Propellerhead documentary monday jan 23 bbc 2 at 9pm
 

Don't know if anyone read Antony Woodward's marvellous book Propellerhead about microlight flying? BBC 2's prestige doc series Wonderland is broadcasting a 60 minute film based on his book next Monday Jan 23. Called The Real Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines it follows three teams - including Woodward - in the 2011 Round Britain Rally. Lots of fun and a real hymn to the pioneering aviation spirit!

Do watch if you can. Woodward is as madcap and gloriously enthusiastic about flying as he was in the book. (I should add that I produced it (ahem!) as part of my day job - flying a C172 being what a I do with the rest of my time!). More details at Home

Cheers,
Stodge

Read it years ago so it makes the programme a must see.

Actually the book is mentioned today in another thread http://www.pprune.org/6969677-post43.html

Surely any film properly based on that book would be an 18 ? :)

Mid-air refueling
 

Just saw a trailer:
BBC News - Racing round Britain in a microlight

And I thought mid-air refuelling was only something the military did... I suppose it beats adding ferry tanks but it doesn't seem the safest to me.
Can I buy a checklist for this procedure?
I hope for his sake (or the people below) he never runs into turbulence!

BBC2 The Real Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines
 

The Real Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines: A Wonderland Film at TVGuide.co.uk UK TV Listings Guide

Worth a watch but pretty scary stuff imho

can probably find on iplayer

PS On right now 9.00pm Tuesday 23rd Jan, scary Dad trying to talk his son into flying across the Irish Channel.

Incredible
 

Not doing GA much good. Making them look like awful risk takers.

Standard of airmanship is absolutely appalling.

PompeyPaul

You got the post in before i did.

We know its putting the Mircolighters in a bad light but the general public wont see that and we will all get tarrred with the same brush.

Floppy :ugh:

Looks great, can you fly in IMC ?
How much is it per hour?

Nice to see the sky scooter brigade promoting aviation.

I am not knocking Microlights generally as it looks a lot of fun in the right hands, but the attitudes of some of these guys is frankly - shocking.

Looking like a disaster waiting to happen

Jesus;

42 minutes in and describing the aircraft as "extremely overweight."

Where is Vince of Dundee fame? Lets face it he made microlight pilots look a f***ing menace, the 2 guys in the Thruster make them look worse!

I've had a lot of fun in microlights, a lot safer than a motorbike for a similar price, I suppose it would be bad TV not to concentrate on the eccentrics. Admiration to the guy who missed Cape Wrath by 15 metres, even my FMS equipped £15m "office" can't do that!

SND

O yes it can!!...I have seen a few Gross Nav errors filed on £15m office's in recent years!!:cool::cool::cool:

I enjoyed watching it - but I'm glad my wife didn't. She worries enough about flying being dangerous.

As floppyjock & PompeyPaul have said, everyone in G.A. will get tarred with this brush. Incredibly bad airmanship on display. I wonder if the CAA were watching?

FBW;

Sometimes I look at it and what it is doing and think "I wish I really believed in this lot!" Do you remember the guy who mistakenly entered the wrong lat/long on the old style system (new waypoint, not yet in the box), went half way up an airway, then turned round and went back the other way? I believe the interview with his Chief Pilot involved neither coffee, biscuits or a chair, followed by a serious chat with some ex-coppers who worked in a big office in Kingsway at the time.

At least the guy who went to Cape Wrath in the programme appeared to have properly studied the weather and knew where it was most workable.

How's the boat?

SND

Well, I must have watched a different programme to the majority of posters.

I saw a fun account of getting Anthony W involved in an around UK Air Rally. I don't recall seeing it billed as a series of flying lessons or a study on airmanship.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought that the three featured crews all came across as very likeable - though I'm sure the 16yo Irish lad will be a bit embarrased at the whinger he came across as.

It seemed to make aviation affordable and if that gets a higher foot-fall through flying clubs it can only be a good thing.

Stik

Stik, I agree.. What is wrong with people on here?????????????

OK, critics, name and identify the incidences of bad airmanship, rather than slagging it off in generic, Daily Mail terminology.

Either that or go and take up chess (but for goodness sake, please wear a yellow jacket).

Absolutely brilliant film, showed the human side as well as the adventurous spirit that is so lacking in the rest of our PC and Hi-Viz society these days.

Well done to all concerned in its production.:D

Well, as always the fine balance is between:

Rule 1 - AEROPLANES BITE FOOLS

and

Rule 2 - ARE WE HAVING FUN YET?

You also have to bear in mind that the programme makers perhaps had an agenda that was inherent in the title.

Poetpilot.

How about:

Overweight take off;
Not keeping good look out;
Marking the map incorrectly;
Flying through cloud;
Syphoning petrol from a jerry can on the back seat (in front of the hot exhaust)
Flying while clearly medically unfit;
and generally being a danger to anyone else who is unlucky enough to be flying anywhere near them.

Erm
 

Guessing where the destination airfield is and putting a random dot on the map so you are lost 5mins after take off?

Poetpilot;

See post 8. Describing the aircraft as overweight is not just stupid, but poor airmanship because:

A: It is illegal to fly overweight (It means flying outside the limits set out in the POH)
B: Flying overeight negates the insurance (See A above)
C: Flying overweight is in fact plain stupid due to potential stresses on the machine, not knowing how it will behave in the event of an engine failure, or what have you done to the stall speed/VNE.

Poor planning and getting lost in the first 10 minutes was funny, but poor airmanship never the less.

I wonder what the BMAA made of the "fuel transfer system."

However I would love to have taken part in the competition, the other pilots made it look fun, I suppose the focus on how dangerous it is to fly microlights made better TV.

SND

I had a sleep this afternoon, so £uck it - I am going to bite:

Guessing where the destination airfield is and putting a random dot on the map so you are lost 5mins after take off?

So lost he found his point of departure, without crashing and dying! Wow!!

Overweight take off;
Not condoning it but did not hear this said

Not keeping good look out;

In a frigging open cockpit microlight at a TAS of 60kts?

Marking the map incorrectly;

Define incorrectly. I'll bet you that the way I was taught 30 yrs ago is different to your way! My way works for me!!

Flying through cloud; Didn't see that


Syphoning petrol from a jerry can on the back seat (in front of the hot exhaust)

R M-H is a stalwart of the BMAA. But let's be clear here, the fuel is in FRONT of the exhaust - the a/c is moving forwards, the exhaust heat will be travelling aft! Go figure!!

Flying while clearly medically unfit; Poetic licence - one of them obviously held a current licence and I doubt it was AW.

FFS - it was a telly programme - not a CAA authorised guide to perfect microlighting!

What about bolting cameras on to the airframe and smoking in the hangar??


I have grown so weary of Pprune's perfect pilots' propensity to piss me off, I rarely post.

The guy who went to Scotland and came 6th looked a hell of an experienced & determined microlight Pilot so the 5 before him must be very competent.:ok:

The TV crew clearly picked the losers right from the start and the focus was on them for the entertainment and drama.

I would not let a child of mine fly with either of those other two guys :eek:

You'd probably not want your kids to fly with us either!

007;

I would have liked to see what the first 5 achieved; as for the guys in the Thruster, I wouldn't want to fly with them, but I bet a night in the pub would be fun.

I was VERY impressed by whinging 15 year old calling traffic to his dad with distances as well as bearings, dad has taught him some useful aviation skills there.

Stik is probabaly right and a few people will try microlights as a result, I can't help feeling that concentrating on the first 5 would have made a totally different programme that would have made people realise that in fact microlights are good, solid aircraft with amazing capabilities, I own a group A 2 seater which is often left for dead by modern microlights, and if domestic management would allow it I would probably trade for a good modern machine.

SND

Stik: I'd let you fly any member of my family, I've seen you fly and am as jealous as hell of your aeroplane. (I'd say the same for R M-H as he took me on my first flight in a weightshift a long time ago) I think from this thread that people are disappointed that pilots allowed themselves to be shown so poorly, all flying is good, but the media concentrate on the eccentric ends of any sport, that's what makes good TV, sadly

Stik, nice video, if they wanted to go then I would have no problem, just so long you'd had enough sleep..

if they wanted to fly with the 2 guys or the Irish fellow I think I would at all costs try and prevent them.

BTW I say kids, youngest is 21 so at the end of the day up to them.

Over Everest; home

The web site of Richard Meredith Hardy, the guy with beard who flew to Scotland, I would say a real adventurer.

As my good friend Senile Dementia says ...It's a TV programme; it's not reality. The events that were shown will have been carefully edited to make good TV; not to further the cause of GA flying, not to show microlights are safe and cartainly not to show things as they happened.

I watched it and enjoyed the programme. However, being aware of the tricks that a production team can make (who remembers James May in airship over Norwich??), I took it all with a pinch of salt.

Would I fly with them? On the strength of the programme, no. On the strength of meeting with them and chatting about their real knowledge and ability (as I would for any complete stranger), yes.

Cheers

Whirls

. You must have been watching Dave or nodded off again during the programme Stick & missed all the naughty bits :)

Whirls, it was a sort of reality, as in reality TV about a microlight competition?

Virtually 50% of TV seems to be reality xyz because it is cheap to make when no actors are paid.

It's reality only in that a series of events were videoed in real time. There, the link with reality ceases. I could take any number of edited highlighted of an individual's life and, on the one hand make them look like a super-hero, or on the other, make them look like a complete twonk.

Years ago the adage was, don't believe everything you read; now, it's don't believe everything you see on television.

Cheers

Whirls

Hey Guys lighten up! it was fantastic TV and the best flying prog I have seen in ages! I doubt if Jo Public was concerned about all the critics we have about their flying. You have to just see it for what it was a jolly good adventure and what an achievement by most in different ways!

I bet the flexi wing people will get an increase in people coming through the doors as a result! which is more than can be said for the fixed wing progs which make flying out to be too costly, difficult and seldom fun!

But there again perhaps that is the way it really is and us Hobby Pilots should wise up get some real flying under our belts! Flame torches at the ready!

I'm only posting 'cos I don't want you to think I've posted a contentious post and not answered it. But Stik and the others have made the arguments I would have put forward, so no point in labouring them.

As TV programmes on aviation go it was;

1. Informative
2. Human
3. Fun
4. Reasonably accurate
5. Hammed up a bit for the entertainment value.
6. Not anorakky.

Thinking about the many other completely rubbish aviation progs shown (who saw that absolutely awful "10 scariest landings" garbage last week ? groan... then this one was pretty damn good. If it put anyone off by way of promoting the raw adventure and spirit of the sport, then those people would not have really been right for the sport anyway.

The reality is that most micro schools/clubs I've had dealings with (and I now run one myself) promote the adventure side whilst balancing it with professionalism in training and mentoring. The sport is as safe (if not safer in some regards) as GA, and in many respects mirrors the pro GA approach, regulating itself (since the late 80s when it got a grip on itself) pretty well. If it didn't I'm sure the CAA would have hammered it before now.

Light hearted entertainment, taken with a generous pinch of salt to allow for the inevitable literary licence ;) Not necessarily representative of the microlighting community, but certainly did show that some flying is still relatively affordable and FUN.
Apologies for shouting but some people on here obviously missed that aspect as they're too busy exercising their (assumed) superiority genes :rolleyes:

Stiknruda... Thanks for your balanced input :ok: My regular passenger is looking forward to the trip with you that he won.

Reading the first page of this thread made me realise that some people need to get a life, ASAP.

The programme was great and full of 'let's embellish that a bit for good viewing' moments. It showed microlighting in a positive light and summed up nice the lack of snobbery that exists when you have a large fraternity of dedicated people who are not just out to outdo each other....:rolleyes:

Magnificent
 

Great Programme :-)

Heroes all..

Love the bottom line on RMH's website everest page, a quote from George Mallory:

What we get from this adventure is just sheer joy. And joy is, after all, the end of life. We do not live to eat and make money. We eat and make money to be able to enjoy life. That is what life means and what life is for.

Sir Niall....there was also the well known airline not many moon's ago that was crossing the Atlantic on a route 56N 020W 56N 010W....finger trouble had them input an extra zero for the 10W co-ordinate.....so yes as the flight crossed 20W it started a turn back to 100W.....after regaining the situation and outside radar cover the crew said nothing.....they were found out though as they entered Scottish airspace and once again under radar control they were now behind the aircraft that they should have been ahead of!!!

So as we say these £15m offices are fine as long as their is now human interaction!! :cool::cool::cool::cool:

And as for the boat I am boat less at the moment.....maybe another year or two before I join the sailing ranks again. :cool::cool:
Regards FBW.

I thought the programme was absolutely spiffing!

To follow the story of 3 completely different entries into this amazing competition has to inspire others to take up flying for fun, which as hum reminds us, should be our real reason for Private Flying! a lot of pundits on this thread are taking themselves entirely too seriously.

Most of all, I admire that Irish Dad; he is a hero to his son. He didn't pressure the lad unduely, and he carried a GPS, made sensible decisions throughout, and when he saw his passenger was not happy, took off the pressure and spent the rest of the tour relaxing altogether. How many "top gun" amateur pilots give similar regard to their suffering pax?