[QuadList] quads on a plane?

[David C. Crosthwait]

Hello Skip,

I can't speak as to the "big brother" aspect of surveillance via air  
and quad machines. It certainly was possible given the other airborne  
quad machines in use in the sixties. Here are two examples:

Number one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwest_Program_on_Airborne_Television_Instruction
And...
http://www.chicagotelevision.com/MPATI.htm

VR 1001's can be seen in a picture in the above link and also in the  
rotation on the main page at: http://www.dcvideo.com/

Number two:

Peter Groom (now deceased), editor at NBC NY, performed was was  
thought to be the first 2" quad splicing of a program while on board a  
converted DC 3 (?). The purpose of this effort, which involved a TR  
22, was to beat the other two networks to air with the first lengthy  
coverage of Winston Churchill's funeral in the UK. From the first hand  
story told to me by Peter, upon the death of Winston Churchill, NBC  
commissioned a crash effort to modify a DC 3 to accommodate a TR 22,  
by removing almost all of the normal cabin interior, installing a  
specialized power source, and flying Peter (a UK native), David  
Brinkley (?), and a number of other people, to London. The plane sat  
on the runway, recording the feed. Upon the conclusion of the funeral,  
the plane departed. While in flight, Peter physically spliced the  
tape, with Brinkley doing some VO! The plane landed in NYC, the tape  
played back to a waiting microwave van, and it was fed directly to NBC  
and the net.

Apparently there was spotty "live" coverage from an occasional  
satellite feed (when in position). But NBC went all out to have the  
first lengthy coverage.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/witness/january/24/newsid_2692000/2692293.stm

David Crosthwait
DC Video
Archived Media Transfer and Re-mastering Services
177 West Magnolia Blvd.
Burbank, CA. 91502
818-563-1073
818-563-1177 (fax)
818-285-9942 (cell)
DCFWTX at AOL.COM
DAVID at DCVIDEO.COM
WWW.DCVIDEO.COM



Quoting Skip Elsheimer <avgeeks at gmail.com>:

> I was at a film archivist / moonshine symposium in West Virginia and
> somebody was asking about a mythical airplane that had quad machines
> installed on board. He said he thought it was a government owned plane and
> it would record video in remote locations.
>
> I said I would ask the experts..
>
> Skip
> A/V Geeks LLC
>