EP 10: The Huge AvCon Success Story with Noel Philips!

The first ever AvCon was a huge Success and we have our first ever guest on the show, Noel Philips to talk about the Aviation Convention and how we plan the next one already. We also talk about his new life in the US and future travel plans. This Episode is amazing!

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hello and welcome back to the Josh Cahill and Swiss 001 Show episode number 10. Yep. And we do have a special guest today. The one and only.

SPEAKER_03 0:15

Oh Phillip, I'll take my hat off and you'll see who I am. It's a disguise.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

And Nick is also here wearing a beautiful cowboy hat.

SPEAKER_02 0:23

We are in Texas, which is why we're wearing this cowboy hat. You moved here to Texas all the way from Britain. When was that? Almost four years ago. We've been here. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 0:33

Yeah, absolutely. It's seemingly flown by. It's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 0:36

Yeah, I would imagine so. Yeah, we we just came from a long trip. Where were we, guys?

SPEAKER_01 0:43

We had a very lovely road trip. So today, what we actually essentially talk about is the Fcon, which we teased in our last podcast, which was an absolute success. It was absolutely amazing. We're gonna talk about this in detail. It was amazing, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_03 0:59

It was amazing. Incredible. We'll talk about it, but it's just it was incredible.

SPEAKER_01 1:03

We still get goosebumps. Like, look at me. I'm like, like, this is like an amazing event that was put together that we had in Atlanta, and then we thought, like, let's do a boys' trip where we once again cheated on aviation. Yeah, we didn't. We didn't cheat on our partners on this trip, but we did because we took the M-Track getting to Atlanta, and from Atlanta, we took a road trip with a stop in New Orleans as well. So we're gonna talk about this a little bit as well, and then we're gonna talk about your plans, what you have in the pipeline, your best trips in the past, some trips that we have planned together, and you guys, it's just gonna be an episode filled with great, great stories. So crossover episode. Absolutely. So we spend the last two days in a big truck, yeah, crossing the big truck, big truck, a bit different to our cars back in Germany. Ram 2500. Massive.

SPEAKER_03 2:00

It just eats it just eats fuel. It does 6.0 litre V8.

SPEAKER_01 2:05

I felt so American when I was sitting here. It was just really, really incredible. As I feel right now with my really cool car won't be filming here in America, Josh?

SPEAKER_02 2:12

With a hat and everything, with a ram truck.

SPEAKER_01 2:14

You know, I'm so grateful that I'm able to visit America again. Yeah, totally. So for five years I couldn't get in here because I went to all the naughty countries, but uh eventually it worked out, and he I had probably like 10 trips ever since back to America. And sometimes when we were driving this morning, we were complicated. Could we could we really live here one day? And someone who comes from the UK, you're pretty European, just like us. What has changed for you? Is it is it the place, is it what you wanted it to be? Living here? Living over here. Yeah, yeah. You moved here four years ago. We did. And uh yeah, you you you're halfway American now, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:56

Yeah, we in a few years we will be American. Um we got our green cards now, and then we're just waiting for that. But yeah, it's it's been amazing and literally is it is everything we dreamed it would be. It really is. I mean it's not uh you can't look at it through rose tinted glasses, you know. There's certain things that okay, that's a bit of a pain in the backside or whatever, but you know, for the most part it's pretty nice. And um we live we dreamed of living here since well for me since I was a kid. Oh wow, you when you're watching TV, you watch like Pamela Anderson on Beverly Hills 902, whatever, and you're like, I just want that lifestyle, I just want to live in the States, you know, or growing up on Dallas, probably, because that's the closest thing to here. And um we wanted it for so long, and genuinely this country is against what everybody says, this country is really difficult to be able to move into and to actually migrate to legally to come over here legally. It's it's really difficult. And um you can't just say, right, I'm just gonna move, you need to go through all that process, and you can't you you've either got to get a job or you've got to marry an American or find some other creative way. And for us, we eventually looked at it like sort of 2020 during Covid and everything. Um I'd been over to the States and it was just like amazing, and it was like just like that break from the UK when everything was kicking off over there, and we're like, you know what, let's just do it, let's just move to the States.

SPEAKER_01 4:15

And um was it was it more a decision um where you said okay, if the the the England that I used to live in, it's like has changed a little bit, and where you said maybe maybe this is not what I want anymore, and you said you want to start a new life, or was it more the dream to live in the US?

SPEAKER_03 4:33

It's it was the dream to live in the US, and I think the thing is when you're looking at when you have a dream that you want to move somewhere, instantly everywhere that you are seems to be crapper than it was before. You know, and and it goes through phases like I remember 2012, I was in my least wanting to move out of the UK phase. You know, it was when we had the Olympics in the UK and everybody was like, Yes, it's like we're all happy and everything. And then like it's just when we've got that seed in our heads that we wanted to move to America, suddenly you start looking at everything and you're like, Oh, that's a bit crap, and oh, it's depressing in the UK. I just want to be those rose tinted glasses, don't you? And um yeah, it it's just how it is.

SPEAKER_02 5:12

When when did you actually make the decision then to move?

SPEAKER_03 5:15

2020, I think. Okay. That's what I think. I think COVID was the icebreaker, the icebreaker of that. The main thing being, really, from my point of view, I mean for Rachel's and the kids' point of view, clearly, it's like the whole being an American, and for me it was a bit. But it was the case of right, we were all locked down so much in the UK, and I'm thinking if this happens again, if I'm in the US, I can still work, I can still fly around the country. The UK was like the strictest. It was really strict, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:41

It was unless you were the prime minister. Unless you were having parties in town in the world. Unless you're in parties, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:47

Um but like in the US, I mean, if they locked down the world again tomorrow, I'm in the US, I've got fifty states. Yeah, exactly. I've got tropical islands. You weren't allowed to leave, you had bubbles and things at one point. I was yeah. That's great.

SPEAKER_02 6:03

Well, I was very lucky, I suppose. So how did you how did you figure out that how did you actually move here? What way did you take? So legal.

SPEAKER_03 6:11

We we came over on it it's a bit of a process, and you can't just get a green card. So we did we can get a green card. What we did was an investment visa it's called an E2, and you have to basically start a company over here, start a business over, which is great. We've got the UK company, we opened a branch in America, and then we ran all our like ad deals and things through that. And once you've invested a certain amount of money, I think it's like a hundred grand or something, then you can apply for an E2 visa, which is a five-year temporary visa, and that allowed us to actually move over. It's a bit of a risk because you're kind of leaving the UK for a five-year visa, you could end up like not being here after five years. But the plan was that once we were here, then we could start looking at ways that we'd be able to get the green cards. And genuinely, when we moved, we didn't know how we'd get the green cards. Honestly, we were just like, we'll find a way. Oh, you're making it just with the visa, just on the five year. We had no idea you know how we we knew we wanted to stay permanently, we had no idea how like how we go about getting a green card. And eventually we found a really awesome law firm over in LA, and they deal with like bringing like movie stars and things over. And they're like, Did you get one of those special talent visas? Yeah, apparently I'm an alien of extraordinary talent. Yeah, I see. Brilliant. That's incredible. Growing man right there. Extraordinary alien. Um they um they they yeah, they managed to get me the same visa that like movie stars like Daniel Radcliffe and James Corden have one. I got the same visa as that from being on YouTube.

SPEAKER_02 7:39

I've seen quite a lot of YouTubers do that. You know, I told you about the slow-mo guy who also moved to Texas from Britain. He also got that special talent visa, so that's the way to go, guys. If you want to go to the US, become a YouTuber.

SPEAKER_01 7:50

And you know, you know what I adore about you, Damosa, with this whole story that you came here and you adopted the American life. You drive a truck, you have a cool place, you have the American flag and the Texas flag out there, and you're like someone like who comes here and you you adopt and you are proud to be living in this country because it gives you all these opportunities, and you say, Okay, I make this my home, I live it, I'm I'm proud to be part of this. And I feel like since we we talk about like and this is cool when we uh sit here and we can talk about behind the scenes and feelings, where I feel whether it's the UK or Germany where we are from, that it's difficult for us to say, we're proud to be Germans, we're proud to be British, where we have this not even like this guilt, but this is just like no, you don't say that, you know, you can't embrace your culture only when it's the World Cup, you can wave your flag. And I think this is a bit of an identity struggle that people or that what I notice a lot in the in the UK or in Germany, you gotta be careful what you say. And here they trying to reinvent and find this what okay, like let's be proud of what we have achieved. And do you feel you can be more yourself here? Perhaps is this something that you noticed?

SPEAKER_03 9:10

Absolutely. I think it's uh Americans are very proud. Well, most Americans, especially here in Texas, right? Yeah, people are proud, and it's like Texas first, yeah, USA second big US flags and stuff like that. Exactly, but the flags here, and it's the only state I think where you're allowed to have the Texas flag above the American flag. Yeah, yeah, sure because it we used to be a country. Texas, I don't know, you might know the history, but Texas was a country, so because it was a country, you can have the Texas flag above the American flag, and people do like all the time. And um, yeah, people are proud, proudly American for a lot of it. And we we are, we we always were. We loved America, even before we moved over. We were big American fans, we were into country music, we used to come here quite a lot to watch country concerts, and we kind of knew about all that lifestyle anyway. So for us, it wasn't so much of a big jump to come over here and be a proud American because we're not American citizens yet, but we still feel proud to be here. And they have you know, we've been welcomed so much. Totally. And that's the thing. If you come here and you work hard and you want to make something of yourself, this is the place to do it. In the UK, if you tell somebody that you're a YouTuber doing aviation stuff on YouTube, they'll be like, really? There's a lot of envy in Europe. And they want to sort of bring you down. And they call it like frogs in a bucket culture, as in like they're not you're never gonna be able to jump out of the way.

SPEAKER_01 10:28

It's the same in Germany, pretty much. They think they look at you and it's out of the ordinary. But as I said, like it's great like to see you come to a country and you love it, you know. There's a lot of people who come to this country here or our country, and they say they hate our values, they hate what we stand for. Not all of them, you know. It's a country built on migrants here. You know, that's just the power of the United States. That's the matter. But then sometimes, you know, when we walk through the big cities in Germany, and there's people who can absolutely not like relate to the country that they live in, and they hate it, and they said all Western values are not for me. So I think it's also cool that Mama point out that you come here and it you think like, yes, I'm part of this, and I want to I want to bring this country forward because I choose to live here because I believe in the idea, and I think this is pretty impressive. And I mean your son Sam, he already speaks American accent.

SPEAKER_03 11:14

He speaks in the American accent, he's in the Navy ROTC. Over here, he wants to be in the Navy when he gets gets older.

SPEAKER_01 11:20

And of course he says there's things he misses about the UK, right? You grew up, yeah, exactly. Fish and chips better here or in the UK?

SPEAKER_03 11:28

You know, I I used to miss fish and chips and like keep having chips and stuff, and I've been over to the UK a few times, and it's never as good as I remember. Something weird is thinking, you sort of have this image in your head, oh yeah, it's gonna have Cory or whatever.

SPEAKER_02 11:39

Something I want to ask you about is when was your last day in the UK?

SPEAKER_03 11:43

The day before we moved, October the 14th, 2022.

SPEAKER_02 11:47

What did you do there? How did it feel to see to have like hey, this is gonna be a new life tomorrow?

SPEAKER_03 11:52

You know, can I be honest? It was the scariest thing I have ever done. And I have done some scary stuff. That was the the worst. Because you know that it wasn't even as if I'd got like a job and I could go and get another job somewhere, right? It was because you took your your wife's parents as well.

SPEAKER_01 12:06

Yeah, we all have a whole family. Yeah, the whole family.

SPEAKER_03 12:08

How many people in total moved? Six of us. Wow. And um, we all live here in like one big house. How many bags did you check on that flight? 18 bags, and then plus two 40-foot containers. Oh wow. It was it was scary because the thing is, I think if I'd if I was just working in IT, it wouldn't be as bad. But we'd built such a good life for us in the UK. We really had, and the UK was kind to us at the end of the day. I had built a successful business, relatively successful business, doing YouTube. The kids were doing well at school and they were excelling. Rachel's businesses were taking off as well in the UK, and it was like we just left all that behind. It literally started from nothing. Like we came everywhere, we didn't even have a house over here. You know, we couldn't get the house.

SPEAKER_01 12:51

Did you guys get any like handouts, like any support? Like government, like no, the visa comes with you just got the opportunity here. It was just like the opportunity that's to be here.

SPEAKER_03 13:00

Yeah, they don't pay you to come over, right?

SPEAKER_01 13:02

So you're like, do you get incentives or something to government programs?

SPEAKER_03 13:06

So we literally gave up everything. And you know, the other thing we had clearly, the other big issue was the health stuff. You know, we had a lot of health issues in the family. We were sh shit scared about that because you've is the healthcare system as bad as people say here. I don't think it's as well in our experience it's not as bad. And it the thing is over here, if you if you can afford the healthcare, it is really good. Like you go and you get so I mean I've been today, I mean I had skin cancer last year. I've been today literally, and he he did a skin check on me and he found two more patches of like potential skin cancer on me, just fix there and then. But you couldn't like you're generally like hopefully, yeah. You're good. Yeah,$40 copay and I'm fixed again. And you get you get seen by doctors like the same day. Um it's faster here than in NHS. You have an X-ray done, you literally they'll send you where we go to the doctors, we'll see the doctor, they'll send you for an x-ray or a scan. You'll have the results in an hour to two hours, maybe.

SPEAKER_02 14:00

It's like a funny thing, like people always say, Oh, free healthcare in Europe, but it's not really like I'd I talked to you about how you put us in an appointment. And you need like six months. I pay like a thousand a month for healthcare, and I still don't get proper appointments and all that stuff. How long does it take to see a specialist in Germany? Like three weeks at least. I think you're very lucky.

SPEAKER_03 14:17

So it's the same. I mean, my my father-in-law, he had um he had a heart attack um sadly in in December. And he he had the heart attack. We we took him to the emergency room and they ambulanced him to the hospital. Within three days, he was having open heart surgery and he was fixed, and he got a defibre fitted and everything, and he was fixed. And we we were all saying if that would have been in the UK, would he have been still with us?

SPEAKER_01 14:43

Oh, yeah, that is that is that is how my my dad passed away because it took forever to get uh he like he felt really bad in the morning, and then he was taken to the uh to the hospital, and um it took forever for him to get a CT scan and until they figured out what he actually had, then there wasn't really richest, third richest country in the world, Germany. They there was no helicopter available, they couldn't find a hard surgeon anywhere in the state, right? And and then uh they eventually did, and they couldn't fly him because there was no helicopter available, then they had to ambulance him for two hours to the next and the whole process took like nine hours, and then once he reached the hospital, he died, you know. And this is where I think we are such a rich country, and we've been saving so much money on healthcare, and this is something that we need to talk about, you know. Where does that money go? You know, why don't we have those specialists? Why are uh they motivated the doctors to go overseas? Because they make much more money there, you know. And this is the the thing, you know.

SPEAKER_03 15:44

Yeah, and I think the thing is as well with that when you pay for it, you generally get better treated. Yeah, the private insurance. Because if you don't, you know, if if our doctors treat us terribly, we'll just go somewhere else and pay them. So and and then on the same thing with the surgeons and everything, they will they work multiple hospitals and things, but you will always find a surgeon. Rachel had a thing in Vegas on um July the 4th, she ended up having to have a gallbladder removed. She was in within 24 hours on July the 4th, on Independence Day, when everything was shut down, they're like, Yeah, yeah, we'll get you in and do it straight away.

SPEAKER_01 16:16

And there was no like waiting for I mean, I've been living in Asia for most of my life, and I always do my checkups in in Asia because the hospital is so great, you know. And you pay like$700 and you get the full checkup and you get it done on the same day, and you get the results at the same day, right? And this is where I think a radar paid us money, and uh instead of like waiting forever, you know, or live in a in a country that's supposedly so rich that cannot afford people to stay there and like have the infrastructure in place. And I I think then people say, Oh, you talk about the NHS badly, or this or whatever, you are you are an enemy of the state or whatever. No, this is like it's the same like fr flight reviews because you've got to bring it up sometimes.

SPEAKER_03 16:55

The NHS is chronically underfunded, and that that's the issue ultimately the issue. So, yeah, I suppose the answer is yeah, it needs more money from taxes and stuff to be able to fund it. Sure. But yeah, I mean, and and it's not like over here, this is the other thing over here, I think. I mean, not that I I think I'm right in saying this, that if you are so poor that you can't afford to pay for the insurance, then under things like Obamacare, you get to actually um you know use the services free. If you go to the emergency room, you don't have to pay for it. Even the insurance has to, if it's an emergency, the insurance has to cover it, things like that. And it's okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:28

Interesting. So back back to back to actually moving here. So yeah, the day before moving, you felt very scared. How was the morning before the flight? What was the flight like?

SPEAKER_03 17:39

You know, by the point that we got to the flight, I think we kind of accepted because everything was already in the containers and shipped out.

SPEAKER_01 17:45

What was your airline of choice too? Singapore. Singapore.

SPEAKER_03 17:48

Singapore non-stop Houston to Manchester to Houston.

SPEAKER_01 17:51

No British Airways, Burgeon. No, no, you didn't. That's the way it was.

SPEAKER_03 17:56

Um we all went, we went, I think we went premium economy. We weren't going to pay business class for like six of us to fly over. It's insane. So we did like premium economy, um, and it was stressful because the other thing was we completed on our house sale literally the night before.

SPEAKER_02 18:09

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_03 18:09

And then the buyers on when we sat on the plane on the ramp in Manchester, and the flight was delayed. Um, we taxied out to the runway, we started to take we aborted the takeoff and then taxied back in. There was a technical fault or something. So we we went back in and we sat on the plane, we're running later and later and later, and Rachel starts getting WhatsApp messages from the buyers of our house. You never told us about this, you never told us about this. So Rachel was sat in tears in the middle, she was so stressed. Of course, and like literally, you were about sitting on the plane, and this was all kicking off, and it was yeah, it was stressful, it was sad, but you know, we we got there, and we arrived into Houston like late at night. We drove to the um the Airbnb that we're in, and I think it was the next morning we woke up and we opened the blinds and just looked out over the forest, and we're like, shit, we're here. We literally we made it, and it was just laying in bed, and we're just like, I've woken up in my new home, and this is just how long did it take for it to feel like home? Like maybe weeks, I'd say, and there were just certain points where you was like pinching yourself, and you're like, This is we're not on holiday anymore, we're not on vacation, this is literally where we live. I think the biggest thing actually was when we got the kids in school, yeah. Of course, and we and we were suddenly up at six in the morning because the kids start school are like ridiculous o'clock here. You'd never cope over here, Nick. Um the kids start school at like six in the morning, so we're like, yeah, so every morning we're like driving to the school and we're in the car line, and there's the yellow buses driving round, and the kids are making American friends, yeah, bringing them round to the house, like, and you actually got American kids coming round with with you. It's yeah, that's when you start feeling more American. I think you start getting invited to like community events and stuff, and you're doing things like pot looks at the pond.

SPEAKER_02 19:50

When normal life starts, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:51

Yeah, but normal American life. Yeah, normal suddenly you're like, Oh yeah, we're the neighbors will be like having fireworks for like New Year's Eve, so everybody invites the neighbors around to you know to do that sort of stuff, and yeah, just things like that, and you start to feel like you're actually like, hang on, we've actually done this, yeah, we've made it. We're part of America now, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:12

Yeah, it's incredible. What a journey. And speaking of uh the journey, we were uh doing a road trip for uh for two days, which was a lot of fun, where you get actually uh uh to talk about a lot of things. We stopped in New Orleans. We did. That was a fun place, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_02 20:28

Yeah, well, how many hours of driving did you did we do in total? Probably 12 hours.

SPEAKER_03 20:35

It's 12 hours, and I think we did we did sort of six or seven hours on day one, and we did about five different I gotta say that before uh people say I'm anti-German.

SPEAKER_01 20:46

A misty Autobahn. No, not the misty Autobahn. You got you almost fell asleep at the wheel. Autobahn uh is in uh in great shape. You can go as fast as you want when you have a nice car, and like as as much fun as it was driving the truck, it's so boring with the speed limited. And then you just go you can overtake the ride if you want, that's totally legal. And then you told me it's like it takes a day to get your driving license here in the US as well.

SPEAKER_03 21:11

A day? No, I'm like more like 20 minutes.

SPEAKER_01 21:14

The driving test is nothing, yeah. And that was like you can tell like occasionally telling the way they drive is like uh like uh using your indicator is not a thing here some at times. Uh but that's what I'll say. Like it was it the road trips are fun, but I love the Autobahn. Like, we are blessed that we have no speed limit, it's a great uh three lanes, four lanes sometimes. That's something that I've really realized that okay, that's cool. Went to New Orleans. We went out on a on a what is that Sunday night?

SPEAKER_02 21:42

Was it the Sunday night and it was full of people it was Easter night, it was Easter Sunday. So people people kind of I was kind of wondering why is everybody having these bunny ears? But of course it's Easter. So yeah, that that place was electric, right? That was I would have never expected that from America. Yeah. I kind of I kinda I kinda um you know we had that comparison to like Magaloo for the British people are it was very much like Benedorma somewhere like that.

SPEAKER_03 22:07

I would say or like Iron Napa or something. Yeah, yeah. It's like clubs and bars and everybody's dressed up, having a party, drinking. There's like Seemed fun. Yeah, all sorts of clubs and stuff.

SPEAKER_01 22:17

Yeah, this too. And that that e uh that idea came like a couple of weeks before the F CON. We said, okay boys, let's do a let's have some time. Great brainstorming on the on the on the on the on the road. We talk about this a little later, but let's talk about the great event that all brought us here to America. Before we went to New Orleans. Um your lovely wife, Rachel, woke up one morning and she said, Baby, let's organise an aviation event.

SPEAKER_03 22:47

It was me that actually came up with the idea. I came up with the idea and then the issue is in this space that like meet we do meetups quite a lot, right? You do, I feel you do them with your viewers, you do meetups from time to time. And they're great for like one person. But if you were trying to organise an event for people to come and see you, we we did an event in London um a couple of years ago. And like to rent a room at a hotel, for example, is insanely expensive. And then you've got to start charging so much money for people to come just see you, right? What they're gonna do, they'll come and see me. You know, would would you pay like a hundred dollars to come and see me?

SPEAKER_02 23:23

No, you I would.

SPEAKER_03 23:24

I would totally paying, I just didn't right exactly. But and I said to Rach, what we need to do is just think where we get like multiple creators in one room, yeah. And aviation creators, aviation creators, yeah, because we don't we just don't do that. And I thought people might want to come.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

And it's such an industry that grew so big with like millions and billions of views every year. The aviation scene is massive, and there's so many aviation creators, whether it's pilots, whether it is uh flight simulator boys, yeah, like or us uh weird travel boys, the travel boys community of people, and I think so.

SPEAKER_03 24:02

I said to Rachel, I wonder if we could do that, and she's like, Well, we'll have a look. And um, she got in touch, we'd got contacts at Delta Airlines, and they told us that they could rent out the museum to us and stuff so that we could do that. And um we're in a fortunate position because obviously I know you guys, you know people, you know people. Between us, we've we know quite a few people who are like do the same sorts of things as we do, and we reached out to a few of them and we're like Jeb Brooks came and he's like, Yeah, I'll come along, and then the Exit Row podcast came along, and then um a couple of other people, and before we knew it, we'd got quite a lineup of people coming, and we've put the tickets on sale, and they flew out like faster than we ever expected. We sold out by Christmas, just after Christmas. I think we've sold out of like a thousand tickets, and the whole the venue were like, We can't give you any more tickets, like we fall, you know, fire risks and all the rest of it.

SPEAKER_01 24:52

And I think it's very important to share with the audience that we all here on our own dime, you know. It's not a paid event, it was even though it's for charity. Yeah, and so we were we flew in from all over the world, you know, just to be just like the guests, the visitors did. It's not like it's not a pro like for profit event, it was just literally not giving back to the community. Just me, these things are not cheap to put together, you know, the time and everything.

SPEAKER_03 25:19

I don't even think Rachel said that we're nowhere even close to breaking even on the app this year, you know, and and we did we've ran we ran events through the day for charity and stuff as well, which I think was great. She raised a large amount, I don't know what the final amount was, but she's raised a large amount for the American Cancer Society, which is great to do that as well.

SPEAKER_01 25:36

Absolutely, and then let's talk about the actual day. We woke up in Atlanta, the day was coming. I think you were a lot more stressed. I think you were a lot more stressed than anybody else because you were not just a creator who comes there, you were also part of the organized uh organization team. And uh uh Nick was, I think, still in sleeping while you were like Yeah, when did you wake up on the AFCON day? Did you sleep at all that night before?

SPEAKER_02 26:02

A couple of hours, not much.

SPEAKER_03 26:03

Oh wow, and then we got there, so yeah, we woke up um in the hotel, the Kimpton, and we were like, okay, let's go round to the museum because they wouldn't let us into the museum until the morning of.

SPEAKER_00 26:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:13

And bearing in mind we've got to get a thousand people into one room. We've never done this. Rachel's never won an RT. I've never done it. How do you get a thousand people in one room? It's not like an A380 where you can just all go down the side.

SPEAKER_01 26:24

We could have sold so much more tickets as well. I think we could, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:28

And um we got there, yeah, we got there at like we were there at six, and then um, it was all shut up. We couldn't get in until seven o'clock. Then the tables could obviously couldn't be delivered. We were renting the tables for everybody, they couldn't be delivered, they were 45 minutes late ringing the tables, so they came at like quarter to eight. By which point there's people already there. So it was all hands on deck, and I know you missed it because you were sleeping, but we'll see how I was asleep inside that room. Like Jeb Brooks is there in his finest like plaid shirt and everything, and um his lovely wife Suzanne, and they're helping his lift boxes, like everybody was just all hands on desk and lifting boxes around, setting up tables and uh pointing people where they needed to go. Somehow everything was set up by like 8:30. Yeah, by which point there were people queuing up outside.

SPEAKER_01 27:15

Yeah, I arrived a little, I mean I wasn't late, I was uh I was on time, but I uh had to I went to the main entrance and I saw a massive line there and I was like, wow, Jesus Christ. Did you stand in line as a actually they uh We had to send somebody out for me? Yeah, it was like actually really funny, and I felt like you know, I don't feel like I am uh I'm a celebrity or whatever, and I walked past it and said, Oh my god, it's Josh King. Oh that was so funny.

SPEAKER_03 27:39

I got a phone call off you, I think, and enough um help me worldwide no worldwide dorm eventually got called me. He's like, no, no, Josh is outside and he can't get in. Can you help me? And then I'm like, well, I can't go out because if I go out, then I'm also gonna get involved by people.

SPEAKER_01 27:52

So we were like passing on messages to somebody to come and grab you and we already like surrounding because oh Josh, and like it's amazing. I loved it. That was like the energy was there from the very second, and everyone's like Josh, and like I said, oh I have to go to the setup, and then we were standing there, so it was like pretty much in essence like a meet and greet. Yeah, and there was Noel, there was me in the middle, and then there was Jab, and then there was those massive lines for people like it was like Disney World. It was, and I was like, in my wildest dreams, I would have never imagined, and I felt so humbled in that moment and like so grateful at the same time that there was a massive line for people to just meet us, and yeah, that was crazy. I felt like in that moment, like there was so much gratitude, and I was like, wow, if I would have told my mum 10 years ago that people would pay money to meet me and line up and wait for so long, um, my my mum would have told me, Josh, stop stop drugs, go back to work.

SPEAKER_02 28:51

I felt I felt so bad for the people waiting though. And it was the crazy thing is like, oh yeah, I just waited 40 minutes, it was fine. Yeah, they were waiting for them.

SPEAKER_03 28:59

They were so they would wait like an hour to see you, then they'd go and join the back of my queue, and then wait another hour to come and see you, and they'd get to me, and I was like, I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting. And they're like, Ever every single person was like, It's been great because they were finding the line that was making it friends, yeah. People were making friends with one another in the queue, they were like watching the panels that were taking place, and it didn't, and it felt like just so much fun because people were so excited.

SPEAKER_02 29:23

So I mean, all I can say is if you weren't there, you definitely missed out. Um, the venue was amazing, it all worked out super, super well. And the cool thing is with aviation people is that they're always awesome. Yeah, you know, they're always cool people. Like compare that to like an anime convention or something where it's where it can be a little bit rough, I would imagine. I've never been to one. No, no, I mean what is it like? Yeah, I've never been I mean there's a camera, it's time for your coming out now. I mean, there's no shame in going to such conventions as well, but it's great fun. Yeah, there's nothing better than hanging out than than than hanging out at flight schools, hanging out at these kind of museums, hanging out at these kind of places. You meet these aviation-driven people, they're always cool, which is why it's amazing. I mean, pe lots of people made friends there at this event and it came it made a lot of people bring together. It was amazing.

SPEAKER_01 30:15

And then, like I said, like everyone who came to you had a different story. Yeah. What your me videos mean to them. Like, some people came to you, oh, I love the Turkmenistan video. I loved when you were in Zimbabwe with Noel, I loved um uh your Qatar video, I love this, or my like this is a video from my five-year-old who watches your videos. Yeah, I at one like I think we were standing there for an entire day, and I think my knees were so super sore, but I but I was on such a high the entire time because I enjoyed everyone had a different story, and the smile that the people had on their face, I was just like, this is this is amazing.

SPEAKER_03 30:48

I feel that as creators, we're kind of really lucky. We get to meet people who do aviation all the time, right? You know, like we we not not just at these events, but we'll get to meet with airlines or we'll get to meet cabin crew or things like that, and it's all we've always got that thing, but I think for a lot of people who don't tend to necessarily mix with aviation people outside of work or something, I think that opportunity for them all to come together is an amazing thing.

SPEAKER_01 31:11

Like a lot of friendships were built. Like so uh afterwards I had like a meetup with my patrons, yeah, and we were like 25 people and such, and they were it was like a a a get-together of people that spent their entire lives together. You know, you were there as well, right? There were so many people to just chats, they made friendships, they made travel plans, and I I didn't even have to be there and entertain anyone because we were like such a small little family, and I seeing all this, how uh this like how videos about airplanes can get people together and create all this. I think that's just where I'm like so grateful, and I I the entire day spent with followers and Patreon.

SPEAKER_03 31:52

I mean it was exhausting, yeah, it was so exhausting. We didn't get, I mean, I don't know about you, I didn't get a chance to eat all day. I literally stood up and everybody was there, and I started.

SPEAKER_02 31:59

I had worldwide Don deliver deliver me some food. I was very grateful for that.

SPEAKER_03 32:03

I got I he did the same for me. I sent him away with my credit card, he brought me back a burger, I never got to eat it.

SPEAKER_01 32:08

Mine went cold, yeah. Yeah, I got a coffee as well. It was like super cool, but like also like the people in the background, like Russell, Dom, Rachel, everybody. It was a team effort, it was a very good team effort, and like and this is the thing, you know.

SPEAKER_02 32:21

The coolest thing was when like kids came over and said, Hey, I've been watching you for like what seven years now, and now I'm a pilot, and you got me into aviation now. I had like 10 kids. You've got to talk about these stories. That was like insane. Because I I I don't like that that's like the proper magic behind it, because like all I do is like make these flights and videos at home. It's nothing special to me, but it means so much, and yeah, it's uh created so many pilots.

SPEAKER_01 32:47

Yeah, and that is it.

SPEAKER_03 32:48

I'll tell you what, it's crazy for me as well, aside from meeting the most amazing people all day long. I mean, we're we were exhausted, we started at like 9 a.m., I think. Yeah, and then we were at four o'clock. Yeah, there you go. At four o'clock was the last people, right? So for that entire time I was stood in one spot, shaking hands, taking selfish, shaking hands, taking and hearing people's stories, talking to them. Yeah, and it got to the end, and I think everybody had left, and there was that moment for me, the most special moment of the day, I think for me. Everybody had left at the end of the day, and us creators sort of all came up, and it was like a football match, you know, when they were everybody arms around each other, we're all sweating and exhausted. We're like, dude, we did it, you know. And it's like it was just the most amazing vibe.

SPEAKER_01 33:27

What a feeling it was, and it was it was we were thrown in there, and like obviously there's things where we could uh where we uh took feedback as well, where we said, oh cool, the panels could have been different, or just could there could be an improvement here. We're gonna have uh grain brainstorming sessions because that's why we kept it a little small as well, to like not overwhelm ourselves and overwhelm Rachel and not deliver, even though we kept the the prices for the tickets relevant very low. Uh when you compare it to other conventions, we just wanted to see and test the waters. I mean just imagine just a hundred people signed up, and we would like, okay, nobody wants this. You know, it would have been but we had like the tickets were sold out and people were messaging us. Oh, do you have spare tickets? And the greatest thing, nobody's gonna believe this. People flew in from for the weekend from Germany. Germany, like Australia, from the US as well. Like, I were from Seattle. Oh, really? Someone arrived in the morning and he said, Here, I'm here just to have a chat with you, uh Jeb and Oil, and then I fly home tonight. This is incredible. So everyone who came and did that, thank you so much. It just makes us feel incredible and makes us want to create more amazing videos.

SPEAKER_03 34:38

I mean, we we came away from that. I think I mean we we spent then two days together in a truck, which was it was nice. I mean, we had to sit with him for like yeah two days. Other apart from that, it was really nice. I was being quiet. I was we we were so that that spark from the creativity was there. We were sat there. What about if we did this? What if we did that? What Nikki, what if you did that? And I mean we've come up with so many. I mean, we'll come to this, I think, in a bit. We've come up with so much amazing like concepts.

SPEAKER_02 35:04

Talking about coming up with stuff next year is gonna happen too. Tell us about 27, AFCON 27.

SPEAKER_03 35:10

Yeah, so we're gonna be doing it even bigger next year, three days next year, in uh Orlando, Florida. It's at the actually at the airport in the Hyatt Hotel, which is in the airport, so it's gonna be pretty cool. And um she's planning a few bits and pieces around that. Not much that we can talk about right now, but there is gonna be there's a lot of aviation stuff, is all I will say, in Central Florida, and a lot of aeronautical stuff in Central Florida, and we're working to get a few bits sort of to that as well.

SPEAKER_02 35:36

I will definitely what I will definitely sort out is getting some flights and stuff over there so people can sit in the A320 and fly. Fly, yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 35:44

And we were talking about individual sessions as well, where where you have like a more like intimate private space with your creators, where we have groups and we we have uh because when you have three days, you can actually focus on these kind of things. And I'm also thinking about doing an aviation uh pub quiz and all fun things, you know, that's uh where where you actually get to spend time, where you get to get to be friends with your favorite YouTubers, and I think uh because we were on such a high and full of adrenaline, yeah, that's why we're so pumped to say, okay, let's take it to the next level. We're still not gonna go, we don't not gonna blow it out of proportion because we still gonna keep it intimate. I think so.

SPEAKER_03 36:26

I think that's the key. It's gonna be bigger, it's not not massively bigger, but it's a three-day event. So hopefully, the the thing for our hope, I think, with this, we are gonna be doing three-day tickets so we won't come every day and keep that entire community there for the whole three days. But you know what? Our kind of thoughts with this is we have so many people we had to let down who couldn't get tickets this year. Oh, yeah. And by doing it over three days, hopefully, at least somebody will find a ticket going on one day that they can go to, you know.

SPEAKER_01 36:50

We're planning to uh sell tickets at on at the day as well as we're gonna do it. Hopefully, if we've got any left over, we can't promise anything, but we would like to do that.

SPEAKER_03 36:58

Yeah, the issue this year was getting payment for them because I did the IT and I I used to work in IT, I'm not very good at it. And clearly this is proven as much as we became a YouTuber, I'm not much good at that either. But um, I know we set up a website, we use Squarespace for the website, and we set it all up, which was great. When we sold like a thousand tickets on Squarespace, and then we're like, great, how are we gonna get these tickets to people? I was like, Oh crap, yeah. I've got no idea how we issue tickets, and we had to find a third-party system that worked with it so we could issue the boarding passes with the QR codes, but then we're like, you know what, next year we can sell directly through that, and you can sell on the day as well, yeah. And um, hopefully, if we've got any tickets left, of course, because we we still have to abide by fire eggs and all this sort of stuff.

SPEAKER_01 37:40

And we did we did get a lot, we did get a lot of messages. People asking when are you coming to Europe, when are you coming to Asia? It is definitely on our mind and our list, but you also need to understand Rachel and Noel, who've been and uh organizing that they're based here, and driving your trailer across the country was already a challenge, and now bringing the trailer to Singapore, Amsterdam is probably a bit so we've growing, but we're coming.

SPEAKER_03 38:05

We're looking at it, and it is on the radar absolutely to do overseas events as well. Um, and it's not just about us being selfish not wanting you know to do it abroad, it's like it's a whole other beast. Like we know how we we've had we've been lucky this year, we've had some people working with us getting like the rooms booked and things like that. We kind of know now how the event space works in the US, but it's very different when you travel overseas, and also it's a case of people getting to you as well. Like, where would you do it? Like if we did we said I've got a lot of viewers in Australia, but you might not have them, you might your your view is Joshua. Your view is a lot of them are in Asia, yeah. So where would you do it like either you might around the world? That is that is true.

SPEAKER_01 38:44

Whereas in America, but this is also like if you're watching, and I know there's a lot of airline employees and people that work in hospitality. If you want to be part of the next AFCON, which was a huge success, you work for an airline, you want to become a sponsor, you want to become have your your business out there, you want to come be get involved, because I think it's a great opportunity as well for aviation people to mingle and get get your name out there. You work on an aviation app or you are you want to get uh meet like-minded people, get in touch with us um because there's great opportunities, and the people that work with us on the Fcon this year they're very, very happy. And if you're a small creator and you're trying to make it, it's also the place for you to be. So reach out, we're very too happy to put your airline's logo on there as well and be an air airline partners. Right. Come on, Michael Leary. We don't discriminate, yeah. Whatever it is, we're it's Mauritanian airlines.

SPEAKER_02 39:38

So James Asquith.

SPEAKER_01 39:39

Come on, yeah, do the go early. Yeah, it never takes off. But uh other than that, I think uh we would love for you guys to get involved because aviation is a big team effort over.

SPEAKER_03 39:50

And the thing I think this is the biggest thing that the um we had a few people selling stuff here. We had like um a couple of amazing apps. We had the window um out my window app, we had Log of My World. People were having the best days ever. Like they were they were so they were saying they'd sold so much stuff because it it's such a concentrated like segment of the market. Everybody there loves aviation, right? They're all geeks about planes, let's face it. They love watching us on YouTube, so and with it being such a sort of concentrated like group of people, you know what I mean? They were they were finding it was working really well for them, and I think if we get people for next year, they're gonna love it and really.

SPEAKER_01 40:25

Another great example is the boys and girls from Exit Row, who then came part of the case. I mean, we were on their podcast and they came to us or to Rachel afterwards, as Rachel said, and they said, Wow, we actually created so many new subscribers because we were there, we had our presence, and people came over and asked, What is this all about, right? It's also a space for you as a growing uh creator to create uh a new audience because people be curious. Okay, I'm not gonna wait an hour in line to have a selfie with Niall Phillips or Jeff Bruce or Noah Phillips.

SPEAKER_02 40:57

Aren't you a Lord? Oh, I am a Lord, yes, you're Lord Lord. That's right there.

SPEAKER_03 41:04

Yeah, Lord Noel Philips, not Noel. Yeah, that's what I was doing. I wanted to correct how did you get that? Oh, it was through I'll tell you the story of this, right? So we had a sponsor called Established Titles, okay? And they um there was a big controversy about them. The the whole thing, I mean I don't think it was a control. I don't think it was a it wasn't a scam. I don't think it was at all. I think it was brilliant. The idea is you buy a section of land in Scotland and for a little it's like a tiny little like an inch square or something. You can't really build a house there. Maybe a little miniature house. Or put like an airplane model, a Lego house or something, maybe. But um the idea is you you get that and then you become a lord, because in Scotland anybody who owns land can be called a lord. So effectively, you are it's it's a bit of fun. Clearly, you're not really a lord. Everybody knows that, right? You know, you're not a lady.

SPEAKER_01 41:50

Well, she's a lord, actually. I wouldn't even know. I thought the lord was a god. Like the lord?

SPEAKER_03 41:56

Well, yeah, but no lords in England you have lords and ladies, so you've got like Lord this and Lord that. So Rachel's lady. She's no, because she didn't buy Rachel. Um but the yeah, so you um you you but you bought this. It's a bit of a gag gift, really. Let's buy one for something like a buy, oh yeah, there you go, Lord Josh Cahill. Do you have that in your passport or no? But some people you can, but they'll like legally use it as that. But anyway, there was this whole thing, and there was a whole thing on YouTube, you're not really a lord. You know, if you buy this established title, you're not really a lord. Really, did anybody actually think that you would be an actual lord by spending like a hundred bucks on a on a certificate? And um, as a result of that, the whole campaign was I'd like they asked for a load of videos, they were in and run up to Christmas and they did a big thing where they were like, yeah. For a gift, yeah. Yeah, and then we want you to do 12 videos in December, between the 1st of December and Christmas Eve. We need 12 videos. I was like, okay, if I want to do 12 videos for one sponsor, I've got to go on a trip and film 12 videos because you know this is how we work.

SPEAKER_02 43:06

That's like three videos a day.

SPEAKER_01 43:08

I mean, you have other sponsors as well, you know, not just amongst that.

SPEAKER_03 43:12

And um, and we just moved to America. This was literally two months after we'd moved. Uh huh. So, really, we were like, this would really help us, and you know, we've got also all these moving expenses. Yeah, yeah. This would really help us as a business as well to grow and start getting videos filmed for next year and things. So off I went and I booked a trip all around Australia and the Pacific. I did aircall-in, they lost my bag. Um, I did like a few other things like that all around it, and it was great. Two or three videos in, this whole controversy had happened because this guy had done a video saying, You're not really a lord, it's a scam. Oh, really? It wasn't directed at you, right? No, no, no, no, it was directed at the campaign. And then another another guy went, Oh, yes, everyone's talking about established titles. It's a scam. People are starting to comment on my videos at this point saying it's a scam. Click on this link, watch this video. It's like really it's not. a scam it was a bit of a fun it's a bit of a gaggy for people and I still stand by that but clearly the um the the PR aspect of that for that company was dreadful and I was in so I'd flown Air Call in obviously I remember this day so well I took off from Sydney I got to New Meyer in Caledonia and they left they left my bag in Sydney so I was like oh this is crap was it in the beginning of your trip? Like two or three videos in we didn't like obviously booked this entire trip two or three videos in I got to um Caledonia they left my bag in Sydney great now what do we do? Because I was supposed to go up to Japan and film a whole load of stuff around there and um we had an email off of established titles we've cancelled all um integrations for the rest of the year and you just went home I guess right did you finish a trip? Well I I I wasn't sure but then I figured out that Eric Allen had lost my bag yeah and you got that as well so now I'm on the middle of a trip where the sponsors just pulled out I'm feeling like crap because I'm like away we've just moved to America yeah and I'm suddenly on the other side of the world already filled without clothes. Now without clothes did your bag ever arrive eventually yeah right like Christmas so it did eventually and I was just I said I said to Ray I said I'm not I'm not being funny Rachel I want to come home and I want to be with the family in our new home yeah so um I got to Singapore I'm still getting like emotional thinking about this I was like I'm fucking I want to go home and I called up United Airlines I didn't book a new ticket I called United Airlines or something I said I just need to fly home can you change my flight and they did this business class ticket they just change it and I flew home and then I got so much abuse in the comments saying you could have just gone to a supermarket and bought new clothes and and you know you didn't need to abandon your trip just because of and it's like really it's like people don't understand obviously people say that yeah legitimately people were like like I thought you were a seasoned traveller you could go to a supermarket in Japan and buy clothes.

SPEAKER_01 46:00

I mean who I'm not being funny I'm not exactly the standard height for people in Asia they don't do clothes for people like me it's um you know things like that and I'm like that means I've got to go shopping and I'm like I'm feeling crap anyway we've lost all the sponsorship deals that we had oh yeah just moved to a new country it's Christmas sometimes people are just really really rude yeah and I think this is uh like sometimes you see that and they sit there and they have no idea what it's like to be you a dad who provides for your family you go on those trips for me it's different I go on a trip and nobody misses me. I mean my mom Well your mom my mom sometimes even forgets my my my name right and uh and then I then nobody You just had a call with her yesterday. Yeah right right but sometimes uh she she barely knows that I exist and then I'm out there and then at the same time nobody misses me but um I um like obviously I'm single by by by choice in that sense that I was it's it's it's different but if you are a father you have two kids you have a wife you have you have a dog yeah a dog as well likes to lick me all the time yeah yeah she likes you yeah Susie's nice I don't know why but I've I heard dog can smell good people so let's let's let's see if I don't forget she's also a German shepherd so she's a connection we bonded we bonded straight away she came with us and then and then you are abroad things sometimes go not well sometimes you have a trip you know sometimes it flows yeah you know and things you one great video after another but I think sometimes when I go on trips and sometimes I go at four weeks at a time where I have like 15 flights booked and it would be a worst case scenario if my back goes missing the first couple of flights in somewhere in I don't know in in in Banda bus in Iran or whatever and then sometimes how is this back gonna chase me? How is it gonna find me? No and I always have checked bags most of the time because I just need it and then my microphone is in there and like things sometimes go really bad. And then people you know you're in a situation where people just sometimes should like step down and like be a bit more kinder you know and understand.

SPEAKER_02 48:12

What what do you what do you achieve and I've never done that in my whole life I never left a hate comment something that I think is super interesting is that only when I post airline videos I recently posted the Allegras my Alleagers flight review allegoris. That's the only that's the that's the only videos I get proper proper hate comments on all the time. I don't know why it is but I only normally I'm like free of hate it's totally fine for me. I'm like in a very fortunate position with my fun little flight sim videos.

SPEAKER_03 48:39

The thing that people people fail I think a lot of the time to see is that we are human beings. Just like just normal people. We're genuinely I know we have the best job in the world right getting to do this totally but at the end of the day we're still people we still have the same emotions that everybody else we're still aviation geeks who just want to make a few videos and I think people sometimes forget that the whole human aspect they kind of put you as a almost like a celebrity right and I suppose we do the same we'd look at people like Tom Cruise and go, oh man you've got the best life in the world ever but I'm sure he has exactly the same as we do in terms of like it's just human but people take people to a movie bad movie and everybody's like not hiding on him for a lot of people go to the cinema and pay to see the movie so I understand if they're fresh is we spend a lot of our own money in order as so for people to watch them for free.

SPEAKER_01 49:31

What a privilege that is you can watch it and might not always be up to the standard of Top Gun and uh mission um power videos absolutely you're sorry that's why I was looking at I was looking at we sometimes we go into war zones we go into crazy stuff. We do crazy stuff where you sometimes we we where you think like why would you do this and people entertain sometimes on some of the airlines we fly and um yes well the dirty areas that you walk through and stuff like that you know sometimes it's you know I don't want to say we are like oh we are the the the the the super cool guys who like whatever but like we do this because we love to share our story and if you want to be part of it join uh join along media trained you nobody for sure as a guy you don't you have you you say media train stuff like this all the time not at all I think I have a marketing band branding background and I just do it so well I admire it. It's a good yeah it's good I'm I'm falling in love with you as you speak.

SPEAKER_03 50:33

Yeah thank you I'm glad you're a fan no but just generally like you just like try to be like uh have like something not everyone some people look at videos of me or you and you think like what a douchebag right yeah you're weird I watch your videos and think what a douche videos sometimes think yeah what an what an idiot yeah but you do but the thing is though you just this is and I don't know whether this is just another thing maybe because we're just on YouTube but you watch them and you're like I think that guy's a douche but I'm not gonna tell him he's a douche because you wouldn't want you wouldn't walk up to somebody in the street and go oh I wouldn't tell you in person if it's something right you should have the balls and the courage to say it in person.

SPEAKER_01 51:09

I would love to people have come come to me but nobody does because they are they do has that ever happened to you Noy or has anyone ever come up to you and said I don't like your videos?

SPEAKER_03 51:18

You know no but you know that I had the this is I had the best sort of um it's actually linked to this same trip we were just talking about the best story about this. So Eck Allen lost my bag okay and this guy commented on my video one of the many hate comments I got was it doesn't matter you just wear trash clothes you could just pick them up in any Walmart anywhere around the world Texas or something exactly yeah and it was it was really rude anyway I I I do remember the comment but I sort of like you do with all these comments you put them in the back of your head and you don't think about them and a few years later I was at an event was it Airliners Live not Airliners Airliners International which is like a big aviation convention over here this guy comes up to me and he'd got like an Air Callan model in his hand I'm like oh what's gonna go on here and he came up and he went no well I just wanted to apologize and I said why he goes well a few years ago you did your video flying on Air Callan and I made a really nasty comment and said that you didn't wear any decent clothes anyway or something like that. And I was like right he said I felt awful about it. He said I was drunk I was having a really bad time it's no excuse and I put that comment on and for months and years afterwards he said I felt so guilty about that one comment that I made about you he said I just wanted to come and shake your hand and apologise and he brought me a little model of air Callin to apologize for it.

SPEAKER_01 52:34

I was like yeah what it for me that proved that these people are human behind they might go through a shit time as well and I was like sometimes you look at them and you look oh look at this guy probably never went to school is traveling the world on dad's money or whatever you know yeah they don't have the concept we don't we don't even have that upbringing we come from nothing as I said like I was flipping burgers 15 years ago you were sitting in a stinky office doing IT stuff and and uh you you worked your way into this you know you don't become an internet a YouTube sensation yeah if you don't really work hard and I might you know I'm not for everyone you know you might not be for everyone I had I had this dad come up at Avcon he said I I don't like your videos but my son does can you do quick and it's totally like yeah that's totally cool it's not but like there's there's there's what what do we have like last year I had like over 200 million views and of course there is people of those that don't like it right and you can't always cater to everyone is though we're not we're not here we're not trying to be liked I know I'm not I'm not everybody likes I'm not I'm not making videos for people to like me I'm making videos because I just want to make a cool video for people to enjoy it and if you don't like that's fine sometimes you say the things as they are you know you come to a country and we have to deal like with corrupted police officers and we can't get into the country and you just say it you know it has happened like when I was in Angola or whatever but that this is what you talk about it it's real life it's unscripted and you tell it the way it is right and when we think about it how airlines will sometimes react to the videos that we do and like the changes that come of it then I think this is the bigger picture. You have to look at this instead of like thinking with like Peter Peter whatever Peter backham somewhere in Leicester in his basement thinks about you sometimes you've got to put it in a bit uh into the bigger bigger picture but we're all humans and sometimes it does and and yeah these videos they do make it when we say something is bad the airlines do hopefully listen and they sometimes changes happen. I mean you you told me about this now like the last podcast we did we talked about the Allegra's flight where the window blind was open uh was broken the opposite of open it was closed all the uh like the whole flight and it couldn't be put up and the f the crew bit didn't know about it at all so like they keep kept asking me can you please put it up and like it's broken and that's something that should be briefed in fr uh before the flights you know the the crew should be made aware of it and you you mentioned me uh said there was a friend of mine she works with Bangkok Airways and she was like listen to your podcast and you're right you know that you know how we sometimes give the crew crap for bad service or stuff like that and then the crew comes back no we are here for your safety right yeah he was on a plane that was broken and the crew wasn't aware that there are safety hazards in that and like I had got a very nice message the other day saying I'm a crew with Bangkok Airways and I uh took this as great feedback and um being aware of the little hazards that are potentially somewhere in the cabin that my cabin crew in case of an emergency is ready for uh for it to act accordingly and I think this is the the the little spin-offs where I think this is exactly why I do what I do and potentially who knows the world works in mysterious ways that this maybe saves some lives you know and this is what crew sometimes people think they watch the videos they think the crew is they're they're they're volunteers yeah but they also get paid you know to do a good job and to provide our safety and then the airlines sell us the extra packs and I think it's very very fair unless it's like a state airline you know 100% state owner say own and they say we take you from A to B. Yeah you know then totally fine. So then that's what's being sold to you but if you if you sell me the best airline experience in the world what do you want to get exactly if you're paying good money for it.

SPEAKER_03 56:21

Yeah yeah and I think do you have an example where you think like okay this was this was uh necessary to say online and might not get me friends but I did did it anyways and perhaps something changed you get feedback from airlines as well sometimes I do sometimes um sometimes from airlines I've had a few emails not not necessarily Augustav but one wanted to sue you right yeah yeah yeah no Norwegian trying to sue you they they said that they were going to take legal action if I didn't remove the video one it was just so it was just a crap fly right what was crap about the flight fly because the flight crew were just like they weren't interested or anything and this was in the days when I used to I feel my videos used to be more review like that yeah whereas I'm I'm not so much like that these days now you're just adventurer yeah it was like it was a review of Norwegian or yeah it was Norwegian back then from Seattle to Gatwick and it wasn't just it was just crap. And the the issue was back in I don't know whether they still do but they used to sell their seat as a business class seat and it it's not you but without service. Yeah yeah it's just it's a premium economy seat.

SPEAKER_01 57:24

So when you have a flight I like these seats where we're sitting right now basically these seats which is all right um yeah but when they're not for long haul how much was that kind of flight like two three grand oh okay that's not and you they came up the thing is when you search a flight in business class it goes British Airways United category on skyscanner and um so you'd you'd book a business class my point was that people spend this much money thinking they were getting business class and then fine on Norwegian I think it still happens some airlines indigo does that indigo or that's a great example as well like indigo they have recliner seats now they call them indigo stretch right but they show up as business class business classes yeah yeah and they take they take a proper fair and you get a vegan box to eat with vegan yeah vegan why is it vegan I don't know it's it's in it's India India right now I've never been there religious reasons some of them are yeah they do have a non-veg meal as well yeah they so it's they only have non uh like only vegan uh or vegetable like no what is it called vegetarian vegetarian vegetarian and this is it and I was like beetroot do you like beetroot just FYI okay you are no beetroot is like weird I just don't like it I just don't it always feels like it's it and I don't have to like it right yeah okay and the thing is so I wanted to have some cup noodles and then I just already paid so much more I got the cup noodles and they charged me for it right and but now and this is where I said cool I did that video and I said you pay so much money and they charge me that one dollar for the cup noodles yeah and ever since my videos everyone in India gets free cup noodles yeah you made a change but this is what I should get a stage you put up in it should get cup noodles should be so once again you had a crap file Norwegian and you and the wrong labelling is a bit of a problem so what happened then?

SPEAKER_03 59:12

Yeah so I got a a letter off of Norwegian letter really it was an email from the from their head of marketing saying that um if I didn't remove the video then they would be taking legal action and I replied saying I'm sorry I'm not removing the video um and then like literally because it was an opinion piece under what basis yeah because it was like slanderous and the cabin oh because the cabin crew were in the video and they wanted and you know and it's yeah exactly um but then like a week later they went bust so I was happy with that karma talk about India comma and here we are but that happens yeah um but then they've had also re airlines reach out really positively I mean like I'm sitting here next to JSX and well I did a video on JSX they sent me that after doing the video um Ryanair up in Alaska they were a little Alaskan airline called Ryanair is the Alaskan and then they fly little um bush planes and stuff around really really cool oh wow the the other is that one run by a Ryan it's run by yeah an actual Ryan oh so they're not lying actually no and it they would have a true story actually I mean I'll tell you this will come out of this but the um the owner of the airline or the managing director um emailed me afterwards he actually literally got in touch directly saying nobody ever flies with Ryanair up here it was great that you came and and here's here's a bit of history and and in the video I'd made a bit of a thing about well I wonder if like the Ryanair in Europe and I did like the little landing fanfare where we took down all that sort of stuff. And he said fun fact that um they actually um were reached out to when Ryanair started by whatever Tony Ryan or whatever the guy's name was who set up Ryanair um they reached out to him in Alaska saying do you mind if we use the name Ryanair? Because you already called Ryanair and they turned around and said yeah we'll give you permission to do it as long as you don't fly to Alaska like we'll give you permission to use it. Wait wait who was first the Alaskan Ryanair first yeah oh really they're really old then yeah so so he's got a letter in his office apparently from Ryanair from the actual Ryanair saying can we use the name Ryanair? Oh great and um and they said yeah as long as you don't fly to Alaska you can use it but apparently they still get even to this day phone calls from people like have you looking for help with flights to Magalu but but do you think they're do they regret that decision now since Ryanair in Europe is so simple. No it's all they they don't care. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:31

They genuinely don't care it's like they're not like they said they're not gonna be a small bush airline because no one's gonna mix up an advantage for you as well you know like but I'm glad they had a great deal no no do you hate the question of what is your most favourite video so far that you've ever made yeah favourite video favorite airline what's your what's your favourite airline or your favourite app I'm like I don't know do you have a favorite video though? I don't want to have an emotional video and then one where we think it's good and one we Yeah I have two I have two videos about it.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:03

But they're all the same they're all the basically the same sort of video. So the first time I went to Nepal and I flew to Luca that was like bucketless and then I flew in a helicopter up to Mount Everest base camp genuinely the most incredible experience I've ever had flying up there. And and on a similar basis as well Skardu in Pakistan and I flew up there not knowing what to expect and it's very similar. It's just up the road really from Nepal but you you're landing in the middle of these like huge mountain range like and they fly in and they're like looping around in what plane are they flying? A320 A320 yeah and they come in over the mountain and then they have to like circular they don't do a circular approach to spark how long is the runway do you run?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:47

I don't know but it's a beautiful you check out you've been you've been discarded I did Gilgit okay Gilgit's the same like approach with the ATR where it's like an incredible flight.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:58

I should write that down for a video idea.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:00

It's crazy too do it on um do it on flight sim that'd be like a long haul flight the funny thing is when you fly from Islamabad to Gilgit halfway there's Abu Tabat or whatever it's called where is Islama bin Laden was hiding Bin Laden was here. Yeah yeah so you fly over bin Laden's own see him there I'm sure he's gone if he was ever good knows that but the Gilgit approach you fly over the Himalaya for most of it amazing and and the the I was and like as as Noel was I was invited to the flight deck because shout out to PIA the airline for Af Geeks right did you did you did did you fly the plane?

SPEAKER_03 1:03:33

I did not fly the plane I mean you're as qualified as the pilots I am like we had a simulator session yesterday and I buttered the breath right you know the thing is that I mean the the the guy who actually was the pilot of this flight for me turned out to be the chief training captain for PIA so we had a great he invited me he saw me walking across the ramp taking photos and then he he came out and I thought oh god we're gonna you know he's gonna shout at me for taking photos he's like you must be an aviation geek and I'm like why he says well only an aviation geek would fly into the mountains of like the Himalayas and then get straight on the same plane and fly back again he says do you want to come and ride on the flight deck I was like yeah he's like right is about beginning to sit down in your actual seat until the doors close and all the security have gone he said then you can come and sit down and we had such an amazing chat and it was after the crash of the PIA I think it was Lahore wasn't it was Karaji Karaja was that the overrun thing no where was where they uh touched uh but if they forgot to lower the landing gear you know where they had the belly landing and then they went for go round oh and then the engines failed yeah and then the I went to the uh crash site that's what that's why that's why yeah okay um but he it was after that happened like in like six months after that happened so he was in charge of the training programme at PIA and therefore he was like on the front line about trying to get everything rectified all this thing came out obviously about the pilots with fraudulent licenses and all this sort of stuff and he was having a really just a really candid chat about the issues they've had and yeah we know we've screwed up with all this we're working on it they've got ITA there and everything and they're working to it so your your your most favorite videos so far have been Luca the most trips memorable and then the the that one and what was the third one you have the third one in mind there was two in Nepal and then Scardu. So there was the Lucla one it was two videos I did so it was Luca where I landed on the let 410 I think and um what is slide right now amazing flight scary scary the takeoff was scarier than the landing because it's like an aircraft carrier right lord you have that dip yeah and you literally lift it out you see it as you go really push the nails down fully well no because as you come over the runway it's like flat a little bit and then it drops. Oh like a slope like slopes but the the actual it's a real bump in the runway. Remember that top gun scene when it when when he gets uh like this is when you go over the bump and you go slowly fast and you're thrown up out of your seat wow and then you're going down the hill and then just there's no ground. It's not like you don't lift Off. It's just suddenly there's no ground.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:01

Oh yeah, so it's like a table runaway thing. Like a like an aircraft carrier. You just drive over the etch and then you get you get air.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:10

It's incredible. But Luke, I mean Luca itself, I mean were you a bit scared?

SPEAKER_01 1:06:14

I had second thoughts at the airport. You know, sometimes when you think, should I really take this flight? You know, when you think when you dare at 4 a.m. Because you have to be there very early because of the weather, right? Yes. And I was standing there, and you sometimes all scenarios go through your head, right? Maybe today is the day where something might happens, you always and I was like, and then you wake up at 4 a.m. You didn't sleep much the night before, and you notice you have that lazy, like yeah, the one angel and the devil there, and then they said, like, go back to sleep, you know? It's comfortable. Three days and and Kathmandu do nothing. So uh but I did that and it was the greatest experience, one of the greatest experiences.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:51

I I should go, but I'm actually generally scared of it. I'm generally scared. You're not scared you're not human. Because like planes do crash there on a yearly basis.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:00

There was one at the side of the runway when I went there, one that only just crashed a few months ago. The one that tried doing the go-around or something.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:06

Yeah. And there's no go-around that you can do.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:08

Like there's either you go or there has been a go-around once that worked, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:12

And they've somehow managed it.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:14

But yeah, so talking about being in flight deck, I mean, you're a pilot, no. Um when did you start your piloting career? Uh 2000 and 2000.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:24

2002. Four years before you were born. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:27

Wow, you're an OG pilot then.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:29

I am. So what happened was I got my I was young, I'd got my first job, and was earning an absolute for me at the time, an absolute ton of money. I'm like, yeah, I'm rolling in it, living with my parents, or my grandparents. And I was like, yeah, great, I'm gonna go and learn how to fly. And I went to Leicester Airport and uh shout out to Leicester Airport and did my PPL with them in the space of a year and I was learning in a little Chesna and um Chesna. He always says Chesna, it's a very chess.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:59

Chesna is something a lot of Germans say for some reason. I don't know why you say Chesna. I'm I'm just I'm just uh there's a lot of people. Maybe we assume it's like a Spanish name, because then he would maybe say Chesna. I'm disabled, so I can say that. Fair enough. So yeah, you did a you did Cessna training?

SPEAKER_03 1:08:13

I did the my training in a 152 and got my PPL. And literally the week I got my PPL, I met Rachel and when you're getting engaged and moving into the.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:21

How did you read Rachel anyway? Is it a romantic story? Have you ever shared it? Was it romantic?

SPEAKER_03 1:08:27

Right. So these days, right. If you want to if you want to find somebody and you want to find a day these days, what do you do, Nick?

SPEAKER_02 1:08:33

Uh grinder? Grind, yes. Yes, uh and uh it's all online, right? Yeah, Amazon.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:43

Google Google Google. Hot singles near me.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:48

Yeah, that's what I do always. I mean you're the king of the king. Okay, that's not hard by new on the that we've been talking about. King of Bumble, so like uh yeah, this is the red's where you find love.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:01

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you see, we want to find love. It's common these days, right? 2000, 2001, like the only way it was it was really weird, like to find someone, you know, if you wanted to like find a date online, you would just wouldn't there's no such thing, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:09:15

Yeah, you can put it on the in a newspaper, you know.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:18

Right, and here we go. So in the UK there was a service called Dateline, which is like a dating agency. We're almost the same age, just FYI. We are so we met through a dating agency, but it wasn't online back then. You had to send mail. My parents that way, actually. There you go. And you get a list an A4, yeah. An A4 list of suitable candidates who meet your criteria, and you have to like tick off them and then send it back in the mail, and then you have to wait.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:45

And it's it was really Rachel doesn't like aviation, you do. Uh what what what what was the common thing that you had though?

SPEAKER_03 1:09:52

I think desperation. I feel you feel you're desperation. She's not listening anyway.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:02

Yeah, so don't worry about that.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:04

No, we um we um we I don't know quite about what it was. We just got like we were the same sort of age, and again, dating agencies, you don't tend to find people the same sort of age, and really uh she saw my photo, and there was a the photo I used. I'll I'll send you the photo so you can put it on the you still had hair as well, right? Still had hair, and I was still in front of a chestnut um in Leicester Airport wearing a like a like a gile, like a jacket almost. Really? I thought I was the shit. I thought I looked really cool. Look at me like that. And um Rachel got it, and she's uh she turned round to her mum and said, He looks sad. Do not, I'm not I'm not gonna go and see him. He looks sad, he looks so he looks so sad, and like not sad as in an upset way, I mean sad as in like just like he's an aviation geek. I don't know, you know, I look I just I look terrible. I thought I looked really cool like next to my sister, but he was like, she's like, you know, he looks like such a geek, I don't want to go out with it. And her mum turned around and said, You go go and meet him once, he might be alright.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:59

He might be alright.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:00

And um we ended up we we met at Tollerton Airport, we went out for a date. So I I called, I spoke to a dad first. That's scary. Have you met Rachel's dad? He's he's a lovely guy, it's like it's scary when you suppose speak to him. And in those days, you had to speak to the parents to get through to the why to the is that like part of the agency? No, no, no, no, it's just like because nobody had cell phones in those days. You rang the landline and you were like, Can I speak to Rachel because you know what a landline phone is?

SPEAKER_02 1:11:27

Yeah, I mean I've used it before.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:28

Uh I I called her and it's like, can I speak to Rachel, please? It's like, yeah, who's who's calling? I'm like, oh lord, it's it was really you know this, right? Yeah, yeah. And um I we ended up we met at Tollerton Airport, of course. And um I went to show I went and showed her all the planes that I flew. She was like, Wrong move! Yeah, it was a wrong move, and she thought so she still I think she still thought I was pretty sad. But you know, obviously something worked, and six weeks later we were engaged. Wow and you're still together. We're still married. I mean, how how long ago did you get married? 2002, so as often making this 24 years, it'll be in July. And you have two wonderful kids. Really? Two wonderful kids. Any anything more coming? No, it'd be impossible, I think. But um but no, we um yeah, we um we haven't we have got yeah, Sam and Anna are two amazing kids.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:17

And you guys are brilliant, brilliant brilliant team. I mean you guys work together.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:21

We try to be, and I think he is.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:24

What is it like being married to a YouTuber? What is it like for Sam to uh his dad or uh for to be have a dad who was a YouTuber? Because it should be the other way around, right? Right, yeah, the kid should be the YouTuber. Yeah, so what is that like? Do you feel do you feel that sometimes like a clown? I mean it's like what I do.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:41

The funniest thing, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:12:42

I feel like a clown all the time.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:43

I um I think I mean I can't speak for the kids, but like I know the way their mind saying and I do know this this bit. They used to look at what I was doing and think think it was nothing. Dad's being a sad guy, yeah. All this hey guys on camera, dad's being like a you know, he's cringe and all this. But then like their school, some of their school friends were like subscribers of mine. They're like, oh my god, your dad's not Phillips. Like, what? And then I my daughter's friend back in England, her, and she has friends around, they do like FaceTime still, and her friends are coming around, is that no Phillips? He's like, he's your dad, what is his winning? And um, I think AJ's started to especially to get to that point where um she's just starts to see it's cool, and like things like this weekend. I mean, you saw her this weekend, a smile on her face. She's a 14-year-old, she doesn't smile often. He's like, you know, we don't think either of us did that. But she's like, look at all the people queuing up to meet me, and she's like, My dad's pretty cool, actually. And she said to me once, she's like, I think twice. She's 14 years old, and twice in 14 years, she goes, You're pretty cool, actually. Wow, and that is and I want to record it, but yeah, I want to record it first. Like the next minute 10 minutes later. That's a high thing to say. That's what I mean. Like 10 minutes later, she'll be like, I'm cringe, and all the rest of the things told me that she thinks I'm cool, something which is like, wow, that's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:00

I mean, you led us into your house, to your very home, and like I can tell that you guys are a cool bunch, you know. It's a family business, yeah. It is a modern family business. And uh I asked um and I think it's very normal. I asked Sam what's your favorite video of your dad? And he's like, I don't watch him really anymore. But it doesn't matter because this is like how normal. He watches mine though, I heard he does watch yours, he's a big fan of yours.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:21

And he was desperate to meet you. We came to meet you at the hotel before we went to the U.S. Sam is so cool though. And he was calling you Swiss. Yeah, Swiss. And that's that's a good that's a good thing, you know.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:31

It's not like it's everyone feel everything feels normal here, you know. You have your everyone is involved in it, but everyone does their own thing, and like it's not like that he sits there and watches your video all the time. It's just like this he's my dad overall, you know. He's not a fan, he's like, and this is sometimes where I think you have to differentiate of uh, you know, as I am Josh when I'm off the camera, and I would like to be. I don't like the attention because when you just become that role constantly, it's also a bit uh challenging, isn't it?

SPEAKER_03 1:14:59

I think as well, but it is well. I'm just no yeah, yeah, I'm a dad, yeah, and just trying to raise a family and a husband and trying to raise a family, just as you're Josh, yeah. Just trying to live your life. You're Nick trying to live your life. But that's all legitimately, and people watch us thinking with some sort of like special thing. Genuinely, I'm just not filming single.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:19

I go I go to university and have my normal friends, and we don't talk about YouTube. Same thing. They do stuff, I do stuff.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:26

We aren't even so obsessed for our ASA's not about content. Maybe we did that when we did that road trip. There was not at once a camera out. No, we were just one time for B-roll, that so people actually believe me one day.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:39

And we did have a camera out for a special gas station in Alabama. What was that one?

SPEAKER_03 1:15:43

Yeah, you love that place. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:45

So you remember this topic episode in the South, which was one of the early ones in 2007. And so that yeah, and basically the challenge was hey, let's get some cheap cars that are cheaper to buy than a rental car. And they got one in, I think, in Miami. Yeah, and they drove all the way across the south. And in Alabama, they had the idea, let's paint our cars in a distinctive manner. And they put like stuff like Man Love Rules. Man love rules, okay. Hillary for president. My favorite one's NASCAR stuff. Which is funny because like everyone here in the South does NASCAR and loves them, or uh uh uh Hillary for president and all of that stuff, and like we went to that very cut. And and and they went to a gas he was too scared to go inside.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:29

No, no, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:30

Let me let me just let me just let me just finish that. You always always interrupt, Josh. Rude. Oh no, so anyway, we the in the episode they ran out of gas, so they went to a very southern gas station in Alabama.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:43

And they were they were kicked out and they were having rednecks showing. Are y'all tr are y'all gay people trying to get get beat up in Hick Town and something like that? And the gayest gas station was called Ride with Pride. Which is the most which the incredible for today. It's still called that. And the gas station still exists. So we looked it up and we actually went. On the route, wasn't it? Yeah, it was on the route. And so we had gas there. What was it like going? I was too scared to go inside. I was like, Why is that?

SPEAKER_01 1:17:12

I don't know. I mean Do you identify with anything that was written on that car?

SPEAKER_03 1:17:17

No, no, no.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:18

Let's say you voted for Hillary.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:19

It does wear that cowboy hat. Yeah, yeah. That's okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:22

Do I look broke back mountain, right? We don't want to give away too much. Broke back mountain, maybe that was the reason.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:29

I think that's your most watched movie.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:31

I've never seen it.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:31

Anyway, so you refused to go in. They were lovely. Yeah. They were so nice.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:36

And the girl at the cashier was, I think she was from Sri Lanka or whatever.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:39

Yeah, she was like, Oh, hey guys, where are you from? I love your accent.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:43

Yeah, yeah. She was American.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:46

And we go we drove away and we're like, they must have faked that on top. They are not that sort of there was so lovely. Everybody there was.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:55

Nobody was American in that in that gas station. No, it was it was 20 20 years ago. Maybe things have changed. I don't know. You would think too it got more conservative though at one point. Yeah. And it's hard to do.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:12

And I know for a fact that nobody would have an issue with anything. They gone, that's pretty funny, actually. And it's obviously you're winding each other up and you're having a laugh with your mate. It'd have been like that. And I genuinely don't think maybe there are, I don't maybe I'm wrong, but I've never all the time we've lived in Alabama. I've never met anybody like that. And they and the fact that they said, Oh, we'll get the boys. Who gets the boys? You don't get the boys, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:18:38

The lounge boys, the boys, the pickup truck, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:46

There's so many TV shows nowadays that come out 20 years later and said, Oh, it was all staged. Yeah, you know, there was a show in Germany just recently. Uh, it was all like Millie Villenny never sang, actually. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:59

But the thing is that it's a gas station as well, just to set the scene for where this is. It's not in some little town in the middle of nowhere, it's on a main road.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:06

It's on the main road.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:07

Out of like it's the main road between Florida and Alabama. So it's a busy, like a busy place. And uh, yeah, I think.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:14

But you know that with our videos. Sometimes how many videos haven't we posted because nothing really happened, right? And then you just don't kind of come up with the buttons. But then you're just like, okay, you have them on your hard drive, maybe one day it's relevant, but you don't post them. But they spent millions on a budget and they said nothing happened here. Yeah, let's let's pay for some boys.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:37

Let's pay the boys. It's like the thing in uh Friday Night For You're the Falklands thing where they had the the number player.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:43

They just happen to have a number player that said 1982 Falklands, and we didn't know. We didn't know in a bridge actually we didn't know about that.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:50

Really? Yeah, really. Speaking of the Falklands.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:54

Oh, yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:55

Speaking of the Falklands is the segue that we were all looking for. Segway to the future. We're talking, yeah. Now we go we we we were in the past. We went to the uh gas station. Ride with pride. Which ride with we wrote there with Pride. We rode with Pride. We did.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:11

We travel with that one and everything.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:13

And uh now we are I I know there is a trip that you guys have on the pipeline that we cannot really talk about.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:21

I can we can't talk about that yet, but it's gonna be really interesting. And all I can say is that we're gonna maybe cut a ribbon. That's all we're gonna do.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:27

And I want to say that and I've been in business long enough that this probably breaks the internet. What do you guys have planned? It's not a good thing.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:34

Isn't it gonna get his ass out on camera like in Kadashi?

SPEAKER_01 1:20:40

We have his OnlyFans promotional content for episode 11. So the OnlyFans is not launched yet, so okay. Only plane plane plane where you can see his plane. Only after his Cyrus, as I say, yes, because I had Chesna and I'm a Chesna and the Cyrus. But I let me tell you that uh it will break the internet. If you follow through of this, it will be okay. Okay, and I just want to tease. I just wanted to tease. Falklands is um it's happening. Rehistory buffs, anyways. I love anything related to World War II, to Falkland War and stuff, a place that I always wanted to visit. So this is one place we are going to visit to see some shot down planes and and have a bit of an aviation tour down there. There's a lot of cool aviation stuff there.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:30

There is a lot, yeah, and there's so much history there.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:32

Maybe to the uneducated viewers, explain to us briefly what happened with the cold uh the Cold War. The Falklands War in the 80s. I think uh you're you wouldn't.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:40

I'm the British person, yeah. Yeah, and actually I'm probably the worst person. Malvinas, Malvinas. I'm probably the worst person to ask because I've only heard it from the British perspective. But it's basically there's a bit of a thing with the Argentinians and the Falklands, because they're just off the coast of Argentina. Argentina wants them. I think they invaded in 1980. I want to say, is that right? They invaded the Falklands. Yes, they did.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:59

And um it was never uh part of uh Argentina anyway. No, no, no, it was just nearby.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:04

Exactly. So they um they so they invaded and then British at the time, we that they did not want to be part of Argentina, they're all British, and our Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at the time, very, very British as well, and was like, yeah, we're not letting that happen. And they iron lady, and um she sent the Vulcan bombers down to the Falklands, and um there there was the was it the Goldano or something, the Belgrano, like a big Argentinian ship. Yeah, um I mean the Argentinians lost a lot of men in that, sadly. Um, where they don't attack each other, but it's war, but it is cruel exactly. And effectively we went back and we took back the the Falklands, and the the Falkland Islanders for the most part, I think, loved that. And and it was it was it was actually there's there's so many stories about that. About the islanders helping the RF and things.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:58

So Falklands is not necessarily Mallorca. How do you get there?

SPEAKER_03 1:23:03

Well, there's two ways.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:04

Um That's that that that's what the British figured out in 1982 as well, because the Falklands are so far away, right? And I remember when uh there was this famous headline in a Times magazine, I think, the Empire Strikes Back, and there was a photo of an aircraft carrier setting out.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:20

Well, you're in the American on an aircraft carrier.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:22

We're not going on an aircraft carrier, but it was um um yeah, there's not many ways. The most interesting way is probably via ascension with the British.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:33

It's an RF flight.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:34

Have you figured out how to get there yet?

SPEAKER_03 1:23:36

So yeah, well, we uh I think at the minute we're looking at Latam. I mean Latam, but they only go once a week. Interesting to the airbase, yeah. Yeah, and they land at the airbase. And there's one flight a month, interesting, which is one that we're um on, which actually stops in Argentina on the way. And um there and it's only one because they have an agreement that the Argentinians can go and visit the graves of their fallen like ancestors.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:01

I might not want you should not wear a Union Jack.

SPEAKER_03 1:24:04

I don't think it's a good idea, or an H982 FK.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:07

I was in Argentina two weeks ago, and it's still on the buses. You have um um these stickers saying uh claim back to like claim back to Malvinas because they call it uh Las Las Malvinas or something like that. And um obviously the British refer to it as the Falkland, and they had a referendum as well on the island, and I think it's overwhelmingly to remain British, 99%. So you ask the people actually, you know, and they want to be British, they feel British, and they want to remain part of the US.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:40

Have you guys ever been to the Falklands? What did they say? I've been very close.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:44

I've been to South Georgia, okay, which was also occupied by the uh Argentinians during the Falkland War, and then was there was a British uh no that Argentine uh submarine was sank there as well, which actually was a German submarine was serving, and uh so that's but South Georgia there is there was a whaling station back in the days, and then there was a weather station, there was a very small presence of uh uh British, and now nowadays there is almost nobody. There is uh I went there once. Shackleton's grave is there, and uh it was a very, very cool journey. But then when that was the one that was liberated uh first and the sand uh sandwich islands, uh and the Brits lost, I think, two helicopters there, which are still uh remain in there. Yeah, so very interesting story because at war at war crazy it's so remote, it's so remote, nobody cares about it, right? It was just about we don't don't take that away from us. And even the English uh the Americans back then said there's no way that you can win the war. It's too far away.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:45

I think the reason the Argentinian was it because of oil, they thought there was oil or something like that.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:49

No, and it was more like I mean the the the uh the government at that time was struggling, there was a military junta in place, and they needed they needed to give something to the people. You know, what do you do? You give them pride, you know, you say, okay, let's let's win something. Let's let's let's let's let's let's uh divert from the actual problems, right? Imagine some files come out somewhere. Yeah, I see, okay, okay. But anyways, so they said, okay, we're gonna take the Maldinas back and we give this sense of pride to the people. But the country is in a in terms, uh uh uh the economy is bad. Let's take the Falklands back, and they actually did. They didn't think that they did briefly for a second. And I think and and I think the the the British were what are you gonna do now? And they assembled this incredible force. They lost a lot of lives there as well.

SPEAKER_03 1:26:39

The thing that I find incredible about it is that the islanders clearly had no desire that they wanted to be Argentinian, and they were the stories of them using like ham radio to talk to the RAF, talk to the Air Force pilots saying, Look, there's Argentinians in this village or whatever. And they literally got undercover, like the villagers just took it on themselves to be undercover, like spies for the UK while they were there. And they were it's like espionage and the whole fascinating story.

SPEAKER_02 1:27:03

So about back to Falklands, yes. Um you guys are flying there together and doing a collaboration. What do you do in the Falklands Islands? Well we figured out you haven't figured that out.

SPEAKER_03 1:27:12

They've got FIGAS, which is the Falkland Island Government Air Service. They fly little islanders around. B and 2? Yeah, B and 2s, and it's a um it's weird, it's it's not a scheduled airline as such. You call them and you say, right, I want to go to this island. It's like an Uber. It's like Uber, and they put you on the list for the next day, and then the day before, you they put they post on Facebook the day before who's on each flight, and what time it's going from, and you basically show up at the restaurant, or it literally is. So you have a reservation, and at some point that day they will fly you to wherever you want to go, weather permitting, and walk up at the airport. Apparently apparently that's what it's like. So we can't really it's difficult to make actual firm plans. I think we've got some ideas what we want to see while we're there.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:50

There won't be a weather spoons and when we have something even more challenging, or takes us to our favourite continent. Oh yes, Africa. Have you uh Like uh there's this very famous train in Africa. I think you asked ChatGPT what can I do this year, or what what ideas do you have for me and what did ChatGPT or Gemini say to you?

SPEAKER_03 1:28:12

It said I should do the like the Mauritania train. And it's one that I is effectively this is a um You're a bit of a train guy as well. Yeah, but I like more like your first class like trendy, you know, like your big like five.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:26

I remember your trip uh your uh tri uh train trip in India where everyone came in every five minutes to get a tip for one of the stuff.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:33

So yeah, Mauritania train is not necessarily a passenger train. It's not the Orientex training. Tell us about it. I don't think trendy will be doing it anytime soon, but um it's um it's a freight train that carries I think iron ore. Iron ore, yeah. And it takes it between the ports or between the middle of Mauritania, across the desert, the Sahara Desert, and out to the port at Nuadibu in the north of Mauritania.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:57

I think the longest train in the world as well. Like in terms of the length of the train.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:01

And people use it to get around. There's not many ways of getting around in Mauritania. So people jump on this train and just ride like with the iron ore and sleep on it overnight across the Sahara Desert, and it's like really dirty and noisy and it gets cold.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:15

People die there all the time. Do they? Yeah, yeah, they fall off the train.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:18

Brilliant idea that you're going on that train. Hang on, you never told me this before.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:23

Okay, uh misinformation. If I fall off that train, I'm pulling you whiskey.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:26

I I can't wait. Do you have do you think you have mobile services out there? Probably not.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:30

I might say my starling.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:32

Yeah, bring your staring.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:34

FaceTime, you can FaceTime.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:35

Live stream probably has never been done before, but like I wanted to train uh do that train for a long time. Yeah, and so was uh it was on his bucket list as well. But doing it by yourself is tough. And what do you do if you like do it by yourself? There's very little to talk about.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:51

Yeah, that yeah, but the thing for me was with it, like how how do you do it? Yeah, you just like rock up and just climb up. You can't book a ticket, or do you just like and you've got to go to the middle of nowhere, it's not like you can fly. So you're gonna have to drive somewhere, and where do you go? When do you get on it? And it's like it's it's it's crazy, and yeah, it's it was it's in it's not exactly the most practical thing for us to do as a video, yeah. However, you got contacts in very good places. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:30:18

Shout outs to Rowan from Young Pioneer Young Pioneer Tours, good my one of my best friends. We he was on my channel a couple of times as well. We did some dodgy places with Dutchy places with him. But and he he has a great network, so shout out to him. He works with a lot of other YouTubers as well because he's the guy who can take can take you into the war zone with a chopper. We will be on a on a black hawk, black hawk, black helicopter, and we be dropped in the middle of nowhere and we jumped on a trap. So you something like that, right? That's how you will go on, like generally like James Bond movie. James Bond, yeah. Maybe not as spectacular.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:55

It's us, let's do it, let's remember that.

SPEAKER_01 1:30:57

But James Bond, maybe we should dress up, maybe we should wear a suit or something like that. Yeah, you were the master of dressing up. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 1:31:02

A little bit like James Bond hiking hiking across the desert. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 1:31:08

What's a German stereotype to uh to dress up?

SPEAKER_00 1:31:12

Okay, let's make it a good thing.

SPEAKER_01 1:31:14

There's a great Hugo Box store just nearby. I will get a good nice suit. No, but we will think about it, but it will be a great adventure.

SPEAKER_03 1:31:23

But it's gonna be yeah, we're gonna you've you've we've basically um oh Rowan does these amazing tools and has managed to uh get us to go over there and we're gonna go tomorrow to train. Would you guys try live streaming with a starling?

SPEAKER_01 1:31:38

I bet it's not even legal in Moritz. Yeah, it's very dirty there because you have all that fine dust. You have to wear actual goggles, like goggles.

SPEAKER_03 1:31:46

I have to wear a mask because my ass mask a full face mask. Oh yeah. Yeah, and you uh you really like you, but you have to wear all the like turban, turbine.

SPEAKER_01 1:31:55

Like uh it's gonna be uh it's gonna be a challenge as well.

SPEAKER_02 1:31:58

And you're gonna have to use clothes that you'll throw away after because that would not be a good thing. It's nothing that you can ever wear again.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:03

Like you gotta be like, but uh, how did the guy comment on you? Yeah. Your trash clothes anyway.

SPEAKER_02 1:32:12

They won't notice.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:14

No, but I think you look fabulous. I like that.

SPEAKER_02 1:32:16

Yeah, I love that your your your merchant.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:18

You're not even pretending, right? You're like a boy, like just like me. We wear shorts, we want to be comfortable, right? We don't wear it. You wasn't there a video where you wore a tuxedo or something like that. I've seen it. Was there something where you dressed it? On a thumbnail, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:32:32

I don't own my thumbnails, but yeah, I don't I don't actually wear a suit. Do you think I ever wear a suit?

SPEAKER_01 1:32:36

I I'm sure you did great in a suit.

SPEAKER_03 1:32:37

I think last time I wore my suit was to my own wedding, and that's about a long time since I was wearing a suit.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:43

Yeah, it's been why do you do you own a suit? Last week. Last week? Where did you go?

SPEAKER_02 1:32:47

I don't know. Oh, you did the Global Airlines remember. Oh yeah, the global air one. Yeah, that was that was.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:53

Do you think Global ever comes back?

SPEAKER_02 1:32:55

Oh, they're dead. Absolutely not. Absolutely. I think the next there was that apocalypse of glory.

SPEAKER_01 1:33:01

Isn't it cool how we were on that flight? Like some like everywhere, like do there's 380 collectors out there, you know. I can't get all of them anymore because I missed out on Air France. Okay. Uh, but I was at Asiana just the other day. But like imagine if you were flying, we were one of the few that were on Global Airlines 380, one of the coolest projects, most connected. When do you think the Netflix documentary is gonna come?

SPEAKER_03 1:33:24

I don't know, maybe when yeah, maybe there'll be people in prison probably. Uh no, they'll have us they'll have us an interviewers on Netflix. We'll all be invited background and stuff. Yeah, but whole thing, of course, where like they turn the camera on, you're like, yeah, we're recording. Yeah, okay, great.

SPEAKER_02 1:33:43

We still have the group chat for whenever that happens.

SPEAKER_01 1:33:46

We still have the group chat, yeah. And every time, you know, how global now every once in a while they post we have big news coming soon. Yep, again coming soon. Coming soon, and every time they post that big news we shared in a group. Yeah, trading the big news. We're working so hard behind the scenes.

SPEAKER_03 1:34:03

Well, there's I think they all they are working hard genuinely because they're just trying to keep the algorithm going to keep them like in the in the Instagram feed. That is that is so shame.

SPEAKER_01 1:34:12

One of the great, many great stories aviation has produced. Global Airlines. Yes, uh it was nice.

SPEAKER_02 1:34:18

I uh that's where I met you know. Yeah, and I think that's where you got the idea with AFCON already. I think you spoke to me about AFCON.

SPEAKER_03 1:34:26

I think we were talking, yeah. I must have I must have done because I don't remember ever reaching out to you too.

SPEAKER_02 1:34:30

Yeah, I was I was very drunk at the weather smooth, I remember.

SPEAKER_03 1:34:33

You were very drunk. I remember you went to Tesco at four o'clock in the morning to buy a pair of socks. Yeah, because I do remember that's what he always says.

SPEAKER_01 1:34:39

He goes to Tesco at 4am. It's not the socks. It's not the socks. It's not the socks, it's uh the notification that popped up on his phone. Speaking of, I think we are slowly coming to an end, and speaking of Yeah, I need to go to the airport. Yeah, and speaking of of Legacy's, what do you want to be remembered for?

SPEAKER_03 1:34:56

What do I want to be remembered for? Wow. Just for I I get I I think the biggest thing for me, and we and we had this conversation over the last couple of days, there is there's a YouTuber out there and he has the most amazing slogan, and it's like it's Zach Olsop. And um his catchphrase is making stories to tell the grandkids. And I think genuinely that's such a wonderful way to look at it. Like we're having fun now, but think of the fun we're gonna have in 40 years' time when we're chatting to our grandkids. Well, when I was young, I went and rode an iron ore train across Mauritania. It's even more than that, because it's materialized as a video. And and that's the thing, and that's the other thing. Like, oh, grandkids are gonna be able to look on whatever YouTube is in those days and see videos of us when we were there, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:35:39

And that's what it was like. I don't have I don't have kids yet, and I want to have kids eventually, and they never know it's like so. Josh, what was it like flying on global airlines? What was it like back in the days being in Afghanistan? Or what was it like if you with Uncle with Uncle Noel to go and travel in?

SPEAKER_03 1:35:57

Wouldn't that mean we'd have to have some sort of relation in between? That's yeah, let's not do that.

SPEAKER_01 1:36:01

Oh no, that'd be weird. Hold on, right? If you if you be my uncle, a lot of things would have gone wrong, right? Yes. Yes, yeah. I think uh can you work out that relation? I can't.

SPEAKER_03 1:36:10

Like I would be Josh's brother, which would mean that therefore. Oh you have a sister. Oh you have a sister. Yeah, it would involve one of our parents. That's that is weird. No. No, no, no, okay, let's not go. We've just been in Alabama. I mean, like Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_01 1:36:28

There you go, there you go. Nothing nothing is possible in Alabama. Exactly. That's saying but I think that is uh thank you so much for having us here in your house. And sorry that we talk about weird things occasionally, but uh but I think uh you had a good time being on this podcast.

SPEAKER_03 1:36:44

It's been amazing. We've had an awesome time, yeah. And um thank you for having me on, and maybe in the future we do it again, or I'll come to Frankfurt and do it over there. I'll just yeah. You gotta come back.

SPEAKER_01 1:36:56

He wore uh indeed a bloody head the entire time, so he identified he's a he's a true broke broke back uh cowboy. But nobody's watching at this point, I don't know. There's always that one guy that still uh stays to the until the end. Very, very end. And we appreciate you, yeah, we do, yeah. We do appreciate you. And I appreciate you uh being here today, and uh appreciate you having us, and uh and I hope we have you back. Maybe after the iron train we can do a little bit. And when you do that that that crazy trip that you guys.

SPEAKER_03 1:37:33

Don't say anymore, we're doing something called together.

SPEAKER_01 1:37:37

Yeah, yeah, NDA, but like that will you will be back.

SPEAKER_03 1:37:40

Yes, the trio. Yeah, we could be like the top gear trio.

SPEAKER_01 1:37:43

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 1:37:44

We've got Hammond over there, the short one, and then we've got like me, the old grumpy one, and you're under the both old and grumpy, but I think I'm a little no, you're older, huh?

SPEAKER_01 1:37:52

Yeah, you're older. Yeah, I'm older than you, so I could be James Mayor. But you don't like cars, right?

SPEAKER_03 1:37:55

Right, so I'm I could be James May.

SPEAKER_01 1:37:57

You can be James May. I'm Hammond.

SPEAKER_03 1:38:00

No, he's Hammond, he's a shorter one.

SPEAKER_01 1:38:09

Uh I think we will find out, but I think uh that's something uh the answer we're given the next episode. Exactly, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:38:16

Thanks guys so much for listening and watching. Where can people find you?

SPEAKER_01 1:38:23

Just Google Noel Phillips.

SPEAKER_03 1:38:26

I'm on there, IMTP like that. Um yeah, just no Noel Phillips on YouTube. That's it pretty much.

SPEAKER_01 1:38:31

And I'm on Instagram as well, but like just Yeah, you can you can follow him and uh guys, thank you so much for the great feedback that you give us. Keep us giving us uh uh great comments in uh on uh Spotify and give us Yeah yeah, no, but it's always nice to read your comments, but because we read them all. And if you have a question for Noel, hit it put it in the comments.

SPEAKER_03 1:38:52

And if you want to see me back on again, let us know. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 1:38:55

And if you don't want, then say no.

SPEAKER_03 1:38:58

Open out, bye. See you guys.