Helicopters in movies: aerial filming techniques

[chopper2004]

Dear Moderators and all

I wonder if it's possible to have a thread similar along the lines to the NOstalgia thread on not just helicopters in the movies (as there is one already) but also combined with aerial filming techniques, Tyler mounts, types of HD systems etc etc experiences of crews doing shoots following say Isle of Man races, Formula 1, Le Mans etc etc

Many thanks
Chopper2004

[500 Fan]

Sounds like a good idea. Maybe somebody could get Marc Wolff to drop by and share some stories about flying in the Bond movies and other film work.

Marc Wolff - Specialist Film Pilot, Aerial Unit Director / Coordinator (http://www.flyingpictures.com/team.php?id=6)

500 Fan.

[Savoia]

Chopper

I hesitated to post this earlier as it's such a popular site when it comes to rotorcraft in movies but .. on the off-chance you've not stumbled upon it then check-out rotaryaction.com (http://www.rotaryaction.com/)

Rgds

Sav

[Tickle]

There's a few other movie pilot names I'd love to hear from as well. I hope they are still with us: Karl A. Wickman, Thomas H. Friedkin and Ross Reynolds.

They all have quite a number of film credits to their names between them. Anyone know them?

[Spunk]

I know some other famous film pilot:

TrailerGSG9 - YouTube


I know, but I was young and in need of money :E

[chopper2004]

Hi Savoia

Yep I know that website and at times have had to correct some of the credits as either
someone got the wrong helo or the wrong operator!

And guys, many thanks for your feedback,

Cheers

[chopper2004]

500 Fan

I had a brochure from Flying Pictures several years ago :) Also a great source of interest is the extras on the Robert Redford / Brad Pitt motion picture Spy Game whereby they do an interview with Marc Wolff on set in Morocco where they used a few Hueys, a Mil-2 Hoplite, AS350 B3 for aerial filming. Interesting enough the film had an few historical factual errors, one of which came out in the interview withTony Scott during the aerial sequences. He said that the Viet Cong didnt have any helos at all but they decided to throw in the Hoplite during the assasination sequence. However the North Vietnamese Air Force did have a Mil-4 according to my Aircraft of the Vietnam Handbook .

Plus the dates were mixed up as at the beginning the screen shot which depicted Hong Kong, said Hong Kong, China yet the film was set in 1991 6 years before the handover. I could understand if the film was set in 2001.

Also again with dates, it said Da Nang firebase April 1975, Da Nang air base had long gone by 1975 for sure.

Also the Huey used in the movie was not the standard army UH-1D/H as the tail rotor was located on the starboard side of the tail as in Super Huey / USAF HH-1H version.

Beyond that its a good movie.

[CyclicRick]

Just a few points for the spotters, the two 'Hueys' used in Spy Game were Bell 205 A1's D-HOOK and D-HAFL (hence the tail rotor on the other side). The sequences were filmed in various locations in the Czech Republic and Slovakia in the Tatra mountains and filmed almost in conjunction wit Behind Enemy Lines which also used a Spanish Bell 412. IIRC the filming in Morocco was for Blackhawk Down. :ok:

[chopper2004]

Cheers CyclicRick for the info on the pair of German Hueys, much appreciated

Though looking at the special features of Spy Game, the Hueys were filmed in the Moroccan brush :) as Marc was running around co-ordinating things in the desert area :)

The Morocco countryside especially where theres lots of trees and a river flowing through was meant to simulate the Vietnamese countryside.

Ah Black Hawk down, a few friends of mine who former US Army Aviators told me that Hollywood footed the transportation costs and so forth and special arrangements with the Moroccan Ministry of Defence when I asked, how did Hollywood managed to persuade the DoD and Dept of Army to send the elite and at times secretive Nightstalkers to Morocco for filming. I then thought about the security issues of protecting the MH-60L and MH-6 over there.

Morocco as well as Israel, for filming action movies set in the Middle East as said with Jewel of the Nile, Rules of Engagement (for which the Royal Moroccan Air Force lent a few CH-47 to simulate the USMC CH-46E that lifted off the fictional named USS Wake Island LHA for the land sequence of the film).

Cheers

[chopper2004]

Apart from Tyler are there any other popular makes of camera mounts used around for aerial filming from aircraft?

Likewise WESCAM gyro stablilised HD turrest used a lot as well?

Cheers

[CyclicRick]

The bits the two German 205's were in were not filmed in Morocco, I can vouch for that as I was flying D-HOOK in the film. The rooftop sequences (Spy Game)were filmed at a small airfield south of Budapest (LHTL) on an old disused tower building. The 'flying off into the sunset' sequences were filmed over a large lake whose name escapes me at the moment. Obviously I can't vouch for any other scenes. :)

[chopper2004]

Cyclic Rick,.

Ah many thanks for clarifying that :) so you didn't fly the scene where Nathan Muir met Tom Bishop in Vietnam :)

Cheers

[CyclicRick]

No I didn't. We only did the rescue scenes at the end the same as in Behind Enemy Lines. I've done aerial camera work on a few other projects (film and TV) which can be very interesting.

[BUCC09]

[Moved]

............

[mickjoebill]

Apart from Tyler are there any other popular makes of camera mounts used around for aerial filming from aircraft?

Likewise WESCAM gyro stablilised HD turrets used a lot as well?

Main players in stabilised gimbal land;
These gimbals are large in size and can take a wide range of cameras.
Spacecam, Eclipse (was wescam), Gyron FS, Libra


These gimbals are smaller and come from the factory with a HD camera installed.
Cineflex
Ultramedia HD


The R44 news helicopter comes equipped with a stabilised system with a pre-installed HD camera, the gimbal is made by Robinson (!) under license.

All of the above are positioned outside of the cockpit, either under the nose or on the side of the aircraft and operated by a remote control from the cockpit.

There are other stabilised gimbal systems that are not yet in use worldwide.
Each of the above systems has its pros and cons and offer varying degrees of functionality and stability.

As in the "old days" there is a number of mechanically balanced mounts that can accommodate a wide range of cameras and are installed in the door and operated manually by a camera person.


Mickjoebill

[MikeNYC]

The new system to keep your eye on is the Shot-over. It was created by one of the guys instrumental in making the Cineflex. Think of a Cineflex with interchangeable camera payloads, as well as 3D in the future.

Home | Shotover Camera Systems (http://www.shot-over.com/)

It can be loaded up with the Arri Alexa, Red EPIC, or Sony F35. Super stable, small, no Vne limits. Nice demo video on their site.

[misterbonkers]

Heres some pics from various film sorties. Its far more civilised (and warmer!) with the doors on! I've worked with the Cineflex a fair bit and have to say its a winner all round (although it does have some issues). Afraid I dont have any decent pics of one though.

Biggest pointers for the newbies;

- Always try speak to others that have flown the camera systems before;
- Always do your Mass & Balance;
- Try to avoid flying at MAUW. The heavier you are the more limited you will be for the manouvres that might be required of you.

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/250752_10150643399630243_512345242_18864531_7191214_n.jpg
[Wescam sidemounted] - fly it like your stuck in treacle! and avoid AoB> 10degrees

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/255711_10150643400165243_512345242_18864539_1083410_n.jpg

[Internals]

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2581/112/105/512345242/n512345242_6146339_1090823.jpg

[Tyler Sidemount]

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v321/112/105/512345242/n512345242_3783384_6829.jpg

[Wescam Nosemount] - fly it like your stuck in treacle! and avoid AoB> 10degrees. Whole system with rear ballast box (required!) is around 300kgs!

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v363/112/105/512345242/n512345242_4541106_4318.jpg

[Flir Ultramedia II]

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v363/112/105/512345242/n512345242_4541751_8904.jpg

[same longranger as above but decalled out for a film shoot for Emmerdale TV series some years back]

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v351/112/105/512345242/n512345242_4541358_105.jpg

[R44 ENG - lump underneath tailboom is the battery box - for CofG reasons]

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v363/112/105/512345242/n512345242_4541171_4638.jpg

[R44 ENG Tail Fin lipstick camera on the back - stop working after a few hours due to vibration! - some guy called the CAA on me for this and said I was flying IN snow]

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v309/112/105/512345242/n512345242_3851076_3832.jpg

[Gyron HD - weighs in about 200kgs and needs a lot of ballast in the boot]

[MikeNYC]

Anyone have pictures of an "Outside Mount" for a 500? Supposedly it worked with a Continental front mount, and enabled the camera person to sit outside the aircraft and manually operate the mount. Read about this in regards to David Butler from 1977. Sounds like a curious system, likely no longer in use due to the remote mount technology being so advanced.

[southerncanuck]

chopper2004
we (meeker-airfilm) make alot of mounts for various helicopters. most are designed to take at the minimum the V14 / UMHD or Starsafire / MX15i class. most are FAA and EASA STC'd
we have mounts for
- AS-350/355: 4 versions, downlink mount, searchlight mount
- EC-120 side mount, nose mount in progress, downlink mount
- EC-130 nose mount, in progress
- EC-135/145 stepmounts
- Bell 206/407 nose mount, downlink mount, aft searchlight mount
- Bell 212/412 nose mount
- Bell UH-1H side mount
- Bell 429 nose mount, aft searchlight mount
- MD500/600 side mount, downlink mount, searchlight mount
- R66 nose mount in progress
- UH60 A/L/M mount
- Mi-17 nose mount
- unimount (vehicle / ship / quad etc
- various isolation devices for all the major gimbal mfgs

[TRC]

Spy Game

Also the Huey used in the movie was not the standard army UH-1D/H as the tail rotor was located on the starboard side

It was a Spanish 205. The sequences with this and the Mi-2 were shot in Morocco.


....the [other] two 'Hueys' used in Spy Game were Bell 205 A1's D-HOOK and D-HAFL (hence the tail rotor on the other side). The sequences were filmed in various locations in the Czech Republic and Slovakia ...

The sequences with HOOK and HAFL were shot in Hungary.


The 'flying off into the sunset' sequences were filmed over a large lake ....

It was Lake Balaton.

[GoodGrief]

Here we go:

http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm207/Indien08/Standard/Cineflexnoselow.jpg

http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm207/Indien08/Standard/cineflex2.jpg

http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm207/Indien08/Standard/cineflexrear.jpg

[js0987]

With the above thread on slinging cars for television, I was reminded of a Chevy commercial from the 60's. According to the book "From Those Wonderful People Who Brought You Pearl Harbor," (a book about advertising), a Bell 206 was used to sling parts of the stripped down Chevy to the top of a Pinacle in Monument Valley. A mechanic was dropped to assemble the parts and once assembled a pretty, young model, was dropped off. The 206 then landed below to have the camera gear installed and then proceeded to film the commercial.

Once filming was finished, the 206 landed to have the camera gear removed before returning to pick up the mechanic and model. Problem was, the winds had become so strong that landing on the pinacle was out of the question, and by the time the winds had died down, it was too dark.

It was a cold night for the mechanic and the young model.

1964 Chevy - Monument Valley - YouTube

[Ready2Fly]

Who knows ... maybe they made something out of it ... :ok:

... or do you happen to be the mechanic ... you sound to have detailed info ;)

[js0987]

No - I am not the mechanic, but I'll bet he had fun trying to stay warm.

[Rjlow]

This is a new type of side mounted camera mount from a small company in New Zealand that is being tested at the moment that is showing some good results http://www.cinestratus.com

[Zishelix]

Excuse me for being a little bit off topic, I wonder if any of you gents might know which Gazelle was used in filming Devil's Playground - The Internet Movie Plane Database (http://impdb.org/index.php?title=Devil%27s_Playground&redirect=no) ? Thanks in advance.

[Savoia]

I sincerely wish that someone would lobby the filmmakers and encourage them to subscribe to a 'rotary wing code of ethics'.

The list should include:

1. Use real helicopters when and wherever possible.

2. Never substitute file recordings of helicopter sounds for the real thing.

3. When employing GCI, make an attempt at creating something which reflects reality.

I could go on ..

[chopper2004]

Savoia,
I second that hear hear :)

For example in the series The Unit, they use Vietnam era Bell 204 /UH-1B/E , for the action sharing albeit with 205.UH-1D/H is acceptable to an extent.

But then again its a matter of costs, and availability of say California ARNG UH-60L/CH-47D or California ANG HH-60G Pave Hawks re 129th, more realistic for special ops aviation however bearing in mind these units do have real world missions moreso nowadays so that would be limited. However as the UH-72A Lakota is en masse with the ARNG, than perhaps a substitute albeit an expensive paint job then, borrow an EC145 from American Eurocopter and deck it out in mil colours or use some form of editing digital paint work over original colour!

In Broken Arrow, use of Bell 204/UH-1B/F as USAF helos was by 2 decades out of sync! :) :ugh:

Though with more availability of MI-8 nowadays in particular the German registered D-HOXE or D-HOXP or D-HOXQ used in James Bond 007 Die Another Day as the North Korean MI-8 was perfect and also the use of a MI-8 decked out in black for Stormbreaker (again wondered if that was one of theb German trio)

Black Hawk Down (as with my earlier posts) was perfect - the DoD permitted the Nightstalkers MH-60L and MH-6 to be used in the filming AND in a desert African country mimicking Somalia in this case Morocco :) It was a great feat considering the very sensitive and secretive nature of the unit and valuable equipment! One could almost argue to do a book to movie of Tornado Down, using the Royal Saudi Air force's co-operation with their Tornados or borrow and RAF Tornados used in that region on detachment! The first time to see the Nightstalkers MH-60 was Tom Clancy's Clear and Present Danger

Strictly speaking, a lot of Hollywood blockbusters such as Transformersn series of movies have used MV-22 (first debut of the V-22 in motion picture) AH-64D,UH-60L, MH-53M, AH-1W, CH-53E, and of course in the first two, laughable using one of the army's test J/UH-1H as Dustoff machines in 'Qatar' :) as no Hueys are used in the front lines let alone the Dustoff on detachment in south west Asia currently!

Nice to see in Transformers: Dark of the Moon, the bell 429 made its debut on screen! :) and can't forget Sikorsky S-92 for Mr Deeds :)

Wings of the Apache / Firebirds was first debut for US Army AH-64A, UH-60A and UH-60A Dustoff, AH-1S, OH-58A Kiowa, and of course the 'Scorpion' atatck helicopter eg MD-500 Defender of which several Latin American nations do use (albeit probably the bad guys :) )

Second film to use US Army AH-64 and UH-60 was Toy Soldiers (Louis Gosset jnr, Denholm Elliott and Andrew Divoff) courtesy of the Virginia ARNG,

However if its a low budget made for TV, thriller, action adventure and cant afford to hire helicopters hour and half at night then, get permission to use film footage of say military helos and slide that in somewhat :)

Beyond that '24' does have co operation of the DoD as they have provided USN SH-60F, and on the fixed wing side, the USMC F/A-18Cs been used.

Also with the last 10-15 years of movies, the AS350 Astar have been used more and more in the police roles in tv series or movies and thats what a fair amount of police/sheriff departments used primarily the LAPD, LASD etc etc

Cheers

[TRC]

...a MI-8 decked out in black for Stormbreaker (again wondered if that was one of theb German trio)

No, it was from Hungary. Based in Budaors.

[chopper2004]

Many thanks for that TRC :)

[TRC]

My pleasure.

[Savoia]

Grief! If one was to list the aeronautical fuax pas in films one would clear a forest! I tend to be happy enough so long as they are using a real aircraft with the right sound .. its the 'crummy' CGI that I find irksome.

Zishelix .. couldn't resist posting this for you:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-lh3iWlDgL_Y/TxdPR5pjLOI/AAAAAAAAHZs/KdnDG9XcP88/s550/goldlady1.jpg
Westland Gazelle SA341G G-BAGJ being flown by Marc Wolff in the filming of 'The Golden Lady' (1979). Apparently TRC volunteered to drive the motorcycle in this scene! (Just kidding ;))

[Zishelix]

Already familiar with this one, but thanks anyway :)

[chopper2004]

The Golden Lady is actually a 1979 production :)

The Golden Lady (1979) - Full cast and crew (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079224/fullcredits#cast)

Though looks like one of MW/Flying Pictures work according to credits.

Cheers

[Zishelix]

Aerial cinematography service... Aerial Film & Cinematography Services, All Star Aerial (http://allstaraerial.com/)

[chopper2004]

Just bought the latest Air Forces Monthly this morning to see in the EuropeN news section that one of the development AW101 airframes is being used in the latest Bond flick, Skyfall.

Hunted around on the web et voila

http://theforagingphotographer.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/helicopter-over-lodge.jpg

Cheers and Happy Easter

[eivissa]

Some more scenes of the helicopter shoot for the new James Bond movie :ok:
Uq6pIjP73UE

[chopjock]

Why are they using a twin to film it with?:confused:

[TRC]

Why are they using a twin to film it

Two reasons.

It is a congested set.

Some flying is after dark.

[Savoia]

Nice to see a snippet of rotary action prior to the movie's release and what is perhaps, for the first time, an Agusta-Westland product in a JB film!

While blitterblats have featured in nearly all the JB films it seems to have been a while since we witnessed a really decent bit of flying in any of them.

Probably the best two flying sequences (for me) were those in "For Your Eyes Only" (which I think was 'The Wolff') and "The Spy Who Loved Me" (John Crewdson) of which I preferred the latter.

Time perhaps for a good helicopter-chase script in the near future!

Moving away from Bond (and observing the recent posts relating to the 'Deadly Encounter' movie) I find myself asking the question - just how many 'decent' films (as in a reasonable storyline and acting accompanied by good [non-CGI] shots) with flying sequences are there?

Only one movie springs to mind with an 'extended' rotary-wing segment meeting the above criteria .. "Apocalypse Now" (1979).

Any additional candidates?

[Jakeman]

Hello people on this useful and resourcefull network.

Can any one help me? I am looking for a company that has a Helicopter for aerial film work in the aerea of Tanger, Morocco. We have to film there some aerial shots as other scenes as well at around April 2013. As the rest of the film will be recorded with an Arri Alexa, we would prefer an Arri film mount.

Thanks in advance.


Jake

[JimBall]

Try here (http://www.helicopterfilm.tv/) - they have Arri and gyrostab mount

[Gordy]

A little far from Morocco there Jimball....

Give Aurelie, a former student of mine, a call here, there are based in Morocco:

Heliconia Aero Solutions (http://helicoptere.heliconia-maroc.com/index.html)

[crice]

Anyone know who this is? Apparently he's called Frank and does all the IRC rounds, Tour De France and Dakar. The pic was taken on a rally in Ireland.
http://i612.photobucket.com/albums/tt202/crice_2009/528516_10150625486392014_1579514773_n.jpg

[crice]

Ah, here we go:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/BIRD-VISION/157007037700760

Birdvison Helicopter paris (http://www.birdvision.fr/english/accueil_eng.html)

.

[misterbonkers]

If it's the ROI - they did well getting permission to fly that low!

[crice]

That was the Circuit of Ireland which was an IRC round.
When I last competed on the Circuit in 2009 it ran stages both sides of the border. I think this year (when the pic was taken) it only ran stages in Northern Ireland.
I'm not sure when Rally Ireland (the WRC round) will run again.

[Spunk]

If it's the ROI - they did well getting permission to fly that low!
or the driver of the car did well getting permission to fly that high :}

[farmpilot]

Hi Jakeman

Did you get my email?

farmpilot

[Savoia]

A movie called 'The Host' features a 500 wrapped in 'chrome' film:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-mhSg6qqBcjI/UXWQgOVzviI/AAAAAAAANFQ/1JRFD_5qjVg/s901/Brian+Reynolds+flies+a+chase+scene+in+the+2013+movie+%27The+ Host%27.jpg
Brian Reynolds flies a chase scene in the 2013 movie 'The Host'

500 Fan: Brian Reynolds (owner of Northwest Helicopters at Olympia Airport in Washington State) kindly sent me a photo of the 500 he flew in this movie but, his firm cannot publicise more info for about another month and has asked me not to post the photo he sent me till then. But, for now .. this video grab (above).

The chrome wrap used was manufactured in Germany and according to Brian .. was pretty expensive.

Those who read the Nostalgia Thread may recall my mentionings of David Thieme owner of Essex Oil who were one of the first ever sponsors of Team Lotus. Thieme's Monaco-based LongRanger 3A-MSX wore a blue coat with a scarlet and 'chrome' flash but .. from what I understand, the chrome wrap had to be specially manufactured as the custom car accessories market didn't really cater for such things in 1970's Europe!

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Wp01EPnV7Io/UXWTm3R2gDI/AAAAAAAANFk/b1KJc1Mj1-Q/s875/3A-MSX+1979.jpg
David Thieme's Essex Oil LongRanger 3A-MSX with chrome stripe c.1979

The same colour scheme was applied to Colin Chapman's aircraft while Essex sponsored Lotus:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-10oNztLTAVg/UXWTnbEUFWI/AAAAAAAANFo/Ju_zxU-eg28/s648/G-AYTF+1+1980.jpg
The Colonel with the 'Dancer' (G-AYTF) at Lydd Airport in 1980

As an aside, the movie uses Lotus cars!

[500 Fan]

Thanks for the info on the shiny 500, Sav. I saw a trailer for that movie a while ago and I'd wondered how they achieved the glimmering effect on the helicopter. I thought it might have been some kind of CGI effect but it is interesting to see that they actually covered it with something. I look forward to the close-up photos. Thanks.

500 Fan.

[Bravo73]

A movie called 'The Host' features a 500 wrapped in 'chrome' film.

I wouldn't bother to rush out to see it though. It looks like bit of a stinker: The Host - Rotten Tomatoes (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_host_2013/)

[Heli-News]

Videos about ?helicopter? on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/tag:helicopter)

There was or is an imbedding issue with this video but select the red Bell 407 on the above link to read and watch:

"The Banff Centre invited Ron Chapple, Aerial Director of Photography for Aerial Filmworks, to collaborate on a project for Banff-Lake Louise Tourism. Following an amazing day of perfect weather and smooth production, Ron spent several hours teaching an aerial cinematography workshop to the Centre's work-study students."

[Savoia]

500 Fan: I said I would post an additional shot from the making of the movie "The Host". My apologies for the delay.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7417/9501788276_388c88db42_b.jpg
MD500E used by Northwest Helicopters for the filming of the movie "The Host" (released 2013) and seen here on location in Shiprock New Mexico. (Photo: Courtesy of Brian Reynolds who flew this aircraft during the movie sequences)

[Tickle]

Here is an article with interview from 2007 about 30 year veteran film helicopter pilot Al Cerullo and his experiences on different films:

Helo pilot brings flying experience to movie-making | Aviation International News (http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aviation-international-news/2007-12-10/helo-pilot-brings-flying-experience-movie-making)

I found it while looking for information to explain scenes involving Michael Caine clearly at the controls of a 355 in the film Sweet Liberty while taking a lady for a ride. According to this article, Cerullo was dressed up as the lady sitting next to Caine!

[SASless]

Distinct aroma of Ham noticed near Shiprock!:E

[Alouette316]

Hello,

A question for the old movies specialists here ... Does someone know the identity of the "XZ-282" coded SA318C Alouette II Astazou featured in movie "Figures in a Landscape" in 1970 ?

Here is a picture of the Alouette :

http://pierregillard.zenfolio.com/img/s2/v73/p1358008134-3.jpg

Thanks.

Pierre.

[chopper2004]

Just watching the original version on BBC4 - the first episode bit where the character played by Joanne Whalley Kilmer is killed off setting her father played by Bob Peck to hunt the hitman and leads to nuclear conspiracy,

In the last episode or penultimate episode where Grogan arrives at the NATO Nuclear Conference at a hotel in Scotland, he is seen to arrive by a dark colored BO105 (prob one of Bond / Management Aviation or PDG)

In the remake with Mel Gibson, the CIA liaison guy arrives in a red Liberty Helicopter Charter AS350B2 at New York heliport, which sadly later on was involved in an accident with a light aircraft.

cheers

[Aussiecop]

Gawd that chrome thing is sexy!

[Boudreaux Bob]

Northwest Hellicopter's web site has photos of that shiny thing in its new paint.

[KiwiBoyZac]

There's a few other movie pilot names I'd love to hear from as well. I hope they are still with us: (...) Thomas H. Friedkin
Unfortunately this is a sad reason to bump an old thread, but Tom Friedkin died recently. He was 81. Gulf States Toyota founder Thomas Friedkin dies - Houston Chronicle (http://www.chron.com/business/article/Gulf-States-Toyota-founder-Thomas-Friedkin-dies-11021405.php)

I didn't realise he even has a Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_H._Friedkin

[Old Farang]

Hmm, surprised nobody has picked up on the this one! Proper Helicopter for filming as the pilot is out of the way and the cameraman can be either side.

However, I am biased as I once owned and flew this model(not this particular one). :ok:

The Film Star Hiller - Hields Aviation (http://hieldsaviation.co.uk/the-james-bond-hiller/)