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    Epic Flight – Mid Air Close Encounter with Turkish Airlines A350 and B787



    Get ready for an epic journey above the clouds! Join me for a very close encounter with the magnificent A350 and B787 of Turkish Airlines in mid-air. This video discovers how an epic air-to-air photo shoot of Turkish Airlines A350 and B787 is made over the skies of Istanbul.

    Starting the day at dawn from a hangar at Istanbul Airport, the AirBorneFilms crew were busy preparing for the photo shoot. At 8am, we took off in the chase plane, a TBM 700 and flew above the Bosphorus Strait over Istanbul city. A Turkish Airlines A350 suddenly appeared and flew very close to us side by side. Onboard our chase plane, film Director Eric and the pilot are constantly in touch with the Turkish Airlines pilots for the best photo positions. A gimbal is mounted below the wing of our chase plane to capture 360 degrees of view.

    In the afternoon, I boarded a Turkish Airlines B787 to participate in the second part of the photo shoot. The pilot flew the B787 in orbits and slowed down to 160 knots for the best filming. The end result was stunning from both shoots. At the end of the flight, the filming crew explains the key to capturing a successful air-to-air photo shoot.

    49 Comments

    2. Adeel J on

      Hi Sam, Excellent project and I hope both takes were as good as they had been planned accordingly. I wish we'll meet some day. Be safe out there Sir.

    7. Jackson M. on

      This was highly informative. I've always wondered how airline commercials are filmed. Silly me, I thought they used drones or helicopters. I had no idea that this is how it's done!

    10. Rosie and Planes on

      hi there sam. I have been watching your channel for a very long time and i love it! in my next video i would like to give you a shoutout to show my appreciation towards your amazing work if thats ok? this channel is truly brilliant!

    11. Linus Karlsson on

      I did a air-to-air shoot a few months ago for a 30sec spec commercial. Nothing like in the video, just two small planes in the air shooting out of the window to the other one. Despite all the planing it was something we in the crew or the pilots hade never done before. Hence, it took us just over an hour to get our two planed exterior shots of the hero plane!

      Basically for every turn our "cameraplane" took, the heroplane hade to cover three times the distence to make the same turn and vice versa. It was hard, it was beautiful and I can't wait to do it again!! 🙏❤️🛩️

      Big kudos to Eric, Alec and everyone at Airborne Films for the inspiration and allowing Sam to follow you along!

    16. Nurseydebdeb on

      I just love seeing this footage with those beautiful airplanes gliding through the sky, with that spectacular background of Istanbul. There is something that is just mesmerizing about planes, I could sit and watch them all day. What a fabulous life you have and still work so hard for two show and educate us. Sam, have you ever been on board a retired concord. I would have loved to see one of them fly let alone fly on one, I remember them being in service. They do have one you can board at the air museum in Seattle . Thanks for the great videos, and I hope you did not loose your breakfast on the camera plan!

    18. John Doe on

      Daily reminder he is paid for all his videos and is actually a terrible person outside YouTube. Don’t support this man who doesn’t actually love aviation

    23. Chris Clarke on

      Excellent video Sam. Some beautiful images captured and we’ve only seen a few of them.
      Thank you to you and Turkish Airlines and Istanbul airport and the French crew for bringing us this It’s superb. 👌

    33. Fiaz Butt on

      Hello sir this review flight Dubai to skardu international flight travel now please sir review now PIA🇵🇰🇵🇰🇵🇰🇵🇰🇵🇰🇵🇰

    34. l2etranger on

      Thank you Sam for bringing us what I believe is the impossible. I’ve always wonder though what it’s like to bring my own personal camera in the midst of such equipments with their operators.

    36. John on

      In my country of 85 million people, it is a pity that there is no team and equipment to make these shots! I was curious about the behind the kitchen of this shoot, I was extra happy to see you in the project. I love your quality shots, narration and clean editing! Many thanks.

    44. gryhze on

      Sam, this is a “first cabin” production. What a rare opportunity to see the behind the scenes work-up of a complex photo event.

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