Fri Oct 22, 2010 11:00 am
#906119
As the luvvie filming in the back of the Navajo this forum makes interesting reading. Our CAA exemption - negotiated by 2Excel Aviation in a week or so - didn't extend to our Jetranger camera chopper. So, to reflect the speed and eye-watering proximity of the Peak District at 100ft agl, we opted to use the fixed camera pointing outboard from the rear seat of the Blades Extra. This gave us a shot of the Navajo and the landscape at once. Even if it were possible (the Navajo's a retractable) bolting a camera on the gearleg would have constituted a mod - four figures and weeks of paperwork. Some of the stories told in the film are well known to aviation historians but - I'd suggest - not to most general viewers who base their knowledge of the raid on the movie. That said, I don't think the story of schoolboy air gunner "Killer" Liddell is well known, nor is the way in which the Germans acquired details of the Upkeep bomb. I'm glad some of you enjoyed the programme - I'm pleased to say it attracted around 2.5m away from the X Factor!
Ian Cundall
Executive Producer, Dambusters Declassified (and PPL)