Making of Santa Sleigh Test and update for 2014

We were truly blown away with the positive response and media interest that our Santa Sleigh Test video gained. It all happened as a bit of a whirlwind, from turning up on the BBC One O'Clock News  then again on ITV's evening news, to an appearance in the Daily Mail, Metro and Daily Telegraph newspapers and their respective websites. That was just the UK, so far we've also found coverage on websites in Canada, USA, Mexico, France, Germany, Netherlands, India, Venezuela and Australia. You can find one of our personal favourites here, with the bemused presenter slightly struggling with our name. Unbeknownst to us, we've also gone from a two person team to a full on research institution. Crikey.

Artist's impression while 

we were in the planning stages.

Having a trial run, trying to see
what the footage could look like! 

 It's all coming together.

What was great was how kind everyone was about the video, taking it in the manner it was intended - as a bit of festive fun. Finally, thank you to all those who shared in our excitement by getting in touch via email and social media and their positive response.

Getting setup for launch.

As this launch was a bit different to all of our others, we thought we'd create a 'Making Of' video, to explain how we did it and cover the real launch itself.

Santa and Rudolph's journey. 

Plans for 2014

We've got a few potential projects in the pipeline and are busy following up on these, hopefully they'll lead to a productive and fun-filled beginning to 2014! One initial thing on the to do list is a launch with a dedicated 'Balloon Cam' to try and capture how the balloon changes through the flight - from launch to burst. Watch this space for news on STRATODEAN Four!

Our photos - Helping the community

A few months ago we were asked if it was OK to use some of our overhead photographs of the Forest of Dean from our first launch. The request came from Design and Purpose who had been tasked with creating the literature and promotional material for the Berry Hill, Five Acres and Christchurch Neighbourhood Development Plan. This is an important document that is being put together by members of the community in order to have their say with what happens to the local schools, college and leisure centre amongst other things such as future housing development. It was great to get involved and we think the end results look impressive! If anyone else in the Forest of Dean area has any other project ideas or proposals, please get in touch!

Berry Hill, Five Acres and Christchurch Neighbourhood Development Plan

We made the paper - again!

Our follow up article in the Forest Citizen.

We made the paper!

We made it into the Forest Citizen.