– F A C T S –
The idea behind the
"World Scenic Flights" was born in 2005 during our invitational trip
to
countries we pursued the "Scenic Flights" idea and finally expanded
it to locations worldwide in 2007.
The
most interesting facts about the World Scenic Flights are:
|
Ø This world unique venture is non-commercial |
|
Ø It was privately funded, supported
by five strong partners (see previous page) |
|
Ø 33 world-renowned landmarks (actually we have visited even
more) |
|
Ø 30 countries (again, we visited even more than you see in the film) |
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Ø Total travel distance: 150,000 km (93,000 miles) |
|
Ø The majority of the travels
have been accomplished within 1 year |
|
Ø More than 80 supporters around the globe (THANK
YOU guys!) |
The
trip was documented live:
|
Ø The trip was covered in
detail by the world's leading helicopter magazine: |
|
Ø An estimated 50,000 people
have followed our live Weblogs: |
Here's
a number of frequently asked questions taken from the Weblog:
1) To how many countries have you
been in total?
The
current WSF project comprises pretty much exactly 30 countries worldwide.
Personally we've been to almost 50 countries by now.
2) How much time did it take to
prepare the WSF?
Honestly
speaking, we have lost the overview. But it's certainly beyond description!
3) What's that helicopter you
used?
The
helicopter was a Three
Dee MP-XL E by Henseleit Helicopters (electric,
4) How did you transport a 90-size
machine (1.50 meters rotor diameter) all that way?
Transporting
one or more large 90-size helicopters and the matching technology around the
world is NOT at all trivial
and very different from transporting a "handy" 50-size model! What's
more it is vitally important to keep the box as small and lightweight as
possible. We used a specially constructed cardboard box.
5) Heehh? How could a cardboard
box possibly survive a trip around the world?!
It's
a matter of construction. Let's say the exact way we did it remains a little
secret. ;-)
6) What was the total weight you
carried around?!
About
80 kg, spread over 8 pieces of baggage including hand luggage.
7) How did you get it through
customs all the time?
Frankly
speaking, this was quite a task sometimes! We had many documents (even from the
German interior ministry), loads of pictures showing the heli in front of
world-renowned landmarks, a good reputation, backup from ROTOR magazine,
profound HeliGraphix experience in dealing with international authorities, and
we did lots and lots of talking.
8) Wasn't it always big fun to fly
at such exclusive and sometimes exotic places worldwide?
Absolutely;
but take a second look! Like explained in ROTOR 01/2008 there's a lot of time
pressure which means you rush from one place to the next without any breaks.
You have to deal with authorities all the time (that's really a pain and spoils
the game) and fly in places you do not know. You have to assemble/disassemble
the equipment again and again; one mistake (also while flying) and the mission
may be over or people get hurt. You are not at all free in what you fly where
and how you do it – after all you are looking for good images rather than
a fun flight like at your local club field! Your data needs to be screened,
sorted, processed and backuped. And don't forget you would like to eat and
sleep from time to time. Carrying 80 kg of baggage around the globe isn't that
much fun either! And then, the self-washing clothes haven't been invented yet,
have they?!
9) Did you discuss the maneuvers
before flying? How did you choose them?
Yes,
in about two thirds of all cases. The maneuvers were chosen in a way that they
match the location; e.g. a long pass would be the wrong maneuver to choose when
trying to picture the Taj Mahal from a confined area. We were looking for
smooth, colourful shots with brilliant objects, dynamic but not hectic. The
moves of the heli were chosen in a way that they do not draw the viewer's
attention away from what the film is all about. We kept repeating a maneuver as
long as possible. Sometimes we could do three flight packs (i.e. 5 minutes
flight time each), sometimes we got interrupted after 3 passes only.
10) Why is there a 35/72 MHz
aerial on your heli when you fly robbe/Futaba's 2.4 GHz FASST system?
Before
the consecutive WSF trip we flew 35 and 72 MHz, throughout the trip we used 2.4
GHz only. We figured it might look a little silly if within one and the same
movie the long aerial keeps coming and going and therefore kept the long aerial
just for the looks.
11) Why didn't you use a
deinterlacer before encoding the video?
Well,
we did a number of tests and were not so happy with the overall result. As you
would expect part of the footage was better when deinterlaced, but some scenes
didn't come out very well and the picture sometimes had a tendency to flicker.
It's not absolutely "perfect" either way – but no worries, the
film will be on our upcoming DVD "Empire Of Madness" as a bonus track
and in best quality!
Update:
Showing footage recorded for TV screens (e.g. with a common video camera) on a
computer screen causes a kind of stripes in the picture when the camera or any
object moves fast. The reason is that TV shows 50 half images/sec. (in PAL
format; 60 with NTSC) in contrast to computer monitors that display the images
non-interlaced. Transcoding one format into the other means a loss of quality
(e.g. sharpness). The amount of information stored in 50 half images compared
to 25 full images is the same, but the resolution of movements is only half as
good when recording the full images – and that causes a stroboscope-like
effect for fast movements. It's a matter of taste which variation one prefers;
for high monitor resolution the deinterlaced (full images) version tends to
look better, though. By popular request there's now a deinterlaced version for
you available, too. Enjoy watching!
12) Were you fully sponsored?
No.
A significant part was privately funded.
More
questions are answered in the following weblog posts:
