Top Gear Aeroplane Race

Don’t know what all the fuss is about DB, you manage to drive to Norwich from Duxford in an hour yet, if I recall correctly, you were 45 minutes late flying 30 miles from Monewden to RV for onwards to Rougham in the S’man last season. No camera crews involved. Answer that one matey!

Ha Ha!! Was doing my hair and my nails…. NOT!!! (haven’t got much of either!!)
Excellent pics as a result tho..

Don’t know what all the fuss is about DB, you manage to drive to Norwich from Duxford in an hour yet, if I recall correctly, you were 45 minutes late flying 30 miles from Monewden to RV for onwards to Rougham in the S’man last season. No camera crews involved. Answer that one matey!

Agreed Mr Mog – unless of course they had camera cars strategically placed at two or three spots en route thro France which were able to rendez vous with said super car as it drove northwards..

Possible, but highly unlikely. I didn’t bother to save my recoding of it, but from memory there were about twenty or thirty shots from static cameras along the route. What do we reckon the likelihood of using that many crews when you are making an entertainment programme for which you already know the result?

I’d give you very very long odds that it was recorded in the normal TV way, one car, one camera crew. The whole thing shot over two or three days.

I did a quiz programme a few years back on TV in which I was answering questions from Johnny Ball. In truth I wasn’t. A teccie asked the questions, Ball dubbed his stuff weeks later. It looks real, but it ain’t.

Moggy

Because the faffed around and then realised he was there.

Because he’s taller

As they were in the final part of the lifts it showed Hammond and May going up first before it showed Clarkson at the same level, So how come Clarkson beat them?

I would guess Dave thats how they do it.

Agreed Mr Mog – unless of course they had camera cars strategically placed at two or three spots en route thro France which were able to rendez vous with said super car as it drove northwards..

Do we assume that Mr. Clarkson stuck to the speed limit all the way in the now infamously fast Bugatti?

Andy

Immaterial really. It is unlikely that the camera car could exceed the limit by much, so speeds would be there or thereabouts.

Moggy

Do we assume that Mr. Clarkson stuck to the speed limit all the way in the now infamously fast Bugatti? If so, featuring that particular car was largely pointless in as much as most cars are capable of cruising at posted speed limit these days (and he didn’t go through Germany). If not – if he busted the speed limit from time to time – the whole thing seems a little biased in that May had to follow the rules of the air (night flying, for example) whilst Clarkson did not follow the rules of the road.

But of course, its entertainment and its a car show, so a loaded-dice should not come as a surprise.

Andy

So to the non-viewers amongst us, was it called ‘The Top Gear Aeroplane Race’? which might indicate a race between planes!

No that would be the “Top Gear Carpentry Tools Race” which comes later in the series.

In fact I’m not sure it was actually called anything, that was just Dave’s title for the thread, probably so that it didn’t get zapped into General Discussion.

Moggy

Repeats on the 20th of this month I am told.

Interesting.

But advertising it as a race across Europe between a HiLux and a Cessna 182 wouldn’t have pulled in a lot of viewers I guess.

Moggy

So to the non-viewers amongst us, was it called ‘The Top Gear Aeroplane Race’? which might indicate a race between planes!

Interesting.

But advertising it as a race across Europe between a HiLux and a Cessna 182 wouldn’t have pulled in a lot of viewers I guess.

Moggy

The Bugatti might be the fastest car in the universe, but in order to produce the programme it is limited to the same speeds as the car containing the camera crew, director, sound man, etc etc. Probably a Land Cruiser or a Discovery. How else could they get those nice ‘passing’ shots of the BUgatti tearing past field and hedges, plus the shots of it overtaking. Each of those static shots would have taken twenty or thirty minutes to set up and get right.
Moggy

The camera cars are even worse than a land cruiser or a discovery, they use toyota pick up trucks with the camers mounted in the flatbed, i think they also have a defender with a camera in the back.

Yes I agree – he did very well, a long nav flight for a student pilot..

James May did OK in my opinion.

The care he took with his walkround, overdone for the camera though it was, contrasted nicely with the tedious Clarkson ‘look what a hooligan I am – aren’t I clever?’ approach.

Moggy

Yeah, sorry peeps — Just really annoys me when people belittle light aircraft, especially on a public stage. We have enough trouble promoting what we love without having the likes of Top Gear stirring it up,

I appreciate it was all in the name of entertainment etc, I’ll get off my soap box now…

Hey DB, remember the Anglia Flight lot flew 2 C150’s from Majorca to Norwich in a day in 2004!

We’re missing the most important aspect of this – James May, a relatively recently qualified pilot, got to fly from Italy across France, presumably logging a very nice trip at the BBC’s expense. Nice one James and good luck with the flying!

(Yes, I know it’s our Licence Fees but I, for one, am delighted to see the money being put to good use for once!)

As you say, its only a entertainment prog and not to be talken to seriosly! at onr point i do remember thinking” he would go alot quiker if he put the flaps up!!!” I GUESS THE CAMERA SHIP COULDNT KEEP UP!!!! As you say a £850,000 car couldnt be seen to be beat by an old 182! if they had spent £850,000 on an aeroplane as well it would have been a differnt result!