Flying Under Bridges

[Pace]

I was walking near Tower bridge in London and half heard a guide recounting to his group of tourists about pilots who had flown under London Bridge!
There must have been a time years past when regulations were far more lax and when many of our famous bridges would have been flown under and some illegal attempts too!
Obviously nowadays you would be locked away but still an interesting piece of history?

Pace

[sharpend]

Al Pollock was locked away after he flew under Tower bridge in a Hunter. Ask him.

[fisbangwollop]

Try this for size..!!

Spitfire under bridge - YouTube

[fisbangwollop]

Sharpened...
Al Pollock was locked away after he flew under Tower bridge in a Hunter. Ask him.

Hawker Hunter Tower Bridge incident - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_Hunter_Tower_Bridge_incident)

[24Carrot]

You might be thinking of G-ATOO.

Google produces one hit, that I could find.

I was told this story while a PPL student, but hugely embellished, e.g. the two school-kids had no licence, took the aircraft without permission, ...

It seems the truth was more mundane.

== edit ==
Tower Bridge (http://www.btinternet.com/~a.komosa/towerbridge.htm)

[Pilot DAR]

Under bridges does happen :E. Under wires is even more common, and sometimes the only way. I've had to land under wires in helicopters a few times, and fly under them along water ways several times. Generally, they are well marked. The highest elevation wires I have flown under was 600 feet above the water - not really a challenge.

This summer I flew under some much lower ones, through a passage, as doing so prevented conflict with on coming traffic higher up... Apparently it is commonly done in this area, though doing so was new to me, as I was just a visitor...

You can see the marking balls on one of them.

http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/oo252/PilotDAR/Aircraft/IMG_4176_zps3af962f5.jpg

[Pace]

Yikes. You would certainly want to know about those!
Coming back to bridges I am sure someone went under the Clifton Suspension bridge ?
Would you ever get permission nowadays? I doubt it? I wonder how a big film maker would achieve permission from the authorities?
I suppose film makers would film the aircraft and digitally paint in the bridge after?

Pace

[pulse1]

Christopher Draper - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Draper)

Christopher Draper flew under Thames bridges on two occasions. The first time was in the 30's in a Puss Moth when he managed two bridges.

In the 50's he flew an Auster under 15 of the bridges.

[mikehallam]

And this year 2012 two helicopters flew under Tower Bridge, London, filming for the Olympics opening 'do'. BBC had the video.

mike hallam

[FleetFlyer]

There was also a flexing microlight that nailed a number of bridges only a few years ago.

[Pace]

What an amazing stunt that would have been for the opening of the Olympics especially with Tower Bridge!
How many bridges are there across London and the Thames !
That would be a first for someone? Sad we have such bunch if spoil sports nowadays : (
The red arrows flying under Tower Brudge would have been an amazing spectacle For the opening of the Olympics !

Pace

[mikehallam]

Helicopters Fly through London Olympics Tower Bridge - YouTube

At 48 seconds in Tower Bridge/two Helicopters.

mh

[tb10er]

The San Francisco helicopter trip which goes around the bay and Alcatraz flies under the Golden Gate Bridge with passengers.

[Pilotage]

There was also a flexing microlight that nailed a number of bridges only a few years ago.

An obituary for the late Jay Madhvani in Microlight Flying said that Jay had assisted with this, but the pilot remains undisclosed. There are rumours in the community, and they're probably reliable, but still just rumours.

P

[abgd]

There was someone flew under Clifton Suspension bridge in a jet fighter a while back, then piled into the sides of the valley moments afterwards.

I've wondered whether it would be technically legal to fly at ground level under any bridges that are more than 500 feet high, with the supports more than 1000 feet apart. It's a little academic because as far as I can determine, there aren't any.

For legal highs, the best I've heard is flying between the old man of Hoy and the main island.

[Ultranomad]

Here is an interesting variation:

zz5AcbaJzLo

[Pace]

Very interesting variation ! Where is it ?

Best I saw was a clip of a pilot flying inverted under a tiny bridge with feet clearance !

Pace

[Ultranomad]

Pace, the pilot, Jurgis Kairys (http://www.jkairys.com/), is from Lithuania, and the bridge is either there or in Latvia (as far as I heard, he has done it more than once). He also did the flight testing program for Sukhoi Su-26, Su-29 and Su-31.

[Mark 1]

Then there was the 2009 Budapest Red Bull Air Race (http://www.redbullairrace.com/cs/Satellite/en_air/Event/Budapest-2009-Hungary-021238611544140)

[Doodlebug]

Thing is, you cheerfully nip under a bridge only to be confronted with the telephone-wires which, in most cases, span the gap together with the road. They're much thinner and harder to see than power-cables and not always marked as clearly as in one of the posts above, and they sometimes hang lower than the bridge.

You end up with half of a split-second in which to decide 'over or under'. :uhoh:

[thing]

THE BLUE MAX(1965) Original Theatrical Trailer - YouTube at 35 seconds

[Maoraigh1]

Some Spanish guys flew under the Ballachulish bridge - and the Court let them off. Downdraft excuse. Then an English guy (RAF?) flew (a Pa28) under the Skye bridge, avoiding birds, - and I think got away with it. Unlikely excuses are only accepted by Scottish courts if you are not a native.
A Chinook flew under the Kessock bridge, with authorisation by the military.
A light aircraft flew under the Kessock bridge soon after it opened. The pilot was never traced. As he was a local, he would have got a severe sentence if caught. (He is now deceased.)

[longer ron]

Somebody mention the Mad Major ?

Chris Draper flying under the london bridges (15 of them ?)

http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/vv316/volvosmoker/Draper_Auster_bridges_zps7e9cd4c0.jpg

[PH-UKU]

Of course, you could always legally do a touch and go under a bridge. :)

[Ultranomad]

...or refill a water-scooping firefighting aircraft, like Bombardier CL-415 or Beriev Be-200.

[XX514]

I once flew under the Queen Juliana bridge in Willemstad, Curacao. Mind you, that was in a helicopter with a white ensign hanging off the winch!

[pulse1]

Didn't Cpt Eric Winkle Brown loop a "Spitfire" through the Forth Bridge? The police went round all the RAF stations trying to find the guilty party. Apparently they didn't know that the FAA had Seafires.

[Wide-Body]

Allegedly if you are going to do this. Look at the gap and do not look at any part of the structure. Obviously I would never endorse such scurrilous behaviour. Remember in sport keep your eye on the ball to hit it. Same works with bridges.

;)

[treadigraph]

The aircraft that wnet into the side of the Avon Gorge was a Vampire, and as I undertand it, far from the only one to go underneath!

The late John Jordan was reputed to have taken his Stearman under the Orwell Bridge at Ipswich during a display there a couple of decades ago.

Then there was the "Phantom" who threaded a Rallye through the Arc de Triomphe several times around 1980, and the American who flew a Bonanza underneath the Eiffel Tower (http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CCEQtwIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D_txdqnVP3-c&ei=Qk5gUNPbLYjA0QWQvoC4Cg&usg=AFQjCNGJTX_n_FNszp5MIH-ob1ahmsjV6g&sig2=cS9mgP8owOFSCqqCBk21mA).

I hear tell that the magnificent Millau Bridge has cables strung beneath the deck to, er, dissuade les pilotes from being naughty.

[john ball]

Variation on the theme --- I know someone who did a touch and go on a disused aircraft carrier in the solent, whilst flying a Condor.:ok:

[Pilot.Lyons]

Cant see whats wrong with it personally!

We are all good pilots who can observe and adjust and keep a steady height... Its only for a small distance... And those who mess it up probably wont live to regret it anyway ;)

[Pace]

Although fifteen of the London bridges were flown under how many are there?
I presume it would be a first to underfly all of them.
The media coverage, publicity and charity fund raising potential huge!
What permissions do I need to get to do it without being slapped in jail :E
I presume if you just went for it at 4am first light in the summer would that be a fine or imprisonment? Someone swam the Thames why can't someone fly it ; ) ?

Pace

[scrambled]

If you haven't seen this before........

Haute Voltige - Tianmen Cave Flight - YouTube

If you're patient and watch to the end, you'll see a four ship fly through.

There is other footage out there if you search on Peter Besenyei cave flight or similar.

Enjoy !

[Pace]

Amazing clip :ok:

Must be a subliminal desire to procreate ?

Pace

[Maoraigh1]

A Decathlon was flown through one of the bridges in Natural Bridges National Monument in Utah. I was shown a photo of it by the owner, who was not the pilot. It looked much more difficult than the cave.
And did a pollution control DC3 fly under the Humber Bridge while spraying detergent?