I think this is dangerous, one mistake and its all over, but its a beautiful scenery, i would love to do this flight in the simulator if possible.

 

Edited June 13, 20205 yr by OHN767

I watched a little bit of this video and I have to say - as a simmer and a real world pilot - this guy needs to make his mind up whether he's a PIC or a YouTube Star - because trying to do both at the same time is opening up that swiss cheese like a quoit.

I shall say no more on the matter.

Well im not a pilot, but it seems he knows what he is doing, nothing wrong with youtubing, thats how we get to see these nice videos.

No real difference between doing this on YouTube and instructing. Either way, you are talking the whole time.

I’m no expert, but I could even see talking through everything as making it more safe, not less. A big part of CRM is saying things out loud so you (or your copilot) notice if you forgot something or if something doesn’t make sense. By saying things out loud, youd expect a similar effect where he has an extra opportunity to notice if something is off or if he’s making an assumption that doesn’t hold up.
 

James

There is clearly the danger inherent with flying a single-engined aeroplane over such terrain, but as others have noted, talking to the GoPros is not really any different from instructing. In actual fact I think a lot of people do talk to themselves in a similar fashion when flying solo (I know I do). In doing that and recording it - since we all know what the peanut gallery of the youtube comments section is like - he's actually adding the additional safety net of being seen to be doing the right procedures on his recordings so that he is beyond reproach, which I think has the effect of making it safer.

It seems he has flown that route quite a few times, and so although he doesn't mention it, I presume he knows where the possible locations are for a forced landing should the clockwork stop, and the possibilities for escape maneuvers. The terrain looks pretty unforgiving in that regard, but in following a river valley for the most part, one assumes the valley floor where the river is would potentially be somewhere you could put it down. Not ideal, especially with a fixed landing gear, but at least it would be somewhere flat. I would want to be sure I was really familiar with the best glide speeds for the thing at or near MTOW for flights of that kind.

I also hope he's got those fuel drums really secure, because in the inevitable abrupt stop a forced landing would guarantee, I would not want those things breaking loose when they're behind me. However, out in Papua New Guinea, I suspect there's more daily danger in forgetting to give your shoes a shake before putting them on in the morning, to make sure there's no scorpions in the things!

I don’t think there is anything inherently dangerous in the way he filmed himself. As Chock pointed out, the running commentary is similar to instructing. I noted that even though he was flying single pilot, he did a full takeoff brief of actions to be taken in case of engine failure, just as if there had been a second pilot - and I imagine that is probably part of his SOP even when not making videos. 

If  you want to fly in this kind of environment Orbx has two nice sceneries for you, AYPY Jackson and Tapini Airport, both with a lot of interesting airstrips in the mountains of Papua - New Guinea. Check them out!

I would say he has flown that pattern many, many, many  times. He is very, very comfortable with the conditions and the Kodiak.  From my own experience with the GoPro mounted to the aircraft, the video can also make the terrain look much closer than the real situation. Regardless, whether you are 500, 1000, 2000 feet above the tree tops in that terrain is not going to matter with a catastrophic engine failure. But certainly the higher you are will certainly give you a little more time to plan and perhaps a couple of extra options of where to put the plane down in the event of a forced landing. It is the same mountainous terrain as far as the eye can see. As I say “In Lycoming We Trust”.