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I don't know if the FAA is sticking by its guns, just letting it go, or rethinking that position. But a lot of the guys I'm talking about do have commercial certificates.
There’s no way they’re meeting the other requirements of a Commercial certificate holder for those flights, though. Can’t really operate the flight under Part 91 and then make money from it just because you hold a Commercial certificate.
I don’t really care, but it’s not quite valid to give the impression the certificate makes a flight legal to make money on the internet or anywhere else.
I'm talking about a general phenomenon. There is more than one getting sponsorship, including pilots who do not appear to me to be getting distracted.
The single most cringeworthy pilot to me on YouTube doesn't have sponsors.
I agree. There are channels that do voice-over work after the flight for what’s going on in the cockpit and a few who do a quick talk to the camera in cruise by one of a two-pilot crew, but there’s also the channels where the single pilot is literally turned to face the camera and talking and looking directly into it down in low altitude flight or even in the pattern. There seems to be a line here that could reasonably be drawn somewhere, but I hesitate to say where it is.
I hope the FAA doesn't require me to give back all the money I made while doing YouTube flying videos in the last 3 years. I spent it all.
I found a quarter on the floor of the plane. No one claimed it, after I got back, so I used it to buy a cup of tea.
Should I have declared it on my taxes?
Technically yes. It’s income. But that’s not this thread. I’ve never seen you pander to the camera while looking at it, in flight. I think that’s what Mark is focused on and not the money part of it.
The mention of the money and sponsorships is more in relation to what the motivation is to “perform” for the camera.
Interesting thread, I am a Youtuber, initially started to film to learn the backcountry strips by myself, since there was no backcountry instructor in Costa Rica, I will film the approaches, landings to how to get better and safer, I equipped my 182 as best as possible for this kind of flying.
Most people like to see a 182 in challenging backcountry stuff, others say its crazy etc, many dont realize it is not a regular 182 anymore, and can approach at 50MPH or even less, and that I fly 3 to 4 times per week, just this kind of flying and train for it.
I have fun doing the flying and the filming, and it promotes aviation.
I’ve also never seen you pander to a camera in-flight.
I’ve taken cameras up a total of twice and found a couple of things.
One was, when you first do it, the setup, mounting, startup, and management of the cameras is most certainly a distraction. And it does lower your attention on various other things from pre-flight to shutdown. After you’ve done it a couple of times it’s not noticeable.
The other was, I really felt best just ignoring that they were there. Talking into the intercom to the potential “audience” when in cruise and away from dense traffic areas and airports also wouldn’t be any significant distraction and can be interrupted at any time.
But I’m with Mark, I’m not a fan of the videos where someone is looking at the camera and talking to it in critical phases of flight. Especially CFIs. Students and even certificated pilots will mimic exactly the behavior they see a CFI doing or getting away with, when the CFI isn’t around.
If I wanted to do some sort of training video, I could talk into the intercom in nearly any flight phase but interrupted at ATC and other aircraft talking, just like a normal training flight, and I could do a scripted voice over and edit it into the video footage later.
Now... we could point out that John and Martha King set the standard on this, and were talking to the intercom on camera but weren’t usually turning TO the camera in-flight, even in critical phases of flight, a number of decades ago. And those cameras they had to work with back then, weren’t small. They’d easily block the traffic view out of the entire passenger side of the aircraft back then!
So... I dunno. Where’s the line between safe operation and too much hamming it up for a YouTube audience? There probably is one.
I know where mine is. It’s definitely over the line to turn and look into the camera and talk to it, and it’s questionable to keep a running commentary going to the audio for things not directly associated with the flight.
“We have a giveaway for a Bose headset this week...” too far for me. Do it in a voice over into a good quality mic, sitting on the ground at the laptop. But if you’re going to do it, do it in cruise and don’t look at the camera. And don’t talk over the radio traffic. Which in most airspace IFR means, “nope”. For me anyway.
“I will demonstrate this maneuver now...” that’s nothing worse than every CFI has to do with a student. But I could see where if there’s no student on board in real life, the audio for that can be added in post-production, too. I’m sitting on the fence on that one. I don’t mind if students talk themselves through maneuvers either, and that’s nearly identical.
Recording normal ATC comm and such, zero problem with that. That part is way over in the okay column for me.
Oh wait, I pretty much never use my autopilot...does that mean I'm safe?
