Aerial Views of Thursday Night Rams vs. 49ers Football Game Will Be Covered By New Eyes In the Sky

By Mark Nankivil

Tonight's Thursday Night Football Game at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis will feature aerial video feeds provided by a fixed-wing aircraft from Burbank, CA-based Aerial Video Systems. A twin-engine aircraft, rather than a blimp, is used for many of the Monday night and Thursday night games.

The aircraft is a Partenavia P.68 Observer manufactured in June, 1984. The crew was over St. Louis Wednesday shooting video to be used during the pregame coverage and during the game.  The aircraft carries an HD video camera that is lowered from the belly through a hatch for the aerial shots. On the underside of the aft section, there is a microwave antenna used to beam the video feed to the media truck. The aircraft can fly from 70-180mph and has an endurance of up to 6-1/2 hours. Special thanks to the aircraft crew and St. Louis Downtown Airport in obtaining this aircraft walk-around coverage.