Recent Work

Early summer on British TV and barely a day goes by without our aerial shots on a broadcast. From Royal Ascot to Top Gear, via The Money Programme and BBC1's Filthy, Rich and Homeless.

The Top Gear 1949 Challenge launched the new series with a 30-minute special. You can see highlights at our Video Gallery. It was a truly epic and cinematic production, featuring aerials exclusively by FlyingTV.

We've also been off to Wales and Eire. Our low "positioning" rates make getting around the UK & Europe easy for productions. In Eire we shot the aerials for Sir Gerry Robinson's new Channel 4 business series Gerry's Big Challenge. Using G-PIXX over Co Donegal, we captured some gorgeous, tapeless HD 1080 material.

And we're constantly taking calls and able to give estimates in that one phone call. Whether you want SD or HD gyro-stabilised, simply call us with some postcodes and we'll give you a straight, no-fuss answer.

JUNE 09 : The sporting summer

Working for ITV Sport we've been busy at the FA Cup Final and England matches at Wembley Stadium. The night matches at Wembley are particularly spectacular with the arch illuminated. (See Video Gallery for the clip)

We've also been commissioned to do one of our special low level "horse-eye" shoots for Royal Ascot, in addition to live coverage of the entire Derby meeting at Epsom.

Polo is back on the menu where it was first played, and we provided High Definition coverage at The Hurlingham Club in London for the 2-day event.

In fact our High Def helicopter is getting to be so popular that we might have to get another one!

Standard Def continues to be the most popular request, but there's a definite shift towards HD happening this year.

The Gadget Show for Five, Dispatches for C4, Farmer Wants A Wife for TalkbackThames, The X Factor, Dragon's Den, Top Gear, BBC's The Money Programme - just a few of the many clients relying on FlyingTV this summer.

HD, SD, live or recorded stabilised aerials with great quality and service at the best prices.

Getting asked to film up close and personal with an iconic aircraft is a rare thing. The planning is immense because of the speed differential between a helicopter and, in this case, a Spitfire. Carolyn Grace, the world's only female Spitfire pilot, runs a tight operation with strict rules for her display flights. And she needs to because she's flying a 70 year old aircraft at 340mph.

Filming for a new BBC 2 series, we had just 30 minutes of Spit flying time to get the shots. So, a 1 hour briefing between our pilot Jonathan Penny, cam op Matt Wyer and Carolyn planned the movements to get the director's wishlist of shots.

The finished results will be on-air in the autumn. For now, take a look at our preview on our video gallery page.

What a joyous thing to see in the air - and the sound of that Merlin V12 should be bottled and given out free!

Also see more about the Grace Spitfire at www.ml407.co.uk/

Top Gear : FlyingTV HD 1080

Our all-new HD 1080 helicopter camera system has been put straight to work. In a marathon shoot from London to Edinburgh in one day, we've been filming a great Top Gear challenge in HD.

The screengrab above is from our satellite tracking system. The challenge left London before 0730 and arrived in Edinburgh at 1530.

Recording without tape, the HD helicopter has performed beautifully.

We just wish we could tell you what we were filming...........

A SPORTING START TO APRIL

The John Smiths Grand National was the climax to a busy sporting week for us. Working for producers Sunset+Vine, we provided 3 days of live coverage for the BBC. The 15th - and last - race we covered was the biggest in the world with 40 horses over 30 fences.

That same week saw us live for England v Ukraine World Cup Qualifier at Wembley (ITV Sport) and the annual Boat Race (ITV Sport).

Working live is always exciting - and the latest technology we use means that we can simply turn up and turn on our transmitter for instant output. We also run 2 independent talkback radios which can communicate with any OB facility.

The "National" is a 3-man task : pilot, cam op and director onboard all working together. Aintree is a tight course and requires exacting flying, the action comes fast so the camera operator has to keep his head in the monitor, and the director speaks a countdown to each fence and turn.

Our helicopters are specifically designed for such high-quality live broadcast work.

ABC NEWS

An idea of how we respond for clients. At 9pm on a Friday evening before the G20 Economic Summit, we took a panic call from US network ABC News. They urgently needed night shots of London for the title sequence of their evening news.

We pointed them to FlyingTV Mastershot, they surfed the collection and we delivered the 16:9 full broadcast shots to their London bureau the next day.

As a bonus we threw in some footage we grabbed as the US Presidential helicopter, Marine One, arrived in London.


ITV BOAT RACE
Sunday March 29, live. Our fifth year covering Oxford-Cambridge on the river in London.

BBC SCIENCE SHOW
A new series for BBC1 - with all sorts of aerials and helicopter work by FlyingTV.

plus England football at Wembley and 3 days for the BBC at The Grand National.

Spring has definitely sprung!

MARCH 09

FlyingTV HD

With the busiest start to a year ever, we've still found time to work on our new High Definition aerial filming system. Our business was founded on keep-it-simple principles - and we keep that successful idea as we move into HD. So - we've spent a lot of time and money to achieve what we believe will be the best and most effective answer for HD aerial filming.

Our Hi Def system is ready and being test-flown during March. We'll be ready to supply clients before Easter.

As well as HD, we won't stop offering the best SD aerial filming rates in the UK.

Simply call or email to hear some good news : we will not ruin your budget!

You can see our work on BBC iPlayer with the brand new BBC4 series Britain's Best Drives and you can see us in action for the 5th successive year with our live coverage of The Boat Race for ITV Sport on March 29.

FEBRUARY 09

BRITAIN'S BEST DRIVES

From Thursday 19th February at 2030, this 6-part BBC 4 series has actor Richard Wilson using classic cars to drive some of Britain's most famous motoring routes. All aerial filming by FlyingTV as we cover England, Scotland and Wales - the beautiful bits.
All episodes can be viewed for 7 days at BBC iPlayer.

SNOWBUSINESS

During the UK's recent severe winter weather, FlyingTV was busy covering the story for ITN, ITV News and C4 News. In constantly changing scenarios and at short notice, our helicopters have proved their worth. Road, rail and airport runways were closed - but a helicopter doesn't need any of them! Sub-zero temperatures ? We love them.

Another unique advantage we enjoy is in our piston engines. Even in falling snow, we can carry on flying when many turbine helicopters are thinking of landing.

AWARD WINNING

FlyingTV is extremely proud to have been part of the team that won Best Sports Programme at the 2009 Broadcast Awards in London. Congratulations to producers Sunset+Vine.

The 2008 Grand National at Aintree was produced for the first time ever by an independent production company - Sunset+Vine - for BBC Sport and gained 10m viewers as well as plaudits from the Award judges. "The coverage was excellent from all aspects" said one.
FlyingTV provided the aerial coverage for Sunset+Vine at Aintree. We covered 15 races live in 3 days using our purpose-built tv helicopter with crew Mark Walters, Matt Wyer and Mike Smith.

FlyingTV will be in action again this year at the Grand National, Aintree,  April 2-4.

JANUARY 09

BIG CHEF LITTLE CHEF

Twofour Broadcast for Channel 4

Currently showing in primetime, this new series features chef Heston Blumenthal bringing his skills to the roadside restaurant chain, Little Chef.

Producers Twofour Broadcast turned to FlyingTV for the aerials. Blumenthal's famous Fat Duck restaurant is by the Thames at Marlow, whilst the 3 Little Chef locations were in Hampshire. The brief needed shots of Heston coming out of his restaurant, getting into his car and setting off. We needed to get a variety of vehicle tracking shots that could be used through the series. And we needed to show the car entering the Little Chef sites in Hampshire.

We constructed a half-day shoot, provided a UHF radio link so the helicopter could direct the car and got all the shots done in less than 3 hours of flying.

Helping to make the schedule work was the Twofour producer who planned things in advance, asked us for advice and knew what she needed to achieve on the day.

So, we don't just turn up, we work with your team to be efficient and get the job done on time and on budget.

We've also worked for Twofour on the forthcoming BBC4 series Britain's Best Drives, which airs from 18th February, and a new BBC2 series Keep It In The Family.

DECEMBER 08

Hit of the Year

We're proud of the part we played in the UK television hit of the year.

TalkbackThames produced the biggest hit series of the year for ITV. X Factor topped-out the Saturday night tv ratings with a massive 14.4 million for the final show.

Our role was to provide aerial shots from 4 different UK audition locations and to supply 4 liveried helicopters for a co-ordinated sequence involving the judges. As Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh, Cheryl Cole and Danni Minogue flew in their personal helicopters, we also filmed them from one of our tv helicopters.
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Talk to us now about HD for 09. We're already offering tapeless recording in SD and this will also be offered with our HD. The tapeless system works a treat - with clients bringing their own hard drive and taking a full, fat digital file of the output with them after a shoot. We keep the master until we hear that the client has successfully transferred the file to their edit. Couldn't be simpler.

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Coming soon
On-air at the moment is C4's Country House Rescue with us gathering the aerials in all corners of the UK. And starting early in 09 on ITV, Martin Clune's Great British Islands. Together with Heston Blumenthal's Big Chef, Little Chef (C4) and BBC4's Britain's Best Drives, you'll be able to see a lot of our work in the next few months.

DECEMBER 08

ON-AIR THIS WINTER
Spooks series 7 has been a massive hit for BBC1 - with all aerials by FlyingTV. Clicking above brings up a selection of aerials from the series.

CATCH UP ON OUR WORK
Simply click on the link below to see a variety of our most recent broadcast shoots. These movies have also been optimised for iPhone users.
FlyingTV movies

MOVING FORWARD
We're working throughout the winter - short days, maybe, but sometimes some glorious light. Our low costs make working around the UK with us a simple choice for producers. In November alone we've been filming around Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and all corners of England.

First UK operator to offer a daily rate, first to offer all-in-one prices, first to operate dedicated purpose-built tv helicopters, first to offer tapeless - these are just a few of the FlyingTV benefits. And we were the first to offer a Price Promise : if you can get the same service elsewhere, we will refund 110% of the difference.

Plus we are the only UK aerial filming company to offer royalty-free aerials from our collection. Surf Mastershot on this site to see what we have.

A big thanks to all our customers for continuing to use and recommend FlyingTV.

NOVEMBER 08

HORSE-EYE

We've worked on horse racing since 04. The courses, horses and jockeys love our helicopters because they are so quiet and unobtrusive.

We've started to film some of the world's most famous courses from a "horse eye" perspective. Working with CAA low flying exemptions, we can get very low and deliver a shot that puts the viewer in the saddle.

Here's an extract of our work around Aintree's Grand National course with its enormous fences.

OCTOBER 08

ITV NEWS AT TEN
Only a tv helicopter can deliver the demands of ITN. For a special series of reports from around the UK, we sent G-PIXX off for a week. Starting in Scotland, and with locations changing rapidly, our crew spent the week delivering the goods. Anchor Julie Etchingham from News At Ten presented the show from a different UK city every night, and reported from the air.
Such a challenge is why we started this business. And ITV News were full of praise : "....we hope this will lead to many more such commissions."

TAPELESS
In addition to digiBeta & DVCAM tape, we can now offer tapeless acquistion. FlyingTV is the first UK aerial filming company to offer Panasonic P2. It's part of our move to HD - but P2 can also be used to acquire SD. One P2 card can store an hour of SD material in better quality than tape. And the file can be transferred direct into an edit, saving fortunes in tape transfer costs. If you would like to try tapeless, please call. (And we'll even offer free tape back-up if you want assurance!)

OCTOBER 08

THE ULTIMATE JOURNEY
The new fashion in UK television is "journey" programming. Part factual doc, part entertainment, journeys following known names in unfamiliar territory are delivering solid audiences.

Helicopter shots are vital to these shows - they give relevance and geographic detail that are an essential part of the story. A short 2-hour or less shoot using one of our highly effective camera ships can deliver a whole host of new angles.

This year we've filmed Griff, Dara and Rory in Three Men In Another Boat (BBC 2), Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food (C4), Richard Wilson's Britain's Best Drives (BBC), Marco's Great British Feast (ITV1) amongst others.

We're currently filming Martin Clunes' Great British Islands (ITV1) and a new series for ITV, Big Chef Little Chef featuring uber-chef Heston Blumenthal.

Panoramic or close detail, vehicle tracking or presenter shots - our helicopters get the job done quickly and efficiently.

Sept 08 : G-PIXX GETS NICKED!

Shooting aerials for Five's Police Interceptor series this month, we found ourselves cornered in an Essex field by the turbo-charged crimefighters. But not for long - they might have 4WD, but they haven't got rotor blades.....

We have been busy with a myriad of different shoots despite the UK weather. Our "always ready to go" helicopters make the most of the gaps between rain systems. And our nose-mounted cameras give the greatest shot flexibility and the quickest acquisition rate of any. So - we get the job done quicker. Which leaves more time for the rain to fall........

In little more than 2 weeks, we completed some 4000 miles flying around Britain and Ireland for both the Tour of Ireland and the Tour of Britain premier cycling events. All coverage for ITV.

At the same time we started work for ITV on a major new factual series about the islands of Britain. In one day we covered 800 miles of beautiful Britain.

And we are filming six locations across Britain for C4's Country House Rescue.

Our way of doing multiple locations fits the dreams and budgets of contemporary television.

ALSO ON THE AIR
ITV X Factor, Thames Shipwrecks BBC 2, Fossil Detectives BBC 4 Thursdays, Tonight for ITV Factual, 5th Gear on Five - there's hardly a day of the week when our shots aren't being used on tv.

Need aerials ? Want some free advice ? Learn from our 30 years broadcast experience and 2000 flying hours - call or email now.

AUGUST 08 : X FACTOR switches to FlyingTV
One of the biggest entertainment tv series in Britain, X Factor,  has come to FlyingTV for aerial filming and co-ordination for the first time. The ITV ratings winner is back with series 5 - complete with not just FTV aerials, but a whole sequence involving 4 specially liveried helicopters and the show's judges.

Using our Mastershot collection, X Factor got stunning aerials for its audition coverage with our shots of Cardiff, Manchester, Glasgow and London. And G-PIXX filmed air-to-air with the 4 XF R44s.




Summer sport
Summer ? What do you mean ? It takes more than a bit of wind & rain to stop us. We've been covering horse racing, triathlons and more throughout this UK "summer".

Two cycling marathons
This year is our 4th covering the Tour of Britain - which is now longer than ever and sees us on location for a week. And this comes just 3 days after we spend a week in Eire for the Tour of Ireland.

On the London stage of the Tour of Britain (Sept 7) we will also be providing live re-broadcast - scooping the signals from ground cameras and relaying them via the helicopter to outdoor screens along the route.


Britain From Above
We applaud the BBC's new series starting this month. If you're looking for your own Britain From Above shots, just call us or surf Mastershot on this site.


The price promise
If you can find the same standard of service and aerial video with any other UK operator for a better price, we will refund 110% of the difference.

For aerial video, stills and full aerial asset co-ordination for any project - simply call.

JULY 08 : EXPERIENCE COUNTS

We're not ones to shout from the treetops. (We'd rather be flying over them). But, when it comes to aerial filming, experience counts more than anything. Outside the USA, no company has more experience of the R44 helicopter as a filming platform. Not only do we have nearly 2000 hours on filming tasks with the R44, but our pilots have flown these incredible machines for over a million miles.

With our Cineflex nosemounts we offer the best flexibility of any aerial filming camera. We get the shots quicker than anyone.

And our prices stay lower than anyone.

No other aerial filming company offers a price promise. If you can find the same service with the same standards at any other UK operator, we will refund 110% of the difference.

That's not some fluffy corporate promise with terms and conditions. All we require is written proof.

It's a personal promise from me.

We are approved suppliers to BBC, ITV, Sky, GMTV and service over 200 clients throughout the UK with great stabilised aerials and stills. Did you see The Hunt on Top Gear ? Do you watch Dragon's Den, Marco's Great British Feast, X Factor, 5th Gear, Spooks ? Then you've seen our work.

Join us. And save on your production costs.

MIKE SMITH

MAY 08

Suddenly, the weather has turned. A big high pressure area develops over the UK and the long awaited spring weather arrives. The leaves are on the trees - and it's a perfect time to go aerial filming.

It's a beautiful 4th birthday for us.

And to celebrate - we've lowered our prices. Now our rates INCLUDE stock and landing fees. So when you commission us for your task, you can be assured that you are getting value for money and total control of your budget.

We are the only UK aerial filming operator to actually innovate on pricing - reducing prices when all the others are increasing.

May 18th is the 4th anniversary of our first task - just a few days after getting CAA Certification for our first helicopter. G-PIXX was sent by BBC News to get aerial video at Heathrow after a failed bullion robbery. (Screengrab above)

Major events coming up include The Derby for BBC Sport, a series of triathlons throughout the UK for Channel 4, all the aerial filming for the new series of The X Factor (ITV).

All you need for great aerials - from just £900. For our new reduced price ratecard, simply call or email. You can get an outline at RATES.