![]() ![]() Transportation Security Administration reported that roughly 1.3 million people a day passed through checkpoints last week. The skies are filling up again as airlines slowly add back routes. It felt like I was flying during the apocalypse.” “There was nobody on the radio, nobody on the ground. “Coming into LAX, there were only two planes in the area where there are normally 70,” he said. Hughes was in the air last spring when commercial passenger flights vanished from the skies due to COVID-19 travel bans and lockdowns. (If you’re a fan of ginger-haired pilots, it’s a great pairing.) In a joint episode of “Mentour Pilot” and “74 Gear,” the two pilots debate the pros and cons of flying cargo versus passengers. In a “74 Gear” episode, Stella dishes on finicky cockpit crews and pilots who deliver halting monotone in-flight commentaries, a style that some say can be traced back to Chuck Yeager’s West Virginia, according to Tom Wolfe, author of the 1979 book “The Right Stuff.” Stella and Mentour regularly appear on “74 Gear.” For instance, the pretty, scalloped cowling that encircles a jet engine isn’t there for show, it’s designed to reduce noise, Hornfeldt explains in one episode. ![]() “Mentour Pilot,” narrated by Petter Hornfeldt, a 737 Max pilot with 703,000 subscribers, focuses on airplane design, right and wrong moves in the cockpit and flight systems. Moderator Stella Connolly says she’s back to work this month after a five-month furlough. “Fly with Stella,” with nearly 200,000 subscribers, offers a flight attendant’s perspective on airline travel. Hughes, aka Pilot Kelsey, isn’t the only flight-deck or cabin crew member with an aviation-related YouTube channel. Hughes makes “some money” from his “74 Gear” YouTube channel but puts most of it toward “buying a better camera” or paying someone to add polish to the videos, he said. On the flip side, ”Sully” got nearly everything right, he said. Unlike a car, it takes time for the engines to rev. “Wonder Woman”? There’s no instant push-button starter on jet aircraft. Hughes with a straight face declares: “One thing you’ll never see is the captain not eat his dessert.” ![]() Reviewing “Airplane!,” the 1980 disaster film spoof, he points out the inaccuracy of a scene in which the captain pushes aside his in-flight meal, leaving a half-eaten slice of cake on the tray. Speaking of movies, Hughes delights in dissecting Hollywood’s flight-deck and aviation footage. “I either had to rely on my friends or use the online forums - and honestly, they made me feel like I was in a scene from ‘Mean Girls,’” he said, referencing the 2004 high-school clique comedy. “When I went through flight school there weren’t really any channels addressing some of the things I was dealing with,” Hughes said. “I hope I never have to use it because it’s a long way down,” he said. Among Hughes’ pre-flight duties: checking the flight deck’s emergency exit hatch, installed above the cockpit on the six-story-tall plane. A hinged tail section allows for loading oversize and awkwardly shaped items. The Dreamlifter, a bloated 747 freighter - there are only four - can transport mammoth aerospace components, including the fuselage for the Boeing 787. Said Hughes: “My airline knows about my channel, but I can’t mention them specifically in any press because I’m not a PR rep for them.” The air carrier he works for operates 747 cargo planes and Dreamlifters, those specially modified 747-400s that got a makeover the mid-2000s. Hughes has been a frequent flyer to and from Paine Field, his home base for a year. His twice-monthly broadcasts offer a peek inside the big rig he pilots, explanations behind hard landings and cockpit maneuvers, and reviews of aviation sequences in movies such as “Sully,” “Flight” and “Wonder Woman 1984.” ![]()
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