#AvGeek Review: The New “Airplane Repo”

[NYCA News]

NYCAviation:

#AvGeek Review: The New “Airplane Repo” (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nycaviation/~3/5StNlzUBmwI/)

In 2010, a new reality show called Airplane Repo hit basic cable, giving the public an intimate look into the mysterious world of repossessing airplanes. The original three episodes, which aired in late 2010 and early 2011, followed Nick Popovich and his crew around the world, as they repossessed anything from business jets to a [...]http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/nycaviation/~4/5StNlzUBmwI
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[Aviation.High.Guy]

Having been on a History "reality" show and involved in producing a pilot show, I can assure you that there's very little reality in any of them. Real life in real-time unfortunately can be as interesting as watching paint dry. At the end of the day, it's all about the ratings anyway.

[Cary]

Nice writeup, Jason. I was disappointed at how scripted this new season was compared to the old one, but it does have a good deal of excitement factor, so I'll probably watch it again, just with the knowledge that most everything is staged. The best was when the Learjet declared an emergency, choosing the closest airfield, which just happened to already have a film crew on the ground to capture the landing and taxi/parking. Or how they rushed to get the Cessna out of the hangar, only for there to be exterior cameras on that plane :tongue:

[yankees368]

Nice writeup, Jason. I was disappointed at how scripted this new season was compared to the old one, but it does have a good deal of excitement factor, so I'll probably watch it again, just with the knowledge that most everything is staged. The best was when the Learjet declared an emergency, choosing the closest airfield, which just happened to already have a film crew on the ground to capture the landing and taxi/parking. Or how they rushed to get the Cessna out of the hangar, only for there to be exterior cameras on that plane :tongue:

Smoke and mirrors, with a 100mm lens.

[snydersnapshots]

I really enjoyed the episodes with Nick Popovich because they had more of a "documentary" feel and went into the background and preparation of repossessing the airplane (not "stealing" as the new episodes like to portray it). I watched the new show last night and, while it was interesting, I really didn't care much for the overly dramatic flair. And the very fact that the airplanes are all wired and cammed makes me wonder about the "reality" of this reality show.

The other question I had was how did they attach the cameras to the airplanes? You can bolt stuff onto a crab boat, but it's a little tougher with a Learjet...

BTW...I loved the scene on the takeoff roll of the Lear where they showed the attitude indicator in about a 30 degree bank and the vertical speed going up 4,000 feet a minute. Either they were NOT on the takeoff roll or that airplane had some serious Air Data Computer problems and probably shouldn't have been flying. If you guys from Discovery Channel are reading this, you're going to have to do a better job of editing if you're going to deal with pilots...