Jude098]

"all the silly playboys in their rich boys toys?? "

Silly?..........not unless it was silly to have sat the PPL exams and passed the GST to join one of the world's most fantastic clubs

Playboys?..........When I looked in the mirror this morning I was very definitely female

Rich?......nope, just as not all of us PPL pilots are

Boys toys?.............so aircraft like fast cars are only for the boys then.....

Jude

p.s. If there are any silly playboys out there who would like to buy me (and maintain) an aircraft PM me please :)
p.p.s. Quite happy with a single prop 2 (side-by-side) or 4 seater

[flybymike]

p.s. If there are any silly playboys out there who would like to buy me
I may be willing to buy you Jude.
Please send further details...

[Ballywalter Flyer]

JUDE
You are quite right.
It is just these myths that The One Show are trying to dispell.
They Are looking for the complete variety of people who get into GA.
The team have had some great responses via PM and email

[Jude098]

haha flybymike.

[BEagle]

Please send further details...


an' photygraph o' tractrr!

(old joke, sorry....)

[Captain Singh]

Feel free to drop in at Manchester Barton. We can show him around, and there are plenty of airport bums to talk to.

[PompeyPaul]

If the one show are looking for something to rival "Big Brother" in terms of general bitching, politics & tittle tattle then there are some incredible clubs I've been involved in then would be absolutely ripe.

Outside of that any aircraft share scheme where one member doesn't return the aircraft quickly at the end of their slot, goes flying without booking etc would be a good source of drama.

:O

[Wisden Wonder]

What we want is a weekly aviation show, not 'The One Show', we have hours ,and hours, of cooking, doctors, wild life, do-it-yourself, houses to buy/rent/renovate, gardening, farming, sewing, and then we have 30 minutes of motor cars, thank you for Top Gear. We, as aviation persons, aircrew/groundcrew/spotters/ have nothing on any TV programme to cover our subject. I have made noises to the companies to produce or direct same, but due me having no previous knowledge or training in media or journalism I have had no success. My input would be accuracy, and 50 years in aviation from mechanic to flight deck, Cessna to Jumbo, and all bits between. All I would like is 30 minutes a week, as per Top Gear, [without Dave and all the repeats]. Thousands and thousands of people are interested in aviation, from all aspects, especially the engineering side of our business, and I have no doubts at all that the half hour would/could be a major success, so come on TV companies, let's have 'Top Flight', once a week, with not a chef to be seen.

[Liam_Mulholalnd]

If the Americans and Canadians can make shows about aviation (even if there fly on the wall/reality shows) why cant we?

[Crash one]

"Flying Wild East Anglia" doesn't have quite the right ring to it somehow.