Aviation & Aerospace Engineering Videos Hacker News Recommends
Aviation & aerospace engineering videos on HackerTube: the talks, lectures and explainers Hacker News commenters keep sharing, covering airplanes, airlines, pilots, flight training, air traffic control, jet engines, aircraft design, crashes and investigations, paramotors, drones, helicopters, Boeing, aircraft history.
77 videos · ranked by HN recommendations · showing 1–48
Most recommended aviation & aerospace engineering videos
The ones HN returns to most often when a thread turns to this topic.
lecture#94Children Of The Magenta Line
Mossie Fly
“if you haven't seen this amazing talk, you should definitely give it a watch”
11 HN recommenders · 2021–2026
explainer#393The Economics of Airline Class
Wendover Productions
“Would highly recommend the YouTube video below [0] from Wendover”
6 HN recommenders · 2017–2025
podcast#483David Fravor: UFOs, Aliens, Fighter Jets, and Aerospace Engineering | Lex Fridman Podcast #122
Lex Fridman
“this is a great interview interesting in its own right, even without the UFO part”
8 HN recommenders · 2020–2022
explainer#499The Fastest Way to Board a Plane Feels Like the Slowest
CGP Grey
“Highly recommend this video of plane boarding methods by CGP Grey”
9 HN recommenders · 2020–2023
explainer#592Zipline - How Rwanda Built A Drone Delivery Service
Real Engineering
“this video by Real Engineering that does a great job of explaining how the whole thing works”
9 HN recommenders · 2019–2023
documentary#602Pulling Power from the Sky: The Story of Makani [Feature Film]
X, The Moonshot Factory
“There's a beautiful feature film about the story of Makani. It's a great watch with plenty of technical details”
6 HN recommenders · 2020–2025
podcast#740Joe Rogan Experience #1361 - Cmdr. David Fravor & Jeremy Corbell
PowerfulJRE
“one of the most compelling eyewitness accounts I’ve seen”
5 HN recommenders · 2019–2023
explainer#761Big Plane vs Little Plane (The Economics of Long-Haul Flights)
Wendover Productions
“This is a great video on the economics of the hub and spoke vs. direct model embodied by the A380 vs 787”
8 HN recommenders · 2017–2023
demo#809Why You Should Put YOUR MASK On First (My Brain Without Oxygen) - Smarter Every Day 157
SmarterEveryDay
“has a wonderful video demonstrating this effect [0]. I’d recommend watching the whole thing”
5 HN recommenders · 2016–2025
documentary#829The Boeing 787: Broken Dreams l Al Jazeera Investigations
Al Jazeera English
“AlJazeera deserves respect for this excellent footage they got from inside the factory.”
6 HN recommenders · 2017–2024
documentary#925A NEW Trace! The FULL MH370 Story, so Far..
Mentour Pilot
“I highly recommend Mentour Pilots videos on the topic, for an indepth introduction to the whole story and the new search”
5 HN recommenders · 2024–2025
talk#992How to crash an airplane – Nickolas Means | The Lead Developer UK 2016
LeadDev
“I watched a talk[1] by Nickolas Means recently that goes deeper into the events of that day and the lessons learned.”
4 HN recommenders · 2019–2024
explainer#1005Super Pointy Sprint Missile - 0 to Mach 10 in 15 Seconds - 100Gs & 6000°F
Dark Footage
“It's a great overview of the development of the Sprint though, worth watching if it's of interest.”
3 HN recommenders · 2021–2024
explainer#1043Mars Helicopter (before it went to Mars)
Veritasium
“a really excellent video that answers all your questions”
10 HN recommenders · 2020–2021
explainer#1052Drone Delivery Was Supposed to be the Future. What Went Wrong?
Wendover Productions
“I think that Wendover has the best summary”
4 HN recommenders · 2022–2023
documentary#1138The Vanishing of Flight 370
LEMMiNO
“There is a really well put together video[1] by a YouTuber, who goes by the name of Lemmino”
2 HN recommenders · 2019–2023
explainer#1175Runaway Stabilizer!! How to stop MCAS.
Mentour Pilot
“I'd highly recommend anyone who wants to see what an MCAS runaway looks like”
7 HN recommenders · 2019–2022
explainer#1256Small Planes Over Big Oceans (ETOPS Explained)
Wendover Productions
“did a fanatastic video about this, really recommend it”
4 HN recommenders · 2017–2020
explainer#1319Are Electric Planes Possible?
Real Engineering
“did a detailed analysis of the current operating limitations with electric planes”
4 HN recommenders · 2018–2024
demo#1406Festo - SmartBird
Festo
“Their Smart Bird is spectacular.[2]”
4 HN recommenders · 2011–2021
explainer#1451How Overnight Shipping Works
Wendover Productions
“is a good Youtube video that discusses how overnight shipping systems like Fedex etc. have works.”
4 HN recommenders · 2018–2023
documentary#1595People & Power - On a wing and a prayer
Al Jazeera English
“Here are gruesome, firsthand details about production and management problems with the 737NG in a documentary from Al Jazeera.”
3 HN recommenders · 2019–2024
talk#1641Doug McLean | Common Misconceptions in Aerodynamics
Michigan Engineering
“You might get something out of this 2013 talk by former Boeing engineer Doug McLean on misconceptions about lift.”
4 HN recommenders · 2019–2021
explainer#1749How Airlines Quietly Became Banks
Wendover Productions
“Wendover Productions had a good video about this, framed around United getting a loan during the pandemic”
5 HN recommenders · 2021–2026
explainer#1789Why Planes Don't Fly Faster
Wendover Productions
“airplanes used to fly much faster in the 1960s than they do today.”
3 HN recommenders · 2018–2022
demo#1819Airbus A340 EMERGENCY - Engine Failure
AviationTV
“If you really want to see something captivating, watch this clip of a Swiss A340 crew handling an overheating engine in-flight.”
2 HN recommenders · 2014–2021
explainer#1945The Long, Twisted And Slightly Ridiculous Story of Avgas Part 1
AVweb
“here are a few insightful videos that summarize the story”
3 HN recommenders · 2022–2026
talk#1978DEFCON 20: Hacker + Airplanes = No Good Can Come Of This
Christiaan008
“Good watch if you wanna see how naively designed the whole thing is.”
3 HN recommenders · 2015–2026
explainer#2048The Long, Twisted and Slightly Ridiculous Story of Avgas Part 2
AVweb
“AVWeb made 2 videos on the subject of leaded avgas and on how hard it is to get it approved.”
3 HN recommenders · 2022–2026
lecture#2242Special Lecture: F-22 Flight Controls
MIT OpenCourseWare
“the talk is that good!”
2 HN recommenders · 2021–2022
talk#2262The Original Skunk Works – Nickolas Means | The Lead Developer UK 2017
LeadDev
“I would also recommend this conference talk on the subject by Nickolas Means, it was very well done”
3 HN recommenders · 2017–2021
explainer#2297The Five Freedoms of Aviation
Wendover Productions
“This video has a lot of good info on it”
3 HN recommenders · 2018–2023
explainer#2360How to Design Impenetrable Airport Security
Wendover Productions
“If you actually want to be informed on the subject I highly recommend”
2 HN recommenders · 2019–2023
explainer#2441The real reason Boeing's new plane crashed twice
Vox
“VOX has a good explainer video on what caused the 737 Max to crash twice for anyone who doesn't know the details.”
2 HN recommenders · 2019
talk#2454How to Land the Space Shuttle... from Space
Bret
“I highly, highly recommend this entertaining and technical presentation by Bret Copeland”
2 HN recommenders · 2017–2023
explainer#2504The Ridiculous Engineering Of Jet Engines
Veritasium
“is absolutely fascinating & well worth a watch”
2 HN recommenders · 2025–2026
explainer#2720How Budget Airlines Work
Wendover Productions
“Wendover has a short 8 minute video”
2 HN recommenders · 2017–2019
demo#2826Jet Fuel VS Diesel VS Gasoline how they burn and what color are they.
Just Think
“Great practical demonstration of the different flammability characteristics of some common fuels.”
2 HN recommenders · 2018–2022
talk#2828Major Brian Shul, USAF (Ret.) SR-71 Blackbird 'Speed Check'
Jan Johnson
“it's pretty amusing. As told by the pilot”
2 HN recommenders · 2018–2021
demo#2858Armadillo Aerospace - Mod free flight, engine restart, 4 views
Clark Lindsey
“this [1] test by Armadillo was more impressive in my opinion for the additional complexity involved”
2 HN recommenders · 2010–2014
demo#2875Boeing 777 Wing Test
mtthw0
“you might find this really interesting”
2 HN recommenders · 2013–2023
documentary#2917The Wright Brothers DID Invent the Airplane
Greg's Airplanes and Automobiles
“This video has a nice delineation of the collection of breakthroughs needed”
2 HN recommenders · 2023–2025
commentary#3079Boeing: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
LastWeekTonight
“There is a very nice episode of Last Week Tonight by John Oliver diving into it”
2 HN recommenders · 2024
explainer#3123Boeing 737 Stall Escape manoeuvre, why MAX needs MCAS!!
Mentour Pilot
“It's not very technical, but very easy to understand.”
2 HN recommenders · 2019–2020
lecture#3148Automation Dependency - Part One, by Capt. VanderBurgh (restored)
flightcrewguide.com
“a 1997 talk by an American Airlines trainer about automation dependency”
2 HN recommenders · 2022–2025
lecture#3158Rotating Detonation Engine (RDE) -- Dynamics and Bifurcations
Nathan Kutz
“you can still enjoy the pretty damn cool high speed imaging of the detonation waves in this type of engine”
2 HN recommenders · 2021–2022
demo#3218Boeing 737 Unable to Trim!! Cockpit video (Full flight sim)
Mentour Pilot
“I had no idea how bad it can actually get”
3 HN recommenders · 2019–2022
demo#3251Planes clouds and vortices
flugsnug
“the spiraling wingtip vortices which can be observed in this neat video”
2 HN recommenders · 2017–2026
Channels HN cites most for aviation & aerospace engineering
Each channel page lists every video of theirs that HN recommends.
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