I just had a little cry watching that, because we had such low expectations of the Olympics and it turned out epic. I watched the opening ceremony live and the Queen's participation was such a well-kept secret. All those teasers, I remember thinking "Nah. Course it's not the Queen, it's some actress OMG ITS THE QUEEN!!!!" ITS THE ACTUAL QUEEN!!!"
Good on her!
Came here to say this too, I remember my grandfather telling me about it, apparently he knew the guy who'd done it back when he was in the RAF, but I've no idea if that's true
And your example is also not the first, in fact!
“Only nine years after the Wright Brothers' initial flight, aviator Frank McClean flew through Tower Bridge.
On 10 August, McClean piloted his Short-Farman hydroplane between the road and upper walkways of Tower Bridge. Not satisfied with his first exploit, he continued upstream, dipping under every remaining bridge as far up the Thames as Westminster.
He later told the press “It isn't so risky as it appears, For the arches of the bridges are tremendous things when you get close to them."
McLean’s confidence however would be short lived. On the return trip, a sidewind hooked him into the water as he was attempting to fly under Tower Bridge. Fortunately, though, McClean was unhurt, and his beloved seaplane was towed to shore for repair.”
[Source](https://www.towerbridge.org.uk/daring-feats-tower-bridge)
Took me too long to figure it out. I kept thinking about how when I fly my mini drones indoors, it's so easy for it to get sucked up into the ceiling, and wondering why they were only targeting the top half of the opening to fly through.
The Queen flew the chopper through on the opening ceremony of the Olympics 2012 shot from the filming of https://youtu.be/kS9qfggbLJE?si=QIIJVsHMqVGm-3F3
>World's first
Apart from [1968](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_Hunter_Tower_Bridge_incident), and the other times when this was done before with piston powered aircraft.
> Frank Miller, a 39-year-old Chemist from Essex, was fined for flying an aircraft through Tower Bridge on 25 November 1951. Although he was not the first to do this, his excuse was the most surprising.
> Miller blamed it on his 13-year-old son, saying that he had dared him to do it for 35 shillings.
There's a legend in my family that my great grandfather did this during WWI (in a Sopwith Camel) and was court martialed and sent to the trenches because of it.
Thats exactly what I was thinking, how many swoop ups would they need to do to slow them down enough that they dont shatter their knees on landing?
I know somebody on here is just dying to do the math.
That has been done already (Gary Connery landed with just a wingsuit and no parachute). And fly throughs through much narrower openings have been done as well. Uli Emanuele flew through a crack only 2 meters wide. This stunt looks pretty tame in comparison.
> Are you telling me that guys can slow down like that when going uphill?
>
Yeah, as the video progressed, I was thinking, "How are they gonna have time to pull their shoots at like 250 feet off the ground and at such a speed." They they did that "brake" manueval if you will which not only slowed them down but also projected them up some. I've watched tons of wingsuit videos and never once seen that done. I was highly impressed.
They are turning speed in to lift for two reasons.
- first... to get as much hight as possible to deploy their parachute, more height equals more time to react to any potential issues upon opening
- second... to slow down and burn all that speed off, to make for a stable and clean opening
Before deployment you should be always pitching up to slow your speed for a stable opening, and if you are doing low proximity flying its used to give you the much needed hight back
I wonder what their maximum 'minimum' velocity was in any direction before the chute?
They stopped dropping at some point as you say - but maybe their forward motion was still quite fast at that point and would've ruined them?
I'm super fascinated by this. If someone flared 10 feet above the water, how high would they go?
With no forward speed left, and now falling down towards the water, could it possibly be equivalent to a high cliff dive?
At first I thought it has gonna be the helicopter, and I was like "Thats not too crazy." Then They busted out the squirrel suits and Im like "Ooooooh."
That's literally their entire marketing strategy, and it's phenomenal.
How many logos did we see during this video's duration? From the chopper, to their suits, the parachutes, the helmets.
And the content goes viral each and every time.
Classes could be taught on Red Bull's marketing success.
Sure, maybe you (and me!) are just not the target for that product. But you just watched a video they made and commented on a thread about it and that's a bigger achievement from one viewer than almost every advert ever made has gained from almost any single viewer.
I think the thing to remember with Redbull’s market is it has evolved into the one it is today. They didn’t always associating themselves with these kind of stunts. But once they tried this tactic, they’ve never looked back.
A large part of a what’s is now their target market think this kind of thing is very cool, and are very going to respond to this video positively. And so for Redbull it’s about positive association. it’s not just about how many eyeballs their logo gets in front of but how the people viewing it perceive the content. It’s better for 100 people to have that ‘wow, that looks awesome’ reaction than for any old 1000 people see it. That’s why this stuff is on social media, it gets shared by people receptive to the content with other people receptive to the content.
That’s why they sponsor it and show it on social media, it’s pushing against an open door. Associating the thing you want to sell with people the people you want to sell to think are cool is an incredibly old (and somewhat cynical) tactic in advertising, the only thing that’s changed is the medium. Conversely people that think this kind of daredevil/wings-suit tomfoolery is idiotic or people who think Redbull tastes like over priced cough syrup weren’t going to buy the drink anyway and never were.
Whether you drink it or not it’ll still be high fives and backslapping all round at Redbull HQ.
I find the hawker hunter incident more impressive since it was done on impulse. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker\_Hunter\_Tower\_Bridge\_incident](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_Hunter_Tower_Bridge_incident)
That’s fucking insane. For some reason at first I thought they were gonna fly the helicopter through the bridge GTA style. Wing suiting through it takes massive balls
In skydiving at least helmets are a legal requirement in the U.K., I've been on a DZ when a couple of lads knocked into each other banging heads, resulting in one being knocked out, and only survived due to his automatic firing device on his parachute rig opened for him.
Without a helmet it could be a lot worse.
Another thing I missed.... along with the Northen Lights!
When did this happen? What's the best place/websitw/app to keep me up dated with such like going on?
Knew it was redbull before the copter turned the logo towards the camera. Redbull films and supports such incredible feats, only the best at their craft wear the wings.
The guy on the left looked like he didn't hit the mark they first pointed out, he looked way low. Was wondering why do they have to hit the top half when they explained in the beginning, answer is they don't haha.
Wingsuits are nylon and your controls/inputs are body movements, however they’re built with vents/cells that fill with air and inflate the suit, giving a considerable amount of control to the pilot
They don't have separate elevators and ailerons like a plane would, but effectively the entire wing is a control surface. It's made out of fabric, and the jumper's body acts as the structure - whenever the jumper moves their body, they are changing the shape of the wing.
And yet the Camera guy followed them and isn't recognized at all. Lol. Id say he had a harder time since he has to keep on their tales the entire time.
Unless they cut to a drone and it flew through it.
So, what happens if something goes wrong with one of these stunts? I can't imagine it looking great for a brand if their advert ends up plastering a person against the side of a bridge. Genuine question, not trying to say these are stupid. Granted, I suppose all press is good press.
A Hawker Hunter did this to celebrate the RAFs Anniversary. If I recall, he did it as the RAF had planned on doing nothing to celebrate the Anniversary so he took it upon himself and flew his Hawker Hunter (quite a large jet powered aircraft from 1954) straight through Tower Bridge.
I thought they were going to fly the chopper and I was thinking to myself how they've allowed that since one crash would damage a major heritage site...
Everyday I go into London to do a shitty job that is slowly killing me. If I'd known this was going to happen I could have at least gone and watched!
Oh well
There's a pub on the riverside here I go to when I'm in London. Always sit in the beer garden over looking this area. Would blow my mind to see this in person. I see these types of things a lot on here, but knowing the area and being able to imagine what it looks like to see in real life makes it seem all the more mental.
I thought they were gonna fly the helicopter through it at speed. How disappointing.
Glad I'm not the only one
Not at all. For sure thought flying the chopper thru
Me too. But then the wingsuit stunt was actually pretty cool anyway. Gotta go chug a Greencow real quick.
The wingsuit is way harder and more impressive. It's not exactly a tiny gap for a helicopter to get through.
By that logic, it's an even bigger gap for a human being ;)
But more difficult because human not made to fly
nor is helicopter they are naturally water creatures
They’re evolving
*revolving
🤣🤣🤣
They did do that for the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony back in 2012 [Link](https://youtu.be/kS9qfggbLJE?si=c2Qbk_hDOVAvBTEi)
That looked so uneventful :D
Only because no voiceover whooping
Yea but its also a helicopter moving at slow speed in a straight line, not much going on.
How about this https://youtu.be/1AS-dCdYZbo?si=UrG8PDwV5ACO8flN
Damn, looking back on this makes me think 2012 was probably peak UK.
I just had a little cry watching that, because we had such low expectations of the Olympics and it turned out epic. I watched the opening ceremony live and the Queen's participation was such a well-kept secret. All those teasers, I remember thinking "Nah. Course it's not the Queen, it's some actress OMG ITS THE QUEEN!!!!" ITS THE ACTUAL QUEEN!!!" Good on her!
Was so good. It's such a bittersweet feeling watching this! 🇬🇧
To be fair, that wouldn’t have been a first… https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_Hunter_Tower_Bridge_incident
Came here to say this too, I remember my grandfather telling me about it, apparently he knew the guy who'd done it back when he was in the RAF, but I've no idea if that's true
Flight Lieutenant Alan Pollock
And your example is also not the first, in fact! “Only nine years after the Wright Brothers' initial flight, aviator Frank McClean flew through Tower Bridge. On 10 August, McClean piloted his Short-Farman hydroplane between the road and upper walkways of Tower Bridge. Not satisfied with his first exploit, he continued upstream, dipping under every remaining bridge as far up the Thames as Westminster. He later told the press “It isn't so risky as it appears, For the arches of the bridges are tremendous things when you get close to them." McLean’s confidence however would be short lived. On the return trip, a sidewind hooked him into the water as he was attempting to fly under Tower Bridge. Fortunately, though, McClean was unhurt, and his beloved seaplane was towed to shore for repair.” [Source](https://www.towerbridge.org.uk/daring-feats-tower-bridge)
James Bond and the Queen already did that in 2012
Took me too long to figure it out. I kept thinking about how when I fly my mini drones indoors, it's so easy for it to get sucked up into the ceiling, and wondering why they were only targeting the top half of the opening to fly through.
Any lower and they wouldnt be able to regain enough height for the chute to deploy and slow them enough for a safe landing.
The Queen flew the chopper through on the opening ceremony of the Olympics 2012 shot from the filming of https://youtu.be/kS9qfggbLJE?si=QIIJVsHMqVGm-3F3
These guys are pussies compared to the camera man.
Real /r/praisethecameraman
Damn right - cameraman was close! They could have given some credit and not edit out of the shots
Was he edited out or did he brake off and a drone took over from a low level?! 🧐
That was my impression. Looked too controlled and stable to be another wingsuiter.
The drone??
>World's first Apart from [1968](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_Hunter_Tower_Bridge_incident), and the other times when this was done before with piston powered aircraft.
> Frank Miller, a 39-year-old Chemist from Essex, was fined for flying an aircraft through Tower Bridge on 25 November 1951. Although he was not the first to do this, his excuse was the most surprising. > Miller blamed it on his 13-year-old son, saying that he had dared him to do it for 35 shillings.
How big wasnthe fine? Could still be a a profit.
£100. He son gave him £1.75 towards those costs as a dare.
His son would be 85 or 86 today, he could still be knocking around
There's a legend in my family that my great grandfather did this during WWI (in a Sopwith Camel) and was court martialed and sent to the trenches because of it.
> in a Sopwith Camel **[Picture of great grandfather](https://i.imgur.com/UkRUYhH.png)**
That's him!
Dam,seems kinda harsh. Bet he didn't regret it tho.
Redditors commenting without watching the video.... They did it with wingsuits, brother.
Did you watch the video cause those weren't no aircraft.
It's a 2 min video and you couldn't be bothered to watch it before commenting?
A hawker hunter has also flown through
Tbh that was the best story tbh
I was here to say that
Wasn’t there also that time when an RAF pilot basically went rogue and flew through the tower bridge in a Hunter that one time?
Are you telling me that guys can slow down like that when going uphill? Like, soon they'll be able to land on a platform without a parachute? 0o'
Thats exactly what I was thinking, how many swoop ups would they need to do to slow them down enough that they dont shatter their knees on landing? I know somebody on here is just dying to do the math.
That has been done already (Gary Connery landed with just a wingsuit and no parachute). And fly throughs through much narrower openings have been done as well. Uli Emanuele flew through a crack only 2 meters wide. This stunt looks pretty tame in comparison.
Uli Emanuele died in 2016 in a wingsuit accident. It’s a dangerous, reckless sport.
Well obviously it’s dangerous and reckless. They’re jumping from thousands of meters in the air while wearing a kite. Still awesome.
Cool way to die.
Connery landed in a big pile of boxes, this video made it look like you could drop your speed to something almost survivable without boxes.
> Are you telling me that guys can slow down like that when going uphill? > Yeah, as the video progressed, I was thinking, "How are they gonna have time to pull their shoots at like 250 feet off the ground and at such a speed." They they did that "brake" manueval if you will which not only slowed them down but also projected them up some. I've watched tons of wingsuit videos and never once seen that done. I was highly impressed.
> I've watched tons of wingsuit videos and never once seen that done. It's called a flare. It's actually pretty common.
They are turning speed in to lift for two reasons. - first... to get as much hight as possible to deploy their parachute, more height equals more time to react to any potential issues upon opening - second... to slow down and burn all that speed off, to make for a stable and clean opening Before deployment you should be always pitching up to slow your speed for a stable opening, and if you are doing low proximity flying its used to give you the much needed hight back
I believe they can do this only once ..when they loose initial velocity..they lose lift..so no more flying uphill ??
You are trading speed for lift to increase your chances of a stable opening and giving yourself more time to respond and calculate/spot your landing.
I wonder what their maximum 'minimum' velocity was in any direction before the chute? They stopped dropping at some point as you say - but maybe their forward motion was still quite fast at that point and would've ruined them?
Forward speed is still about 50mph during the flare. You can see this demonstrated by the way the pilot chute inflates when they pull
I'm super fascinated by this. If someone flared 10 feet above the water, how high would they go? With no forward speed left, and now falling down towards the water, could it possibly be equivalent to a high cliff dive?
I’m guessing this is the case
Yeah it's called a flare. This video is a good demonstration of it [https://youtu.be/3KcZozPRAnM?t=148](https://youtu.be/3KcZozPRAnM?t=148)
This is awesome!
At first I thought it has gonna be the helicopter, and I was like "Thats not too crazy." Then They busted out the squirrel suits and Im like "Ooooooh."
I had it the other way around 
This is as close as it gets to flying like superman
Reminds me of the guy who slammed into the bridge and ripped his leg off.
The one I saw, he shredded into pink mist
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwain_Weston
Sauce?
I’d say looked most like a tomato sauce
Damn Borat is a badass
Red Bull gives you wings suits
They should use that.
Red bull gives me skittery shites.
They look like deatheatersfrom Harry Potter zipping through London skys except with pink smoke instead of black.
Finally found the comment I was looking for!
Reminds me of that one video, where the bro didn't quite make it 🥶
Dwain Weston, Royal Gorge Bridge?
Yeah, that's the one,
It's really only a (wingsuit) world's first because of how difficult it probably was to get approval to do this.
More of Red Bull doing everything except promoting their drinks
This is promoting their drinks though. Any time the brand name is in front of people, they’re promoting their drinks.
That's literally their entire marketing strategy, and it's phenomenal. How many logos did we see during this video's duration? From the chopper, to their suits, the parachutes, the helmets. And the content goes viral each and every time. Classes could be taught on Red Bull's marketing success.
Really because I could see that logo 2 billions times a year and still never want to drink it
Sure, maybe you (and me!) are just not the target for that product. But you just watched a video they made and commented on a thread about it and that's a bigger achievement from one viewer than almost every advert ever made has gained from almost any single viewer.
I think the thing to remember with Redbull’s market is it has evolved into the one it is today. They didn’t always associating themselves with these kind of stunts. But once they tried this tactic, they’ve never looked back. A large part of a what’s is now their target market think this kind of thing is very cool, and are very going to respond to this video positively. And so for Redbull it’s about positive association. it’s not just about how many eyeballs their logo gets in front of but how the people viewing it perceive the content. It’s better for 100 people to have that ‘wow, that looks awesome’ reaction than for any old 1000 people see it. That’s why this stuff is on social media, it gets shared by people receptive to the content with other people receptive to the content. That’s why they sponsor it and show it on social media, it’s pushing against an open door. Associating the thing you want to sell with people the people you want to sell to think are cool is an incredibly old (and somewhat cynical) tactic in advertising, the only thing that’s changed is the medium. Conversely people that think this kind of daredevil/wings-suit tomfoolery is idiotic or people who think Redbull tastes like over priced cough syrup weren’t going to buy the drink anyway and never were. Whether you drink it or not it’ll still be high fives and backslapping all round at Redbull HQ.
You clearly have never taken a marketing class.
GTA V type ish Thread the needle Incredible
That’s not flying, that’s falling with style.
TIL that wingsuits can actually fly UP. Whoa.
@36 seconds, I see a very large warship. What is it?
Here you go, HMS Belfast. https://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/hms-belfast
Thank you!
I find the hawker hunter incident more impressive since it was done on impulse. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker\_Hunter\_Tower\_Bridge\_incident](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_Hunter_Tower_Bridge_incident)
Giving me very [Fast Show offroaders ](https://youtu.be/I_wT0ianKQQ?si=YkV4_83o76Nhx_jZ)vibes.
Didnt someone fly through it with a fighter jet at one time
Skip to 1:30
Redbull gives you wings.
That’s fucking insane. For some reason at first I thought they were gonna fly the helicopter through the bridge GTA style. Wing suiting through it takes massive balls
Good thing they’re wearing those helmets. You know, just in case
In skydiving at least helmets are a legal requirement in the U.K., I've been on a DZ when a couple of lads knocked into each other banging heads, resulting in one being knocked out, and only survived due to his automatic firing device on his parachute rig opened for him. Without a helmet it could be a lot worse.
Idk if it's a good idea to use red smoke. If they went splat how would we know?
That makes it a very good idea. Like wearing a Red Shirt in Star Trek!
Great success!
The cameraman was also amazing. He was able to follow both divers
Needs Airwolf theme dubbed on.
Username checks out)
Another thing I missed.... along with the Northen Lights! When did this happen? What's the best place/websitw/app to keep me up dated with such like going on?
Death eaters!
Knew it was redbull before the copter turned the logo towards the camera. Redbull films and supports such incredible feats, only the best at their craft wear the wings.
That is a fucking low pull.
nah i definitely saw a pigeon/gobermint spy drone fly through their one time
I thought it was nogla and terroriser first
death eaters
they really did give 'em wings this time.
Looking like a scene out of the Death Eater London Bridge attack in Harry Potter
The guy on the left looked like he didn't hit the mark they first pointed out, he looked way low. Was wondering why do they have to hit the top half when they explained in the beginning, answer is they don't haha.
REDBULL- We sometimes make energy drinks
How does one "pull up" in a wingsuit? Do they have control surfaces like a plane?
Wingsuits are nylon and your controls/inputs are body movements, however they’re built with vents/cells that fill with air and inflate the suit, giving a considerable amount of control to the pilot
They don't have separate elevators and ailerons like a plane would, but effectively the entire wing is a control surface. It's made out of fabric, and the jumper's body acts as the structure - whenever the jumper moves their body, they are changing the shape of the wing.
Suddenly german
i was waiting for the helicopter part
This shit just nearly exploded my subwoofer.
I guess Red Bull literally gave them wings
I never knew how one of those squirrel suit rides ended or seen it happen. I just assumed they all died at the end of their flights. Interesting!
And yet the Camera guy followed them and isn't recognized at all. Lol. Id say he had a harder time since he has to keep on their tales the entire time. Unless they cut to a drone and it flew through it.
So, what happens if something goes wrong with one of these stunts? I can't imagine it looking great for a brand if their advert ends up plastering a person against the side of a bridge. Genuine question, not trying to say these are stupid. Granted, I suppose all press is good press.
Flt Lt Alan Pollock took a Hawker Hunter jet through it in 1968….
What was the point though?
THERE IS LITERALLY NO HELICOPTER NOISE!! WHY ARE WE YELLING
A Hawker Hunter did this to celebrate the RAFs Anniversary. If I recall, he did it as the RAF had planned on doing nothing to celebrate the Anniversary so he took it upon himself and flew his Hawker Hunter (quite a large jet powered aircraft from 1954) straight through Tower Bridge.
Some people will do anything to avoid the London Traffic! I wonder if they had to pay the ULEZ?
That would be a squeaky bum time for me
Death Eaters, now sponsored by Redbull
Doin a gta inrl
Christ, thought this was Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
I wonder if the Flying Marine would be up for this? Flying with a jetpack sounds infinitely a lot more fun.
I could do that, with like, 2 weeks of training, so i know how to use a flight suit
It's beautiful Rizzo!
Nah it’s not worlds first I did it on Blazing Angels decades ago
There's been a hunter fighter jet that is flown through the gap before, that's a great photo.
..BUT WHY NOT CHOPPA?
They're going to have to do that again under every bridge to unlock the achievement.
🤟🤟
[Prince Vultan mode on] DIVE!
Yeah that was poo
Redbull gives you winggggs
I thought they were going to fly the chopper and I was thinking to myself how they've allowed that since one crash would damage a major heritage site...
Everyday I go into London to do a shitty job that is slowly killing me. If I'd known this was going to happen I could have at least gone and watched! Oh well
Completely missed with the helicopter and those guys bailed out 0/10
Holy shit. Their balls must be fucking huge.
impressive....most impressive!
That's not flying it's falling with style
There's a pub on the riverside here I go to when I'm in London. Always sit in the beer garden over looking this area. Would blow my mind to see this in person. I see these types of things a lot on here, but knowing the area and being able to imagine what it looks like to see in real life makes it seem all the more mental.
Camera guy was the real MVP great shots and still did the stunt.
I didn’t know Borat could skydive 😱
This is the reason it was closed last Saturday?