I am an airline pilot flying the Boeing 747 and youtuber

Are you just going to answer every question with "watch my videos"?

well if I made a video on the topic you want me to write out the same answer here?

Yoooo Kelsey!

What makes a crew/copilot especially great to work with?

What’s the funniest exchange you’ve heard between a pilot and a tower?

I put all the good ones on my ATC vs pilots videos!

I love your channel, what was the most “oh shit this is bad” moment you’ve had while flying?

maybe like when I was a new pilot in flight school flying alone I was like I have no idea what I am doing 😂 but that is part of learning. Professionally nothing too crazy you have a lot of training to be confident on what you need to be doing if there is a problem.

Have you seen any UFOs or anything else you couldn't explain?

Also, what is the scariest moment you have had during your time flying?

I made a video about UFOs a couple years ago talking about that

With most flights being mainly autopilot does it not get a bit boring. Especially on a long haul?

well in cruise its just you talking with the other pilot, so depends if you like having casual conversations. If you end up flying with someone you like then its great you are just getting paid to hangout and push some buttons for several hours

Are landings done manually or is that automated too?

you are required to have the plane get an automatic landing every so often, but most of the time you manually land it, thats the fun part

Why are you required to do an automatic landing every so often?

to make sure the system is functioning properly for the times when weather is bad and you need it to be working

If the plane was 20 feet above the ground during a manual landing and the pilot passed out and accidentally pushed down on the .... Stick ... Wouldn't the plane potentially crash or would the co pilot be quick enough to prevent that

that would be very short time to recover but its possible just depends on your reflexes but no trained airline pilot would do that

Is there a particular landing — be it a runway, or maybe an airport here in the States or abroad — that might make you a little more nervous than normal?

there are some very short runways that you just have to be more precise on. For example a 12000' runway there is a lot more room for error than if you land on something below 8000'

What was the process of attaining your Airline Transport Pilot license like? How did you get the hours to get from commercial pilot to airline?

your ATP you need 1500TT but you can get a restricted ATP with less depending on what type of flight school you go to. At many US airlines they pay for your course to get your ATP when you have the flight hours

Sitting in a hotel room waiting for your next flight?

hotel just got back to Europe

Isn't the a380 the largest passenger airliner which flies in the US?

And the AN225 the largest commercial cargo aircraft which flies in the US?

Possibly he meant the largest plane that originates in the US for both. The A380 and AN-225 are both European in origin. I'm not sure the AN-225 really counts, either, since there's only one of them (well, not counting the second unfinished airframe).

well kind of, I should have said flown by US carriers but that is what I was meaning. There are no US carriers flying either of those two planes so I wouldn't have the option to fly them unless I moved and changed my licenses.

I watched a “documentary” on YouTube in which people who believe the earth is flat claim that all pilots believe the earth is flat. What’s your take?

made a video about it a lot of people like it I talk all about it. I think I saw the same video

If you had to choose , 787-9 Dreamliner or A350-1000 ?

probably 78 because I know the Boeing system, but they are both really nice looking planes plus I fly the 787 parts so it would be cool to fly one I flew the parts for

What is the most important information shown on the instruments? Would it be possible to navigate a commercial aircraft with a map and a compass?

as the saying goes you can do anything once, I think with the moving map in an emergency you would be able to get to where you needed to go

Hah, I was reading the title and thought of your YouTube channel before realizing that it actually was you. Love your videos and it’s cool to see you doing an AMA.

As a professional pilot, what’s your/other pilots opinion of hobbyist type flying? Is it a common shared hobby among pilots, or more of a “if you do it something you like for work, it slowly loses its charm” type of thing?

Thanks!

I actually enjoy doing general aviation flying because its way more relaxed and that part is fun, the hard part for me is that there are a lot less rules so I have to be paying more attention to some things. Does that make sense?

What are some other ways to finance your flight training other than loans?

there are some airlines that are paying for flight school for people but its very rare right now in the US. I think saving money and doing your training in stages is another way but its best to do each thing intensively. If you are going for your private dont go one day a week it will take forever!!

How much money would you need saved if you wanted to drop your job with an engineering degree and go through flight school to be a commercial airline pilot?

I don't know your budget and cost of living so I have no way to answer that

I enjoy your channel! I have kind of a dumb question: even modern commercial airplanes have a huge number of controls panels and control inputs.

It seems like there are more controls in a commercial airplane than, say, a jet fighter.

Do all these controls actually make flying safer? Does the added benefit of extra control actually make the planes safer or less safe?

For example, Helios Flight 522 decompressed midflight because the pressurization system was set to manual. How often does one need to manually pressurize the cabin vs mistakes that could happen from the switch accidentally being set to manual? In other words, isn't automatic cabin pressurization a safer default and shouldn't setting it to manual be harder to do (or not possible at all?)

well you are comparing two different things... like comparing a race car to the car you drive... they are designed for different purposes.

Hey Kelsey! Love the channel. I've been following for a year or so!

For a channel question, are you going to be doing any more videos of you flying or more additions to 74 burger? I really like seeing you in action and the people you bring are hilarious (Stella am I right?).

For a more general aviation question. I've heard that while flying rough air is common but if you start to see the flight crew buckling up it means it's getting real bad. Is there any truth to that?

yes there are some more collabs coming, I had a bunch lined up then covid and then I was working on some for the fall but now the D variant really messing things up, but ya I have several of those and other collabs lined up when I can I just want it to be a good experience for people watching