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Special Feature

Getting your aviation fix on YouTube…

There’s loads of great General Aviation content just waiting to be watched on YouTube – and we’ve picked some of our  favourites from the current crop… 

9 June 2021

If General Aviation provides us with that magic carpet travelling experience, then YouTube enables us to live a huge variety of aviation lives vicariously. Whether you want wild back-country ‘seat of pants’ flying, or procedural IFR buttonology, you can almost certainly find it on YouTube.

Thanks to amazing video quality courtesy of Virbs, GoPros and stabilised 4K wonder sensors that sometimes also work as phones, easy video editing, and not to mention heaps of talent, there’s no shortage of great content out there. 

Ian, Ed, Jonny and Dave, aka The FLYER Livestream team (also on YouTube, every Thursday night, 7.30-8.30) have each picked five of their favourite General Aviation YouTubers. You may not agree with all of them, and we’ve almost certainly missed out some corkers (let us know), but if you’re not already a ninja level YouTube-watcher, this is a great place to get started…

Meet UK Aviation YouTubers… If you’re interested to meet some of the UK’s Aviation YouTubers, including some of the ones we’ve mentioned in this feature, then you’re in luck, as there’s a fly-in taking place at Wolverhampton Halfpenny Green on Sunday 15 August. Click here to book your fly-in slot online!

Ian’s favourite five …

Steveo1Kinevo | Steveo’s a professional pilot now flying a TBM850 largely in Florida. He’s been YouTubing for the last 14 years, with things really ramping up when he started posting detailed flying videos from the left seat of the TBM. Great (non-nerdy) content that puts you in the pilot’s seat.
LewDix Aviation | Lewis is a young English CFI flying out of Florida, with most of his video output being recordings of flights with his students. He’s an engaging presenter who clearly cares about making flying, and learning to fly, fun. Well worth a watch, particularly if you are ever planning to head to the US to do some flying.
JonasMarcinko | Another proponent of the back-country style of flying, Jonas had – and sold – a Kitfox before moving onto a Capella (which suffered a landing accident). I don’t know how much of Jonas’ attitude and approach is staged for the views, but he’s one of the, erm, more exuberant pilots out there.
New Page Aviation | John is a British instructor and ferry pilot who specialises in Technically Advanced Aircraft, so expect to see him flying anything from an SR22 to a TBM940 or VisionJet. His videos have some great practical ‘how-to’ tips for IFR procedures as well as some long distance flying (London to Arizona and back anyone?).
Stefan Drury | Stefan’s an Australian pilot who’s done a whole host of flying domestically and international.

Ed’s favourite five…

Mike Patey | Mike took the aviation internet world by storm with his Draco build videos three years ago and hasn’t looked back. A true modern-day Leonardo da Vinci of aircraft homebuilding – witness his current Scrappy project, you’ll sit watching, wondering how he gets SO MUCH fantastic quality work done, so fast! “Back to work!”
Plane Old Ben | Probably the original UK aviation YouTuber, for over seven years Ben Cornwell has been filming his journey from being a student pilot through hour building all the way to his ATPL. With videos that are always full of detail, nicely shot and edited, and delivered with cheerful style, he’s one to make some time for.
FlightChops | The most famous flying beard/moustache combo on the internet. FlightChops, aka Steve Thorne, is ‘always learning’ and documenting his flying journey as he adds ratings and new experiences. He’s even found time to build a Van’s RV-14 with a little help from his friends at the Canadian Historical Aircraft Association.
Plane Lady | Making aviation videos for YouTube seems to be male-dominated, so Plane Lady (aka Christine) makes a refreshing change to watch as she builds a Van’s RV-10 with her husband Tyler. Not a big time channel, but guaranteed to inspire with plenty of Infectious enthusiasm.
Dewey Davenport | A modern-day barnstormer (yes, really), while he might not have loads of subscribers or masses of videos, his easy-going style and love for flying old aeroplanes makes you want to watch more. I predict we’ll be seeing quite a lot more of Dewey online in future…

Jonny’s favourite five…

Trent Palmer | If there was one single YouTuber to mix GA and its ability to provide fun, friends, amazing scenery and generally tick the ‘cool’ box, that person would be Trent Palmer. Flying his Freedom Fox backcountry-style from gravel bars to salt flats and everything in between, he’s a great storyteller with a camera.
Ben Atkinson | Ben has documented most of his microlight training and now produces videos that show how much fun you can have for a relatively small amount of money in modern microlights. From days out with his fiancé to farm strip sessions with friends, Ben’s videos are great fun and with no high-viz jackets in sight.
Elliot Seguin | If there’s something interesting to be flown, chances are Elliot has… His channel is a deep dive into the world of test flying (his job), so expect lots of fascinating technical analysis, interesting aircraft and, yes, one or two incidents that are dealt with in a very professional manner.
Cory Robin | Cory, from the Flying Cowboys gang, is another great back-country pilot and his videos showcase him and his Carbon Cub flying around the USA. Watch Cory’s videos to follow him landing on mountain tops or deserts and, at also at one point, nosed-over in an Ohio river.…
The Flying Reporter | As the name suggests, Jon Hunt’s channel is full of excellent interviews as well as documenting his own exploits from flying abroad to his first tailwheel lessons. Coming from a professional video production background, his videos are high quality and he’s not afraid to shy away from difficult topics.

Dave’s favourite five…

Guido Warneke | Guido is a German ferry pilot flying turbine and light aircraft all over the world. His videos are in-cockpit reports, mostly IFR, measured and precise, with Guido’s sure hand on the controls. Helpfully, he pops in close-ups to show what he’s doing – great for learning your way around a Garmin G1000.
Matt Guthmiller | Back in 2014, Matt became the youngest pilot to fly around the world solo. These days, he’s still flying – lots! – to great places, mostly IFR. His vids are relatively long at 20mins or so, and in travelogue style, although he does pick up on things like icing, turbulence, engine problem at night in the mountains… scary stuff!
Peter Sripol | An inventor and maker – the smoother, less edgy American version of Britain’s Colin Furze. His creations include various aircraft including an electric three-axis ultralight, a twin-engine biplane ultralight, a manned personal drone and a flying sleigh. All flew, sort of, and he even took one to Oshkosh.
Rory On Air | Rory Auskerry is a commercial helicopter pilot who started on microlights. His previous career working as a producer for the BBC means his videos are well made and professional, but also fun and informative. He’s honest about still gaining experience, making mistakes and enjoying the good bits, of which there are many.
Just Plane Silly | If you’ve the intellect of a gnat you’ll probably like Just Plane Silly for a minute or two. Any higher life form will want to move on quicker. Bryan Turner is a flight instructor and gets to fly a lot of aircraft and go places. This could be good, and humour is a plus, but this is a poor imitation of The Monkees’ zany behaviour.
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