Stand by for another in a series of unique broadcast application stories from Bexel Broadcast Services: Bexel ASG flew away with Delta Airlines for the New York/JFK to LAX “Grammy’s Express” publicity flight - aboard a Boeing 757 - featuring a special live performance by John Legend.

Wireless transmitters and receivers are strictly prohibited on commercial flights, unless the FAA approves – which is seldom. But, Bexel chief audio engineer Andrew McHaddad and Technical Supervisor David Crivilli made the impossible happen at LAX. A week before the flight, the entire technical crew met at the Los Angeles airport to perform an FAA acceptance test in a 757. This required all of the equipment to be mounted and operational on board during a taxi/engine-run-up test.

The project called for a keyboard, three vocal microphones and an acoustic guitar. Each of the four performers used Sennheiser in-ear transmitters for monitoring and Sennheiser RF hand held mics. The guitar and keyboard were wired. The individual microphones were captured to a DeVa HDD/mixer with time-code for future sweetening and mixing. A stereo mix was derived using a Yamaha O1V Series II mixer. This board also served as the dynamics and effects processor for the in-ear monitoring.

With talent monitoring and recording handled, the need to cover the 100+ audience of invited guests with quality sound reinforcement was an additional challenge. David Crivelli specified battery powered speakers feed by Lectrosonics R1a audio receivers. Twenty of these devices were connected with a short 1/8” mini cable and hung on the seat-back pouch on every third row. This gave the audio operator the ability to adjust the PA level from the audio console to reduce or increase the PA level in the fore seating area to control feedback and hollowness.

The FAA approved all of the equipment on board and further recommended storage and set-up procedures for the equipment. A timed test showed that all equipment could be stowed to an FAA approved condition in two-minutes. During the cross-country flight, all systems performed as designed and the audience was most enthusiastic. This was a unique event with many special requirements, both technical and logistical. , Apart from using eight UHF frequencies while in flight, the crew also had on-board tools that would never be approved by security. Special escorts and security procedures were provided to allow the crew to work to their best.