Tag Archives: helicopter

The Belvedere Looks Amazing

I am far too young to have seen the Bristol Belvedere in flight, despite what some might think! Given how old it is, it really does seem like quite a large helicopter to have been developed and operated. I bet it looked pretty cool when it was flying. Even now, when see in a museum, I think it is still quite a beast. The example at the RAF Museum in Hendon was there when I first visited in the late 80s and it is still on display. Getting shots of something this large in a relatively confined space is tricky but worthwhile. Do you think it looks as good as I do?

Set Up Publicity Photos for Helinet

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Having done the ride along with Alan Purwin of Helinet during the filming of Transformers, Alan was interested in getting some publicity shots of the helicopter to use for their own marketing material. He asked if I would be interested in doing the shots and I was more than up for it. What I wanted was to have a high enough vantage point from which to shoot. You want to be looking across or down on the helicopter to get some real context to the work.

Additionally, Alan wanted the helicopter to be mounted with a different camera mount. He owned a company in New Zealand called Shotover. This was the mount that he wanted on the helicopter for the shots instead of the larger ball mount that had been used during the Transformers filming. I discussed with him where to get an elevated location from which to shoot. He had been staying at the Trump Tower for all of the filming and had developed a good relationship with one of the managers there so got me access to use one of their outside deck areas. This proved to be an ideal spot.

We had a series of runs with the helicopter coming up the Chicago River towards me, pulling up in front of me, hovering close by and making diving runs from the River North area across in front of me to be over the Chicago River. I had a radio so I could call in the next sequence or have them run it again. The weather had become a lot nicer than it had been when I was riding along and so I was really happy with the results. So was Alan and they soon were on the marketing materials for Helinet. No doubt they now have new material, but it was used for a while. Sadly, Alan dies in a plane crash during the filming of a movie in Central America. He was a passenger in a plane that crashed on take-off. He was a super nice guy, and I am sure remains sadly missed.

A Trip Over Chicago in the Cameraship

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In a previous post, I shared some images of the Helinet Squirrel that was used for aerial filming of the Transformers movie franchise in Chicago. When I had been in touch with Alan Purwin about some photos I had got of them in action, he invited me to come along during one of the filming sessions. They were operating from a location in the south of the city – an unusual circumstance because, in those days, Chicago did not normally allow helicopters to land in the city. However, we met up at Midway Airport before heading to the filming location.

Alan was flying whilst David Nowell, the cinematographer was in the left seat controlling the camera installation. They had worked together many times and had a very slick relationship in the air. A producer was next to me in the rear seats. We left Midway and headed into Chicago where we flew around the city a little before landing on the south side. The film crews have clearance to operate at low level and in between the buildings. It is quite a stunning place to be as you slide between the skyscrapers.

The challenge for the team was to visualise what the scene would be. We headed towards the Sears Tower over which an alien spaceship was supposed to be. We were filming the sequences over which the CGI would insert the various elements. These sequences had to be run several times, and each had to be exactly the same so the material could be combined seamlessly. Watching all of this happen whilst seeing the buildings all around you was something else.

I would love to have spent more time with them on the project. I was not part of the regular crew so I couldn’t outstay my invitation but to see all of this in practice when having seen plenty of it from the window of our apartment over the years was something else.

Filming With a Squirrel

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When we lived in Chicago, it was a regular thing to see filming underway for either movies or TV shows. One morning, as I walked to work, I was bemused by someone running alongside a bus banging on the side when clearly another would be along in a minute. Then I realised it wasn’t a CTA bus and there were cameras filming the whole thing. The bigger productions would often involve aerial camera work.

I actually did a number of pieces on this for GAR over time. There was a local operator that would do some filming work with a Twin Squirrel. However, some of the larger film productions had their preferred operators. Michael Bay would use Helinet out of California. This business was run by Alan Purwin, and we ended up spending some time together. During a previous Transformers filming session, I had got some photos of the cameraship and had shared them with him. The plan had been to meet up but an accident occurred on the set and the filming was curtailed.

When another Transformers move came to town, we did get in touch. I will have a few more posts to come that cover this time. For the first post, I am including some images of the helicopter in action filming various sequences around the city. The camera was mounted in a large, stabilised turret on the front of the fuselage while a ballast weight was mounted under the rear to keep the CG within limits. That turret would change later as will be seen in another post.

FAST Museum at Farnborough

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Farnborough sits at the centre of the history of aviation in the UK. From the first powered flight in the country, through the development of key aircraft in the First World War, through the research into aviation that took place in what was originally called the Royal Aircraft Establishment and then evolved through various names. (Oh yes, it also has a large trade airshow every two years.) Eventually the establishment was closed down as facilities got consolidated.

While there had been a museum on site, that collection got redistributed. However, a bunch of volunteers came together to create the Farnborough Air Sciences Trust (FAST). This museum is on one edge of what was once the airfield campus. They have many exhibits that document the varied work that was undertaken at Farnborough as well as the nearby Pyestock gas turbine research facility. Apparently, they have way more stuff than they can display so things get rotated in and out of the public space.

Some of the specific exhibits are worthy of their own posts so you will see more of this place in the future. I went one damp Saturday to take a look around. This was not optimal for the planes outside because the light was not great and most of the airframes had covers on their canopies. That didn’t stop me, though. There is a two seat Lightning sitting alongside the gate which is always a good start.

Within the museum grounds are some top types. The recent retirement of the Puma made me happy to see their example which was not built by Westland but was actually from Aerospatiale and provided to Westland to use as a pattern before it became a testbed at Farnborough. The raspberry ripple paint looks good on it.

There are a couple of Hunters including one that had been used for research into night flying using low light TV and infra-red sensors. A Gnat is there which is always fine. A Scout and a Lynx are part of the collection and a two seat Harrier T4 was a particular pleasure. There are also cockpits from other type including a Canberra and a Trident. The museum is free to visit although they do welcome voluntary contributions. If you are in the area, it is worth a visit. More to come…

Qinetiq’s Attendees

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Some of my previous RIAT visits have included a selection of aircraft from the Qinetiq fleet. In 2025 I only saw a pair of aircraft from them. One was a King Air while the other was an AW139. The King Air didn’t look too special other than the raspberry ripple paint job. The AW139, on the other hand, is a helicopter that I think looks really good at any time. The livery suits it well and the crew made a pretty sporty arrival. It was nice to see both of them. Maybe some more airframes would be good next time.

Qatar’s Apaches Look Better Than Everyone Else’s

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The Apache is a mean looking helicopter with plenty of angles and bumps to make it an interesting photo subject. However, the one shortcoming is that it is usually painted a dark green colour and that really sucks in the light. Getting a great shot of it is surprisingly difficult. Qatar, on the other hand, has done a nice job of coming up with a desert camouflage scheme for their Apaches. It really stands out against the usual dark schemes. It looked great in the sun when it arrived at RIAT. On an overcast day, even it struggled in the static display, though.

The Wildcat’s Pilot Must Have Had Their Mum Nearby

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While the Merlins departed for base after the arrival of HMS Prince of Wales, the Wildcat wasn’t going anywhere. I suspect that they had a film unit on board that was recording the arrival of the carrier strike group, so they were getting aerial shots from different angles. A number of times they flew out of the harbour and then turned to run back in. It is possible that this was necessary for a shot that they were trying to get but my suspicion is that the parents of the pilot were in the crowd and a few flybys were for their benefit instead. Who knows???

Flyby of RN Helos for the Returning Carrier

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The arrival of the carrier strike group was the big theme of the day, but the Fleet Air Arm was going to support the process with a flyby. A pair of Merlins and a Wildcat were assigned to the role, and they were initially noted off Bournemouth as they joined up before heading to Portsmouth. As they came over Portchester, we could see them from where we were, and they flew up the harbour and over our location to head out and meet the carrier.

We would see them a bit from a distance as the manoeuvred around the ship and this allowed us to have a reasonable idea of where everything was at any point. Then, as the ship entered the harbour, the formation flew over the top to celebrate the return to home port. The Merlins then peeled off while the Wildcat hung around.

Czech Helo Stellar Displays

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The Czech Air Force brought a pair of PZL-Swidnik W-2 Sokols to RIAT this year. One was in camo and the other in a SAR paint scheme. While this was a type that I hadn’t seen display before, I must admit I wasn’t terribly excited by the prospect. Helicopter displays can be pretty good but often lack punch. This team couldn’t have been further from that idea.

I first saw them display when they were doing a rehearsal. They were absolutely throwing the machines around. A ton of really good, coordinated manoeuvres that showed off the capabilities of the helicopter and the crew in equal measure. They would be pirouetting around each other and keeping the action right in front of the crowd. They never seemed to take a breath, and you were never tempted to stop watching.

The highlight of the demo for me was a winching demonstration. This is not an unusual thing for a helicopter display to include. It is something that makes the type special and the search and rescue role will appeal to people that can imagine needing to be helped at some point. In this display, they added something that showed off the skill of the crew coordination. While in the hover, the winchman would pick up someone on the ground. They would winch them up a certain amount and then stabilise the hover. Then the pilot would climb while the winchman would let out line. The person at the end would stay exactly where they were as the helicopter climbed.

Then the pilot would stabilise again before starting a descent. Again, as the helicopter came down, the line would be taken in and the person at the end wouldn’t move. The whole thing was perfectly coordinated. I don’t know whether the winchman could vary the speed or if the pilot was modulating power to make it work and I don’t mind which it is. It was perfectly executed every time they did it across the days of the show. Top work. I hope other crews get to see this performance and it inspires them to try something innovative with their displays.