I Don’t Want to Kiss Him Anymore!

“I don’t want to kiss him anymore!”  

That was the message from Lauren Burnham, one of the women vying for the attention of Arie Luyendyk Jr. on The Bachelor. Our helicopter was in close air formation with a tour airplane contracted for a tour over the Nazca Lines in Peru. The only passengers on the tour airplane were Arie and Lauren in one of the more memorable scenes from The Bachelor during Season 22, Episode 9. 

The director wanted an extreme close-up shot of the happy couple kissing and then a pull-out to reveal their airplane and a wide expanse showing the archeological wonders of the Nazca Lines. Simple. 

“Sure, I can do that,” I said to the director, having no idea of the complexity ahead of me. 

Flying rotor blade to wing tip was nothing new. Scary yes, when you feel like you could reach out and touch the other aircraft, but you trust the pilots to do their job.

“You call it Ron, just say ‘kiss’ and I’ll pass along the instructions,” said the director.

What I wasn't expecting was the telephone tag of aerial communications at 130 miles per hour. I told the director. The director told our pilot in English. Our bilingual pilot radioed their pilot in Spanish. Their pilot told the coordinator. The coordinator told Arie and Lauren. All of this had to happen at a precise moment. 

Smoke signals would have been more efficient. 

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Postscript: Lauren changed her mind for the camera - we got our shot. Arie Luyendyk Jr. married Lauren Burnham on Maui, Hawaii just ten miles from where I live.