Los Angeles at Twilight [Weekend Watch]

February 5th, 2011

A stunning view of Los Angeles at twilight as seen through the cockpit of a plane landing at LAX. It runs at 8x speed to allow us to appreciate the size and extensive network of the city. (Via Digital Urban)

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ac0bXkxM3E

From Youtube:

Landing at LAX International Airport via the SADDE Six Arrival.

The song is “Los Angeles” by Sugarcult. If you like the song please use one of the links below to buy it so maybe progressive bands like Sugarcult will let us continue to use their music on our homemade non-commercial videos. Mahalo!

An HD version in “real time” with the audio stripped is available here.

General response to comments:

First, thanks for all the positive comments. It was an amazing night and the combination of the Sadde Six approach, the sunset, the visibility, and ATC allowing us to drop down to 2,000 feet all worked together. I’ll probably never get that chance again.

Here are some general responses to the many comments:

The video is sped up to somewhere between Mach 1 and Mach 2 (depending on actual airspeed about 8X). The original idea was to a) compress a 30 minute approach into three minutes; and b) to see what it would look like if you you were riding on the back of a cruise missile. There will also some minor timing issues to get it to “fit” with the song.

The camera was a Canon S95 which is a great pocket low light camera. This video simply wouldn’t have been possible with any other pocket camera. If you want a great travel camera, be sure to check it out. $369 on Amazon.

The video was shot in 720p at 24 FPS. I’m not sure why YouTube dumbed it down but I’ll see if I can correct that. It’s stunning in HD (see latest updates at top of notes).

The camera was mounted via a small tripod with velcro out of our way and line of site. Ultrapod I think it’s called. Nothing fancy.

I realize a lot of you think the song sucks and that I’m a douche bag but I’m not posting the video in real time with the ATC track. Not gonna happen. That’s not fair to the other pilots and controllers on the frequency.

To keep the video from being totally dull I added a music soundtrack. Again, I realize it’s not for everyone but that’s just the way it is.

That said, there’s so much interest from the flight simulator crowd I might republish the approach in real time and no sound. Check back later.

Again, my main purpose for making this video was for the benefit of my airline friends who have kids. They have an attention span of three minutes and want to see exactly what it is Daddy or Mommy does. It’s just meant to be fun and somewhat educational.

Plus I thought it looked kind of cool.

Oh, as for the sound effects. I only thought a dozen or so people would see this video and I was just screwing around with the new version of iMovie. Just having some fun (even if it some of didn’t quite work).

Again, mahalo for all the comments. Even you haters. Hey, at least I didn’t enlist the music of Creed or Nickelback! Then I would be a douche bag.