Two days in New York City on Thursday and Friday. Shooting for a new car campaign. Can not say much about the project, but it was a lot of fun to shoot.
Interesting set of challenges presented themselves. Flying in the Twinstar Thursday evening over Manhattan when LaGuardia ATC informs us that the airspace is closed. Of course this happened without the benefit of a NOTAM. The backstory is that the NYPD asked LaGuardia to “close” the airspace above midtown while the Russian Spies were being transported to the airport. We returned to Teterboro and planned for the next morning.
We took off from Teterboro after the morning fog burned off. As soon as we hit the Manhattan shoreline we ran into a problem. The governor in the Twinstar became erratic and one engine had to controlled by hand. The safety advantages of a twin engine ship were brought home quickly. Again we headed back to Teterboro. Safety first.
Flying with film professionals who know how to fly for the camera, plus are high-time pilots, is the only way to go. Flying with high-time pilots who understand how to identify and correct an inflight problem is essential to everyones safety and a successful mission. We could have continued to fly the mission but chose safety over finishing the shoot.
Plan B: A new ship was called in for the assignment. The TwinStar was flown back to its home base by two pilots and I completed my assignment in a brand spanking new Bell 407.
Did you drop by B&H and pick up a few goodies while you were in NY?
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Cameron Davidson Reply:
July 12th, 2010 at 9:54 am
I split my purchases between Adorama, B&H Photo and Pro Photo in DC.
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