Mist swirls as a yellow Cub touches down on a grass runway—Joe Costanza (better known as @Bananasssssssss on Instagram) is the man behind those viral videos, and in this episode he takes us behind the scenes. He explains why stick and rudder flying is a nice break from his day job flying an Airbus, how to have fun flying with kids (he has four), and the good parts of social media. He also shares his slightly controversial advice for new airline pilots and how training is changing to adapt to a new generation. In the Ready to Copy segment, he describes what it’s like to land on a grass strip, what the Cub teaches him about flying the Airbus, and how to take better aviation photos.
Quotes:
- Flying a simple airplane: “You become so in tune with the airplane that you’ll be able to tell the airspeed by the sound of the slipstream or the engine RPM… You’re using all your senses to get to know your airplane.”
- Art vs. science in aviation: “Flying is the artful application of a scientific process.”
- Social media critics: “You don’t have to agree with everything I say, and that’s fine. But for you to assume that you know me because of a 1-minute video is equally unfair.”
- Entitled airline pilots: “Now they’re getting hired with bare minimum experience, and… I think sometimes they think that’s due to how great they are when it’s really more a supply and demand issue.”
- The professional pilot mindset: “Myself, the airplane, the company, and the 220 people behind us - you owe it to them to make sure you’re as professional as possible.”
- How to take better photos: “The single best thing you can do is go fly during golden hour... Professionals worry about money, amateurs worry about equipment, and masters worry about light.”
Show links:
- Bananasssssssss on Instagram
- Joe's advice for new airline pilots
- Buy a model of Joe's Cub
- Sporty's Pilot Training+ membership
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