insane low-level video over Chongqing, China
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insane low-level video over Chongqing, China
I'm currently shooting photos in Chongqing, China and was looking to youtube for inspiration and locations when I stumbled onto this. I know there is an operator who has an EC120, a JetRanger and apparently an R44 in town but I was gobsmacked at what looked to be insanely low-level flying over the city.
I'm not sure if they used drones for some shots like the one next to the subway in the tight shopping street or directly parallel to the bridge but regardless thought this was too good not to have shared.
It gets going after about five minutes.
In China ATC is paramount. Talk to them nicely and give a good reason and they will clear you down to 30 metres in a major city, sometimes even without a good reason. One of my first jobs when I first flew there was to take photographs of some historic building in downtown Shenzhen buried in a forest of high rises and for that I was cleared to 30 metres. That called for some weaving down the streets to get some good shots plus another 30 minutes of legalised hooliganism
When you are flying directly at a glass office building with all your lights on and see your reflection coming towards you it can be quite fulfilling.
Unfortunately it was to a maniac on 9/11 too.
In China ATC is paramount. Talk to them nicely and give a good reason and they will clear you down to 30 metres in a major city, sometimes even without a good reason. One of my first jobs when I first flew there was to take photographs of some historic building in downtown Shenzhen buried in a forest of high rises and for that I was cleared to 30 metres. That called for some weaving down the streets to get some good shots plus another 30 minutes of legalised hooliganism
When you are flying directly at a glass office building with all your lights on and see your reflection coming towards you it can be quite fulfilling.
Unfortunately it was to a maniac on 9/11 too.
Last edited by Fareastdriver; 19th Nov 2014 at 09:12.
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I did some of that, many moons ago, but in a different place. Fun, but one to remind you that you can only get so close 
Check out the gorge bit at 42 mins if you want to raise the pulse rate a little
!I know China's been experiencing massive growth but, wow, they do it in a style and rate that a film like this shows to be more impressive than otherwise imagined; multiple identical skyscrapers; double-decker roads; massive pillars for overhead road interchanges & mono-rail lines; greenery on every flat rooftop; houses sympathetically inserted into the trees; recreation, parks & leisure apparently in harmony with development, and appropriate development of leisure facilities in wilderness park areas - with roads built for the future, although many almost empty when this was filmed! All well & good if you've got the land, of course. . .
Switching off the street lights after midnight might dull it a little, of course!
Last edited by zorab64; 20th Nov 2014 at 09:50. Reason: typo
I first went to Chongqing in the nineties. Thee was then just a few high rises jutting out from the standard seven storey blocks that exemplified China at the time. The Peoples Assembly Hall, 1.00 minutes into the video, was built around the early fifties just to exemplify the Communist takeover of China, it virtually bankrupted the city that was on its knees after the War of Liberation. Then, it was the largest building in Chongqing.
I was back in the early 21st century to see that they were getting their act together and swathes of city were being rearranged for the NEW CHONGQING.
I was there again earlier this year and by then I was used to the explosive expansion of Chinese cities. Chongqing has it in Hearts, Shanghai has it in Spades
I was back in the early 21st century to see that they were getting their act together and swathes of city were being rearranged for the NEW CHONGQING.
I was there again earlier this year and by then I was used to the explosive expansion of Chinese cities. Chongqing has it in Hearts, Shanghai has it in Spades
Just for interest. You can only notice the circular dome of the Hall 1.00 minutes into the video. To give a sense of perspective this it what it looks like from ground level.
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What a brill film, I though the cavern flying was real edge of the seat stuff, watched it several times before I saw just how wide the cavern was.. but good flying all the same.
