Makes Me Wonder

Rant on...

As my readers know I follow many different pilot forums.  Sometimes I find excellent topics to post about sharing what if scenarios, and what would you do situations. I really enjoy when other pilots share an experience that makes me dig deeper and learn more about what I love to do, fly.

It seems the latest buzz doesn't fall into either category mentioned above. Instead the scuttle butt is focused on a YouTube creator and what happened to him following one of his flying videos.  

P1D, the man that owns, flies, and videos does a great job taking viewers along for the ride. In a recent video, after landing, he exited  at the end of the runway, calling clear before he crossed the hold short line. There was another plane waiting to take off, and one in the pattern. My feeling is he kept the traffic flow moving and was clear before the other plane rolled for takeoff on a seven thousand foot runway.  

Flying here at the beach in peak season the traffic gets pretty busy. At times you may have one or two holding short, and a couple in the pattern as you touchdown and roll out to clear the runway.  Have I called clear as I turned off the runway, I may have a time or two just before I crossed. By the time the plane at the other end rolled towards the runway I was well beyond the hold short and already turning on the taxiway. Situational awareness helps keep traffic moving. I must note; I have also extended down wind to let others out, and always let the plane on final know I am holding short for them, even though I don't have to.  It's called airmanship. But I digress...

The pilot in question was reported to the FAA by a student pilot watching his video. Was the student right that the pilot called clear prior to crossing and clearing the hold short, yes. Was it a safety issue, no. In my opinion it was all about situational awareness and keeping the traffic flowing.

Reading all this and watching it unfold makes me wonder if I need to keep my videos unlisted for me and my family only.  My thought for now is to add a disclaimer on all my videos from this point forward. Viewers need to understand not everything makes the final cut. Videos are kept under fifteen minutes for the most part or shorter. The pre-flight and much of the checklist items don't make the cut in every video. I try and post the portions of the flight that interest me the most, or have the best ATC interactions. Take off and landings are important for me too, I debrief all my flights and the videos help find things that I can do better. A good pilot is always learning. 

Capturing the flight videos and working through the editing have become a hobby for me. I know, sick, right? I do enjoy it, it helps me focus, and I believe it improves my flying procedures.

I guess I could get into boating, fishing, collecting cars, riding motorcycles or any other such hobby. I would have listed golf but I do play and I suck. At least working the videos eliminates some risk, despite the occasional blurt out of something I can't type here because I lost a file or found it to be corrupted. 

Thankfully, for the most part, my video viewers are fellow pilots, friends, and family. Besides, if I did do something sketchy my pilot friends will be the first to call and chastise me, that's why they are my friends.

I guess the bottom line is, if you like the videos people work hard to produce, watch them.  If you don't, then don't watch! It seems pretty basic to me. 

Rant off...