TT 3D – The Story of the 2010 Isle Of Man TT, shot in 3D

by Neill Watson on March 29, 2011

in Octane Gossip TV

This is shaping up to be an interesting movie. TT 3D is the worlds first feature length sports documentary and covers the 2010TT race week in detail with only a small amount of the familiar archive stuff. The vast majority of the footage is brand new and shot in 3D. I’ve only seen the trailers such as the one below, but I’d love to see a preview copy at some point, as if the trailer clips are anything to go by, it’ll be a great documentary. Click the moview below to see a trailer, then there’s a link to the TT 3D website at the end.

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Farewell Harrier? I Hope Not

by Neill Watson on March 28, 2011

in Flying

It’s probably too late now, the current UK Government has seen fit to be rid of the Harrier force, despite the worrying uncertainties in the world in 2011. This superb video shows brilliant in-cockpit footage of the last days of the Harrier in the UK. Thanks to FastAirUK on Twitter for the heads up. Have to say, I wasn’t keen on the music at first, but by the end, I was looking to see who it was by. Take a look, play it full screen and enjoy British fast jet flying. I’m told by a man who should know these things that right now, the Harriers are still being ground run, something that would not normally happen if the axe was definately falling. Perhaps someone, somewhere, is realising that in these uncertain times, perhaps we need these aircraft and the skilled people who fight in them. Here’s hoping….

ItsNotWar from One F on Vimeo.

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Canon 5D – Now Strapped To A Fast Jet…

by Neill Watson on March 13, 2011

in Flying

Those Canon 5D’s are tough little cookies. When it first came out, we were wondering if it might survive being rigged on the outside of a BMW M3 rally car and driven at 80 mph across a frozen lake in Sweden at -25c. It handled that, no problem and I never gave it another thought until I saw this footage of the new Brietling advert and the ‘making of’ reel.

Check out the Canon HDSLR’s being rigged in the cockpit with what looks like a 14mm fisheye, but also at around 1:34 the 5D being rigged inside the wingtip pod on the L39 jet before departing for some high G formation flying with Nigel Lamb’s Edge.

DoP is the highly experienced Eric Manann, responsible for many of the famous aerial sequences you’ll have seen over the years. His YouTube channel makes interesting viewing, but be warned, you’ll be happy to spend hours watching superb formation flying of French air force fast jets.

I’d often thought that the Canon 5D Mk2 had the perfect form for being mounted on high sped aircraft, but was unsure about triggering, monitoring, exposure etc. Judging by this movie,shot on a combination of Canon 5D and RED cameras, it survives prolonged high G just fine.

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The BBC and The Electric Car Debate

by Neill Watson on January 16, 2011

in Gossip and Rumours

Robert Llywellyn has been outspoken on Twitter and on his blog about the recent feature the BBC ran about driving an electric car from London to Edinburgh. His criticism was the style of reporting and the choice of a totally inappropriate car for the job. Tesla owners have all spoken out in defence of electric technology and this lucid response from Simon Hackett in Australia is worth a watch.

There’s little doubt that there are many vested interests in rubbishing this technology and indeed in recent years I’ve been skeptical myself. However, my initial experience of Smart town cars was a positive one and I’m really intrigued by not just the new technology, but by the human reaction to it globally. It’s going to be a very interesting ride….

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Porsche 918 RSR Hybrid Race Car

by Neill Watson on January 10, 2011

in Motorsport

No sooner do I write about my interest in hybrid cars, then Porsche at the Detroit Motor Show hit us with this unveiling. The new 918RSR racer uses Porsche’s flywheel technology, on which I’ll write more later and looks the business. They refer regularly to the Porsche 917 racer in the car’s DNA and they obviously feel that the 918 isthe same kind of revolutionary step forward that the 917 was all those decades ago.

Lovely car, can’t wait to see on on a track….

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Octane Gossip – A Re-Think….

by Neill Watson on January 10, 2011

in Gossip and Rumours

Photo - copyright Tim Andrew

Photo - copyright Tim Andrew

My small but regular audience will know that this particular blog is just one of several I write. While others are finding thier feet and gaining strength, this one has been the sick puppy of the litter. While I knew what I wanted to say (the original premise was an outlet for all of those little stories that I think of that don’t run in print) I found it hard to create that niche that I felt worked. Re weekend email exchange on a private discussion board gave me food for thought and so we’re changing direction ever so slightly.
You see, I’m intrigued by the whole debate currently ongoing and the developments by car manufacturers, governments and all of the other interested parties to find a way of firstly allow us to continue having cars and secondly, finding a way to generate the taxation income required to run our road system and indeed our governments in some cases, without the taxation of fossil based fuels.
So you’ll see me writing more about these developments on the various fronts and what I think the implications are, plus what I think of any hybrid transportation I’m lucky enough to get my hands on. But don’t worry, if I seea great video foa low level Merlin blasting by, I won’t be able to resist the temptation to talk about it….

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The Breakdown Good Samaritan

by Neill Watson on November 23, 2010

in Driving

It’s time for me to confess now. I drive a lot of miles across the UK and into Europe each year, but until recently, I didn’t have breakdown cover. I know, I know, I should have done it before, but like many people, I’ve simply been winging it along the lines of the ‘it won’t happen to me’ attitude that many of us have as we pass a steaming car by the roadside. Someone of my driving history really should know better.

Indeed over the years, I’ve been very lucky, never more lucky than around ten years ago, when I bought a Ferrari 308GTB from a guy in Hendon, London. Living in Yorkshire, it was a bit of a drive home, but hey, it’s Ferrari, so no hardship, this’ll be fun. Pulling out onto the A1 North, I opened up the Ferrari V8, but was concerned about the smoke in the mirror. Hmm, it’s been stood a while, probably just needs a bit of a run…. More power, more smoke… Time to stop… [click to continue…]

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The Driving Experience Phenomenon

by Neill Watson on October 26, 2010

in Driving

Driving Experience Gifts? Try a Lambo...

Driving Experience Gifts? Try a Lambo...

If you’ve begun browsing the shelves looking for Christmas gifts for the driver in your life, you might just have stumbled upon the whole Driving Experience Gift industry. It’s a big market and still growing rapidly. I spend a significant percentage of my time working in and around the track driving industry, either in car, driving or shooting photography and video. Over a coffee recently, we were chatting about how the whole thing just keeps getting bigger and bigger and why.
In my view, the whole thing has been pushed forward by two things – Top Gear and the reliability of the newer generation of supercars. A decade ago, if you owned a Ferrari, Lamborghini or Aston, the chances are the you didn’t drive it much. Heaven forbid that you should consider a drive to France. Today, the supercars are far more reliable, with Audi owning Lamborghini and other makers getting their act together. Add in the whole buzz of people watching Top Gear and wanting to drive a Lamborghini supercar themselves and you have a huge growing industry.
Quite when it will plateau is beyond me. Each year, people say “I didn’t know that you could do that” as they climb into an Aeriel Atom and do Clarkson impressions. So for now, it keeps getting bigger and bigger. Want to try it? Take a look

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The Innocence Of Youth….

by Neill Watson on September 24, 2010

in Driving

cw0003pI was working on track recently and a couple of young lads, in their late teens, were down to drive a Lamborghini. They had a great time and at the end, we were standing talking about what they drove, what they’d really like to own and why they didn’t or couldn’t. They were talking about buying car insurance online and the frustrations they faced trying to get insured. [click to continue…]

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Rant – The Real Way to Cut Road Deaths

by Neill Watson on September 24, 2010

in Driving

Subaru Impreza Ice Driving car in Sweden

Subaru Impreza Ice Driving car in Sweden

Not really sure why, but the road safety subject is a very hot topic this week. First off, we’re treated to the wise results of a survey that tells us that young, newly qualified drivers can be stopped from crashing by banning them from driving after dark and with other people their own age – no shit Sherlock…

The chances of that happening are, or course, very remote, but nontheless, there’s no doubt that young drivers out posing with their mates are at risk. The combination of the urge to show off, inexperience, massive belief in your own invincibility at that age, plus of course, girls, is a risky thing. I know, I have the shunts to prove it from years ago…. But stopping them driving at night won’t be a solution.

Next off, the IAM tell us that the measures taken over the last few years have resulted in a downward trend in road deaths, something that we should not be complacednt about, they warn. Quite what the measures taken were are not mentioned in the press release.

On the very same day, good old ROSPA chime in… They reckon that we’re not looking enough and for once, I have to say that they may well have a point. Try sitting behind someone in the middle lane of a motorway, brains on standby to save the batteries, while you wait for him to wake up and take a glance in the mirror and you’d agree with ROSPA.

But one thing I’m amazed to find myself agreeing with ROSPA once again on is the fact that improving driver skills would have a major impact on road safety. Halleluya, at last someone has said it. ROSPA have come out with some real tripe at various times, but this time they’re got it right.

If I cast my mind back to the skills I had when I first qualified, it’s frightening. And the only way to get more skills was to get out there and hopefully survive long enough to have a few ‘wobbly knees’ moments and learn from them. I’m heavily involved with Ice Driver in Sweden each year and every year, we have a long list of people who recognise that wherever they are in their driving careers, they need more training. And it’s not just new drivers, we’ve had everyone from 12 year old future rally drivers to multpiple world motorsport champions. One thing they all have in common is that they know that they still have things to learn about driving.

And that’s something that everyone who holds a driving licence should accept. World championship golfers, tennis players, footballers all have coaches. If you value your driving skills, why shouldn’t you have a driver coach?

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