James Bond daredevil chopper leap, helicopter's eight billion confetti air drop: some of the Olympic opener highlights

David Cenciotti
2 Min Read

Although the presence of the Red Arrows at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games has already been made public, the London 2012 Olympic Games show promises some rather funny helicopter action.

Details leaked so far through the organization’s secrecy curtain are scarce, however rumors (and more detailed media reports) are spreading quite fast.

According to them an AgustaWestland helicopter is going to be the platform for the lauch of two unusual (stunt) skydivers: James Bond and Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II.

Whereas the fact that a 007 double will parachute into the stadium has been confirmed by several articles, I’m not sure the rumor of a skydiver dressed as the Queen is to be believed.

The helicopter flying during the opening stages of the show is believed to be the special colored AW139 (with registration G-OLYM) also featured in the famous Tower Bridge video.

Another helicopter will be part of the show: an AW.101 in the “Union Flag Burst” color scheme.

The +15-ton chopper, that will appear in the next James Bond’s “Skyfall” movie, should drop 8 billion confetti into the stadium towards the end of the ceremony.

Finmeccanica‘s group company AgustaWestland has been selected as the sole supplier of helicopters for the Olympics and the Italian choppers also appear on some Olympics themed commercials from London 2012 sponsors.

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David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.
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