Professional skydivers Marco Waltespiel and Marco Fürst accomplished the first wingsuit flight through Tower Bridge. At 5:25 am on Sunday, 12th May, above London. The duo leapt from one of our AS355 helicopters, at an altitude of 3,000 feet. Accelerating to speeds of up to 153mph during their freefall, they descended as close as 35 meters above the River Thames flying in between the towers of the bridge. Skilfully executing a complex manoeuvre called a “flare”. They ascended back up to 80 meters, the necessary height to deploy their parachutes safely before landing.

Executing The World’s First Wingsuit Skydive Through Tower Bridge

For this project, the aircraft used as the picture ship and aerial stunt underwent a transformation and was branded as a Red Bull machine with the use of vinyl. The helicopter wrap changed the appearance of G-OLCP from its original VIP silver and black to a vibrant blue. The aircraft was adorned with the iconic Red Bull logo placed across both the side and tail of the aircraft.

Additionally, the branded helicopter, with the wingsuit pair on board, had another modification which involved the removal of one of the doors. With these preparations complete, the pair executed a skydive – an aerial stunt well within our realm of expertise.

To execute the aerial filming for Red Bull, we deployed a second AS355 helicopter paired with the Shotover K1, equipped with a RED V-Raptor camera and a Canon 50-5000mm lens. Pilot Will Banks served as the camera pilot, with Phil Arntz as the Director of Photography.

Permissions Required

Tower Bridge was purposely closed for the world’s first skydive for wingsuiters, Waltespiel and Fürst to fly through Tower Bridge.

To accomplish this unique and world-first skydive through Tower Bridge, we obtained the necessary permissions to ascend into Heathrow Class A airspace, along with our long-standing permit for low-level flying.

For this project, we collaborated with The Aerial Film Company to aid in providing aerial filming services.

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Our TSOP specialist operations platform is designed to make helicopter missions easier, safer, and more efficient. Whether you are in demand to use the benches for action, drama or entertainment purposes, the opportunities are endless.

Explore your visions and ensure the final shot of your production provides viewers with exciting and daring scenes. Are you in demand for your cast to perform a special force’s operation? Make use of our specialist operations bench as a sniper platform or complete an enhanced search and rescue mission. Heli-borne snipers can serve as aerial patrols for convoys and raid teams while providing aerial support for missions. While completing courageous operations, create a compelling and thrilling scene for your viewers.

Create a dramatic entrance for presenters, whilst engaging audience anticipation. Provide a spectacular and adventurous opening or closing title, whilst the presenters sit on the exterior of a helicopter as it glides through the sky.

Allow viewers to grasp their seats and set a daring challenge for contestants participating in a reality show. Secure the contestant onto the specialist operations benches and assess their abilities.

Involving the ‘TSOP’ as part of aerial stunts will surely add to dramatic effects. No more CGI or receiving less for the image you initially had for your production. Here at GB Helicopters, we are excited to introduce our specialist operations platform for aerial film and TV uses.

There are countless purposes for the special operations bench, and we are always open to exploring. No matter how adventurous or unusual your requests are we will do our best to fulfil them.

Our specialist operations platform can be paired together with either our H125 or AS355 aircraft.

Time Efficient

Taking only five minutes to install. The benches are externally mounted to the rear of the cabin and fuselage area, with jack points, unique clamps, and brackets.

Safety Measures

Built with an aerodynamic design and provides dual seating. The TSOP allows four individuals to be positioned and secured to the benches. Once installed, the platform allows up to 500 lbs capacity on either side of the platform. The stable platforms have anchor points for a safety harness/belt.

Safety is paramount to us; we will always adhere to safety regulations in line with the CAA.

To use our Special Operations Platform email our operations team at ops@gbhelicopters.com or call us on 0800 030 4105

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His hit US show, Running Wild with Bear Grylls would see him challenge some of the worlds most famous actors and actresses to perform dangerous stunts. From Zac Efron, Channing Tatum, and Ben Stiller, to the then sitting President of the United States, Barak Obama.

For series two, we would assist Bear in putting American actor Michael B. Jordan through his paces in the Welsh Highlands. Flying them both out over the sea in our AS355 Twin Squirrel helicopter, Michael and Bear would rappel out of the hovering aircraft, and then drop into the water before having to swim to the shore.

In series three, in a remote part of Wales, we would lift a jet ski with a twin-squirrel and drop it in the sea for Spice Girl Mel B to swim out to in her final challenge. Earlier in the episode she had to assist Bear with some controversial pain relief, which we will leave for you to look up!

Adventure in the UK

Following its success in the US, Bear would produce a UK version featuring a selection of famous Brits called Bear’s Mission With…. While most of Bear’s programmes see him travel all over the world, this one would take place solely in the UK. We are always eager to get involved when Bear shoots in the UK, so when the opportunity to feature in all five episodes came to us, we jumped at it.

First up was the two-time world heavyweight boxing champion, Anthony Joshua. Being a world class professional athlete, Bear would certainly have his work cut out giving the boxer a challenge. Anthony would be tasked with climbing Commando Ridge in Cornwall. Getting him to the bottom of this breath-taking cliffside is where we came in. With a rope ladder attached to the belly of our AS355 helicopter, and Bear and Anthony attached to the end of it, we flew them both to the base of the ridge. From there they could tackle the former WWII Commando training ground.

That’s a new one…

Next up was actor and comedian, Rob Brydon. This one started off like any other project. Our task was to fly Rob and Bear over an ice-cold lake, where they both would then jump out of our hovering helicopter into the freezing water below. Nothing out of the ordinary there. However, later in the episode, Rob and Bear spy a sheep trapped in a quarry. After carefully corralling the sheep and fitting it with a harness, we were called in to lift it out to safety. This was definitely a new one for us. While technically it was no different from any other long line work we’ve done, the pilot is normally in constant communication with the person on the end of the line. But not this time.

The third episode would feature the legendary Star Wars and Harry Potter actor Warwick Davis. For his stunt he was fitted with a safety harness before being hooked to the long line attached to our helicopter. We then lifted him into the sky, much like we did with Harry Styles, to finish off the episode.

For the final episode in the Bear’s Mission With… series, England Football Manager Gareth Southgate was to be put through his paces. Taking place in Dartmoor, we flew Bear and Gareth to a remote location in the national park, where he would then rappel out of our hovering helicopter, some 20ft off the ground.

One of Bear Gyrlls’ most recent survival programmes was Netflix’s You vs Wild. The interactive series would see him take on a range of missions where the viewer gets to decide which routes he takes along the way. After we drop Bear off on a beach in Wales, his adventure begins, and you start deciding his actions. Part way through the episode we help extract Bear with a long line stunt. But in order to see this you’ll have to make some wrong decisions and put him in harm’s way.

Outside of his TV programmes we also worked with Bear for the launch of the new Land Rover Discovery. This event saw him rappel out of our hovering helicopter onto the top of a small replica of Tower Bridge made from Lego. Rappels require expert precision while keeping the helicopter as still as possible in a hover. This stunt was made all the more difficult by taking place at night. You can see a small clip of this stunt here.

Most recently we performed a skydive stunt with Bear and his son Jesse for his YouTube channel. You can read more about this stunt here. Our growing experience and safety record is what has kept Bear Grylls coming back to us time and time again. Helicopter stunt work is something we love doing and you can read more about our service here.

The post Helicopter Stunt Work with Bear Grylls appeared first on GB Helicopters.

Those celebrities are often challenged to perform the very same stunts Bear is known for, and a lot of those have involved the use of a helicopter. Our unique skills and experience at providing helicopter stunts have led to us to have become a regular appearance over the years. These include rappelling Michael B Jordon into the sea and rescuing a sheep out of a quarry with Rob Brydon.

In September he came to us with something new, he wanted to skydive out of one of our helicopters at 10,000 ft. In true Bear Grylls fashion, this wasn’t going to be enough, to add an extra level of jeopardy to the challenge, he wanted to climb down out of the helicopter and hang from the skids. He planned to not do this alone; his son Jesse would be joining him in the stunt.

For most people this would but enough, but not for Bear. Hanging off the bottom of a helicopter 10,000 ft in the air simply would not be dangerous enough for the British adventurer. So, in preparation for the jump, he challenged Jesse to pack his parachute for him. Blindfolded! Packing someone else’s chute is a massive responsibility and to do so blindfolded, well, that’s just Bear Grylls for you.

After Jesse had packed Bear’s parachute, they joined Will Banks at our H125 (G-TVGB) and got ready to lift. They began the climb up to 10,000 ft where Will brought the helicopter to a hover ready for the skydive.

Capable of a maximum altitude of 23,000 ft (7,010 m), the H125 has no trouble getting to this altitude. However, in 2005, it broke the world record for the highest altitude landing and take-off at 29,029 ft (8,848 m) on Mount Everest.

Sliding open the door, Bear climbed down out of the helicopter while Will kept the aircraft steady, and then lowered himself further to hang off the skid. He was shortly followed by Jesse before they both let go and hurtled towards the ground.

A minute of freefall later and Bear’s parachute opened without a hitch, as did Jesse’s. But Bear’s challenge wasn’t over just yet. There had to be a winner in this stunt, and that would be whoever landed closer to a target in a nearby field. Landing much closer to the target, Jesse was the clear winner, leading Bear to cheat by running to the marker with his parachute still deployed.

Performing this skydive stunt required us to be granted special permission from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). As with all our stunt work, we always ensure we have the appropriate permissions from the CAA before the project begins.

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