I simply spent the higher a part of my weekend binge watching an aviation YouTube channel. Whereas this represents hours of my life that I’ll by no means get again, it was time effectively spent, and I’m grateful for the content material. I simply can’t consider it took me this lengthy to observe all of it.
The individuals with the good jobs in aviation
Above nearly every part in life, I’m an aviation geek. Rising up, I needed to be an airline pilot, however that finally didn’t work out for a wide range of causes. In some ways, I’m comfortable about that. Whereas I feel flying planes is fairly darn cool, I might’ve most likely discovered it slightly irritating how the one actual willpower of your profession development is your seniority quantity.
That brings us to Steve Giordano, the man behind the “Cockpit Informal” YouTube collection. Steve is without doubt one of the companions at Nomadic Aviation Group, and I actually assume he and his colleagues may need the good gig within the (form of) airline trade.
Steve began off as an airline pilot, and finally partnered with Bob (additionally featured within the collection) to run Nomadic Aviation Group, which is a worldwide ferry plane operator. They fly nearly each plane possible, to each vacation spot possible.
They often ferry planes between “assignments.” Many planes are leased, and when an airline ends its contract on a jet, it typically must be moved elsewhere by way of a 3rd occasion, which is the place these guys come into play.
They appear to have an enormous operation, and so they do every part from flying planes into or out of long run storage, to flying them to the scrapyard, to flying them for cargo jet conversions, to flying them to new operators.
For those who’re an aviation geek, you’ll little question discover their lives to be past fascinating. They take some completely wild journeys. They typically fly as passengers to place for his or her assignments, after which it’s not unusual for them to fly extremely lengthy journeys with a bunch of refueling stops, all with out getting any correct relaxation in a lodge. Their journeys remind me a little bit of my overview journeys when it comes to the tempo at which they transfer, besides they’re truly those flying the planes. 😉
What a ridiculously cool gig — not solely are they operating their very own enterprise, however they get to fly nearly each sort of plane, they fly to each nook of the globe, and no two days are even remotely alike. Additionally they clearly have very excessive strain jobs, as a result of a lot can go mistaken with every task, from points with getting permits, to upkeep issues, and extra.
Beneath is a quick video about how Steve obtained began in all of this.
A few of my favourite Cockpit Informal movies
I’ve been following Steve on Twitter/X for a very long time (he comes throughout as such a pleasant man), and I had identified about Nomadic Aviation Group. Nevertheless, I’m not an enormous YouTube particular person, so I feel I possibly noticed one video a yr or two again, and that was it. Effectively, a minimum of that was the case till this weekend, and now I can say that I’ve seen the whole collection.
There’s a lot to like about these movies. For one, the cinematography is phenomenal, particularly when you think about that Steve is doing this on the aspect whereas he’s engaged in his “day job.” Past that, it’s unimaginable to see what number of challenges come up on every of those journeys, I like their lodge and airline product insights, it’s cool to see the cabins of those empty jets, and Steve and Bob (and the remainder of the workforce) simply look like all-around good individuals who love what they do.
For instance, I loved their current “Street Warriors” episode, the place they piloted a Boeing 777-300ER from Phoenix to Abu Dhabi, then needed to place to Tianjin, after which needed to fly an Airbus A320 again to america, with a number of stops.
I additionally cherished their “Artwork of the Lengthy Haul” episode, the place they needed to place to Australia in coronavirus instances. This included flying Emirates top notch to Brisbane by way of Dubai, then chartering an plane to get to Alice Springs (to keep away from quarantine restrictions for interstate journey), then selecting up an Airbus A320 and flying to Toulouse, with a number of stops on the way in which.
Then there’s the episode about them selecting up a number of Virgin Australia Boeing 737s at the beginning of the pandemic, in what was an unbelievably difficult coordinated effort.
Or there’s the “Nomadic One” episode, about how they determined to accumulate a “classic” non-public jet to get round to numerous jobs, and their coaching on it, plus the repositioning of a former Extremely Air Airbus A320 from Roswell to Montpellier.
Actually, simply watch all of the movies, as a result of they’re extremely good. For those who’re an aviation geek and also you don’t get pleasure from them, I’ll refund you your yearly OMAAT membership price, okay? 😉
Backside line
I’m ashamed to confess that I hadn’t watched the total Cockpit Informal collection till just lately. Now I’m questioning what different issues in life I’ve been lacking out on. I hope Steve retains up these movies — not solely do they supply an unmatched perception into how advanced this enterprise is, however they’re additionally simply usually a pleasure to observe. For those who haven’t but seen it, do your self a favor and watch…
Anybody else love this Cockpit Informal collection?
