Could James Bond Really Fly a Helicopter Upside Down?
He can fly a helicopter upside down, turn a cello case into a sled and even use crocodiles as stepping stones, while still having time to order a Martini and get the girl.
But are stunts in Spectre and other James Bond classics such as Goldfinger and Moonraker really possible?
Top scientists and engineers have weighed in to debunk impossible stunts and explain how others are possible in the real world in a feature from The Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) E&T magazine.
Spectre’s upside-down helicopter: POSSIBLE
The Spectre trailer had everyone talking when a helicopter, presumably with Bond in the cockpit, performs a 360° corkscrew stunt.
Helicopter pilot Mike Buckley from the British Airline Pilots Association says that it is possible to fly a helicopter upside down for a short period of time.
‘Helicopter pilots are highly trained and this footage appears to be a Bo105 undertaking a very skilled manoeuvre with an expert pilot at the controls.’
Bond, being Bond, has obviously undergone rigorous training.
Buckley explains the Bo105 has a rigid rotor head which makes it possible to fly these amazing routines.
‘The Westland Lynx, as flown by the UK Army Air Corps and the Royal Navy, also has a rigid head and is often seen in air shows around the UK doing rolls and occasionally loops,’ he says.
Buckley admits it’s difficult to tell if this footage is a real flight or a CGI recreation, because the film makers may have filmed a real flight and tinkered with the images afterwards.
‘There are strict rules about low flying, so if it is real footage, the backdrop [of the city] may have been added later,’ he says.
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