[Music]
there you are at the airport sitting in
the departure lounge waiting for your
flight then you see them walk by in
their crisp uniforms pilots they're the
epitome of cool and when you see those
pictures on social media showing pilots
taking epic selfies tens of thousands of
feet in the air then you're really
convinced it's hard to imagine what
their life is really like but it might
be way different from what you think
number one depending on their flight
schedule it can sometimes take pilots
three or more days before they get back
home seeing the world is cool and all
but imagine constantly being away from
friends and family that's why a lot of
them keep photos of their loved ones
inside the lining of their hat -
speaking of those hats the uniforms are
pretty sharp eh but if you somehow
managed to barge into the cockpit
uninvited well you'd be breaking the law
so please don't do that
but let's imagine you'd get a glimpse of
the cockpit whoo so many flashy buttons
you might also notice one of the pilots
in a t-shirt and no hat hey they don't
need the cap to fly and they certainly
wouldn't want to spill spaghetti sauce
on that uniform and that brings us to
number three pilots don't eat the same
meals as their passengers do in fact
most of the time the captain and
co-pilot are required to eat completely
different meals from each other - it all
comes down to the risk of food poisoning
airlines can't take the chance that both
pilots will eat the same thing that
wasn't cooked or handled properly so
they came up with this preventive
measure
you remember the movie airplane and what
happened in that cockpit right might
have to engage the autopilot number four
on that note what happens if one of the
pilots does get sick or needs emergency
medical assistance first don't forget
that there's usually more than one pilot
so the other can just take control also
crew members are trained to do first aid
and all planes are required by
to have a fully stocked emergency
medical kit on board and if there's a
medical doctor on board among the
passengers the crew will gladly accept
their assistance as well five there's no
denying that pilots are like superheroes
but they're also human and they need to
sleep for long-haul flights on huge jets
there's a secret room for them to catch
some Z's and get this it's usually
located in the upper deck right above
first class crew members climb a small
staircase to the sleeping chamber and
grab a nap when they can the pilots go
separately of course number six if a
pilot does need to leave the cockpit and
get some rest another crew member must
enter the rule is that there should
always be two people in the cockpit same
goes for bathroom bricks what didn't
think they'd do that either of course
they do number seven it might surprise
you to know that a lot of pilots prefer
long-haul flights ones that are six to
twelve hours and that's because they
typically have just one of those once
they get it out of the way they have
more free time short haul flights thirty
minutes to three hours are annoying
because a pilot can have a whole day
full of them but then again they don't
have to deal with jet lag number eight
as a frequent traveler myself I can't
imagine jet lag being part of my
day-to-day so what are the health risks
associated with a job well this type of
shift work has been linked to higher
rates of heart disease pilots must also
be careful about staying hydrated which
is a double-edged sword
if they drink too much that means more
bathroom breaks and a pilot generally
tries to avoid leaving the cockpit as
much as possible but being dehydrated
and sitting for long periods of time can
also increase their risk of developing
blood clots number nine but don't worry
the pilot flying your plane is in
tip-top shape they have to do regular
health checks once or twice a year as
for the thing about having 20/20 vision
it's totally true
the FAA requires pilots to have just
about
take dice I tan back to those snazzy
uniforms because they're just so iconic
you ever wonder what the stripes on
their epaulets that's those band on
their shoulders really mean if you see
one stripe you're looking at a flight
trainee - stripes are for engineer or
second officer three stripes can be seen
on the first officer that's the copilot
or second-in-command and the pilot wears
four stripes so now you know 11 have you
ever wondered if pilots can listen to
music in the cockpit they sure are
the headset they use has a double
purpose feature of detecting radio
communications and immediately silences
the music so the FAA has no problem with
putting on some tones if it's not
distracting 12 pilots mostly fly the
plane through the autopilot they also
check it before takeoff and they really
depend on it along with navigation and
communication systems at night just
imagine what they see when they look out
the window that's high up in the air
it's either nothing but clouds or blue
sky or complete blackness no it's not
like cruising down the highway in your
car 13 but it's not as if they get to
kick back and relax while the computer
does all the work a pilot's job is far
from just grabbing the yoke and flying
the plane they need to monitor all the
systems in the aircraft from oil
pressure to fuel levels and even
temperature they're also monitoring the
weather talking to air traffic control
and even filling out paperwork in the
form of an extremely detailed and
handwritten flight plan I imagine any
pilot watching this video right now is
probably thinking huh and that ain't
even the tip of the iceberg 14 here's
one you'll probably regret knowing we're
flying through an air pocket actually
means the plane is hitting some regular
old turbulence but since that word tends
to strike fear among passengers pilots
came up with a clever replacement but
it's really nothing to worry about and
pilots deal with it all the time it's
like a second nature to them
fifteen you ever wonder why the plane
takes so long to land like why are we
doing circles around the airport don't
immediately panic and assume there's
something wrong with the aircraft the
pilot is simply waiting for the green
light from air-traffic control airports
are busy places so you got planes
landing and taking off left and right
and up and down runways are limited so
sometimes you just must wait your turn
or they might have to burn extra fuel
but I'll get into that later sixteen
okay so what's with all those pictures
all over social media you know the pilot
hanging out the window and snapping a
selfie our pilots allowed to do that
the real question is is it even
physically possible well if it's a
little tiny Cessna then yeah they can
probably grab a quick pic but if you see
a selfie of a commercial pilot hanging
out the window of a jumbo jet your
Photoshop radar should be going nuts
then absolutely wouldn't be possible
because of the air pressure if a pilot
were to open a window in the cockpit he
gets sucked out in a second
also imagine yourself sticking your head
out of the window while going at over
250 miles per hour I think that might
blow the camera out of your hand or blow
you right out of the plane even if a
commercial pilot just wants to take a
selfie in the cockpit that would be
against the law regulations prohibit
them from using phones or video while
they're operating the plane they should
be preoccupied with keeping the flight
in everyone on board safe and
comfortable not getting a bunch of likes
on their cool selfie 17 I always
wondered what pilots do when they finish
a long-haul flight and land in another
country where do they sleep do they have
to pay for that the answer is surprising
most airlines provide them with a hotel
room the airline pays for everything a
pilot needs while they're waiting for
their next flight by the way I hear
pilots tend to be rather messy
instead of putting their things away
they just pile it here and pile
there yeah that joke is so old it
crumbles so let's simply move on
eighteen
here's another perk of the job pilots
get to fly for free cool well if there's
a seat available for them but they need
to pay extra if they want to upgrade the
ticket I imagine most of them are
willing to settle for economy class if
it means they get to save their money
although flying coach is rough oh you
want me to sleep well pretty much
sitting straight up with my knees
digging into the seat in front of me
sure no problem
19 and finally they say a good pilot
makes a perfectly smooth landing now I
don't know who the heck they are but
they're right landing is probably the
hardest and most dangerous part of a
pilot's job they need to have their
angle of descent their speed and fuel
levels just right in order to land an
aircraft and the larger the plane the
harder it is since they're heavier
faster and harder to bring to a stop by
the way a common phrase shared among
general aviation pilots is any landing
you can walk away from is a good landing
it's true and funny and it sets the bar
pretty low so obviously the airlines
hold their guys to a higher standard
so nothing but respect to all the pilots
out there so what about you what other
cool pilot facts did I miss let me know
down in the comments if you learned
something new today then give the video
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