Cessna A185F Skywagon

The Cessna A185F used in the filming of The Transporter movie is seen here at an air show at Valenciennes Denain LFAV airport outside of Paris, France.

Picture taken (2004) by: Kristof Vandermoer

The Cessna A185F was hijacked by Frank Martin (Jason Statham)  in this field (Picture 1) near Aérodrome de Romanin in St. Remy France. Frank can be seen running across the field (Picture 2) to catch up to the plane as it is being refuled. Vincent Nemeth played the part of the pilot, but only on the ground...he is not an actual pilot. He said he was cast in the film and spent 2-3 days near St. Remy filming several versions of "Frank Martin" approaching him. The airfield (Code: LFNZ) is currently used for glider aircraft and small hobby planes and tourist rides. Note: The plane appears to be crop dusting a field as Frank (Jason Statham) approaches. The plane did not have a system on it for dispensing chemicals during the filming. The "crop dusting" chemical observed being dispensed from the wings was added in post production as a special effect. This airport and surrounding property are part of the Romanin Estate.

Jean Francois Ronzavelle -

Parachute Stuntman Exiting The Plane As Frank Martin

Note:

The airplane (F-CGVX) shown above was severely damaged in a crash on or about October 08, 2005 in Valenciennes, France.  A report was filed with the BEA in France that indicated the plane ran out of fuel on ascent with (5) parachutists and the pilot on board. No fatalitites were rported but the plane was destroyed. An investigation revealed that the pilot had improperly prepared the fuel requitrements for the day and miscalculated the fuel consumption and total flight time by almost one full hour. The plane fell from the sky at an altitude of 1500 feet and was crash landed in a field with much damage to the landing gear and airframe. As of 2013 the plane is not registired as airworthy and it's whereabouts are unknown.

Picture 1

It was world class parachutist (Jeff Ronzavelle) who jumped form the A185F plane as (Jason Statham) as shown in the picture above. However, the landing on top of the moving truck proved difficult to execute. So Fred North (Helicopter Pilot) devised a harness system attached to the filming helicopter and the landing of (Jason Statham) on the moving truck in the convoy was actually another parachutist (Frederic Ciccione) in this harness system as Fred North lowered him down on the moving truck. A camera mounted on the belly of the helicopter yielded just the correct perspective for the 11 seconds of screen time needed to land Frederic Ciccione (parachute stuntman) on the moving truck. In the finished film it appears as if Jason Statham exits the plane and lands on the truck.  This scene was made possible by Jeff Ronzavelle and Frederic Ciccione and Fred North the helicopter pilot, they made (4) jumps that were filmed.....Jason was absent from the set this day while this filming was completed along the D9 motorway just outside of Marseille. Both of the parachutists were part of the French Federation of Professional Skydivers.

To visit the Romanin Estate click the logo above.

Vincent Nemeth and Jason Statham -

In this scene we see "Frank Martin" approach the pilot of the crop dusting plane. The tractor is a 1970's Renault Super 5 model (R7054) and belonged to the Romanin estate and was used as a prop in the movie. As the pilot pumped fuel into his plane Frank Martin approaches and pulls his gun and steals the plane.

In this picture the convoy is seen traveling the D9 motorway in France and in the background can be seen stunt parachutist Frederic Ciccione as "Frank Martin" attempting to land on the second trailer in the convoy. The trucks (2) were 2002 Renault Magnum models. The producers also obtained a 2002 Renault Magnum cab that was bolted to a filming platform where the fight scenes were filmed while being pulled up and down the D9 motorway by a large tow truck. This truck cab was highly modified (custom interior, hand rails, padded walls, dash removed, windshield removed for filming, lighting reflectors, etc). Both of the trucks and the cab were provided ASEA France (Renault Commercial Trucks). Also note the special orange shipping containers with special hand rails and side ladder steps for the stunts.

Aérodrome du Mazet de Romanin (LFNZ)

Behind the Scenes Footage of The Parachute Scene - CLICK ABOVE

The aerial filming for The Transporter movie was done by ACS of France. They provided (2) helicopters and the gyro camera systems to film all of the aerial sequences in the film. Fred North was the pilot of the camera helicopter for all aerial scenes filmed.

 

Frederic Ciccione -

Parachute Stuntman Exiting The Plane

Each scene that the Director and Production Crew film is choregraphed and drawn on story boards. Shown below are the actual story boards for the above detailed Caravan scene.