External Video Curation
Pilot Interviews
A curated guide to interviews published by other channels. The original publishers made these recordings; Fastest Planes provides links and viewing questions to connect them with the aircraft encyclopedia.
Source titles and channel links checked against YouTube metadata on 28 September 2026. This is a metadata check, not a fact-check of every statement in the videos. Publication dates remain on the original video pages; the viewing notes are editorial prompts, not quotations or time-coded transcripts.
United States
From the Tomcat to the Lightning II — seven American cockpits
Scariest Flight in the Tomcat
Original publisher: C.W. Lemoine. Watch the original video and its publication details.
Viewing focus: When reading a personal flying story, separate the pilot’s experience in an F-14D from claims about every Tomcat version. Compare the account with the F-14 profile’s design and carrier role.
Original video title
F-14D Pilot Talks About His SCARIEST Flight in the TOMCAT | Interview Clips
The Most Fun Jet to Fly
Original publisher: Louis Skupien. Watch the original video and its publication details.
Viewing focus: Use this account to distinguish the experience of display flying from operational missions. Supercruise, manoeuvring and low observability describe different capabilities.
Original video title
F-22 Raptor: The Most Fun Jet In The World To Fly – Interview with RaZZ Larson F22 Demo Team
Flying at Mach 3.3
Original publisher: Erik Johnston. Watch the original video and its publication details.
Viewing focus: Look for the division of work between pilot and reconnaissance systems officer. A recollection about one flight is different from the measured 1976 speed record.
Original video title
SR-71 Pilot Interview Richard Graham Veteran Tales
The LA Speed Check
Original publisher: Jan Johnson. Watch the original video and its publication details.
Viewing focus: Treat the “speed check” as an attributed pilot anecdote. Groundspeed reported by air traffic control depends on winds and is not a calibrated aircraft maximum-speed record.
Original video title
Major Brian Shul, USAF (Ret.) SR-71 Blackbird ‘Speed Check’
Air Superiority Pilot
Original publisher: Aviation Spotters Online. Watch the original video and its publication details.
Viewing focus: Use the interview’s airshow context to distinguish an individual pilot’s explanation from a combat-performance comparison. Check the specific F-15 variant before comparing specifications.
Original video title
2023 Australian International Airshow McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle Pilot Interview
September 11 Intercept Mission
Original publisher: CBS Evening News. Watch the original video and its publication details.
Viewing focus: This is a retrospective personal account of the September 11 mission. Distinguish the pilots’ recollections and intentions from independently documented event timing.
Original video title
Extended interview: F-16 pilots recall mission to intercept Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001
Inside the Cockpit
Original publisher: Lockheed Martin. Watch the original video and its publication details.
Viewing focus: This is manufacturer-published material. Use it to identify cockpit concepts, then distinguish a demonstrated display feature from broader claims about operational effectiveness.
Original video title
Pilot Interview INSIDE an F-35’s Cockpit
Europe
Typhoon, Rafale and the queen of the Atlantic
Securing the Skies
Original publisher: NATO MILITARY SHAPE. Watch the original video and its publication details.
Viewing focus: Quick Reaction Alert is a mission context, not a maximum-speed contest. Listen for the readiness and identification tasks, and compare them with the Typhoon’s published role.
Original video title
SPANISH EUROFIGHTER TYPHOON PILOT #securingtheskies
India’s First Female Rafale Pilot
Original publisher: WION. Watch the original video and its publication details.
Viewing focus: The original title describes the subject at the time of publication. Statements such as “only” can change; use the interview for its attributed career account rather than a current personnel roster.
Original video title
India’s Only Woman Rafale Fighter Pilot Is Now Eyeing Space | GRAVITAS
A Day in the Life of a Concorde Captain
Original publisher: Aircrew Interview. Watch the original video and its publication details.
Viewing focus: Connect the captain’s account with Concorde’s routine passenger operations. Scheduled journey time, cruising Mach number and a fastest crossing are different measurements.
Original video title
A Day in the Life: Concorde Captain | John Hutchinson
Russia
A rare Western look inside a Soviet legend
Western Pilot’s Perspective
Original publisher: Aircrew Interview. Watch the original video and its publication details.
Viewing focus: A pilot’s experience applies to the configuration and period flown. Compare the account with the early MiG-29’s documented sensors and the changes made to later versions.
Original video title
Interview with Robert Hierl on the MiG-29 Fulcrum
Meet The Legends
Want the full stories behind these voices? Read the profiles of history’s greatest supersonic pilots — from Chuck Yeager to Pete Knight.