Africa Flying Adventure: Rare Bug Attack on 1970s Built DC-9 

People talk a lot of trash about African aviation, and I am sure they have their reasons. But if I got on a plane Captain George was flying, I'd have 100% confidence. One of the great things about this channel is how Sam seeks out character airplanes and the characters who fly them.

Captain George seems so proud and happy to fly the DC9.

"You don't loose your flying skills", captain is on the point also. 👌 Real aviator,.

This DC-9 looks so complicated to fly but like he said you definitely don't loose your flying skills flying this thing😎👍💙

That IBERIA lettering covered with vinil sticker at 14:35 is just epic vintage aviation.

Captain George is a very passionate pilot. It shows in his demeanor and love of the aging aircraft. I say kudos to him and his co-pilot who obviously have AV fuel in their bloodstreams.

These are true aviation heroes with the conditions they have to fly.

It keeps you on point and you don't loose flying skills. This is a real pilot satisfaction.

Bruh Captain George is a legend man, i aint ever seen a pilot so enthusiastic in a video about showing stuff and explaining things etc. Its amazing

Captain "George" must be an ex-airforce , his cool demeanor, humour and witty responses say it all

For the AvGeeks amongst your viewers, these types of flights are so much more fascinating than commercial passenger flight reviews - amazing access and experience! Wonderful video!

Sam, the last time you flew with Captain George was 10 years ago and with all those experiences in between, you must have kept in touch all that time. Great video, great pilot. Thanks, Sam.

The DC-9 was my favourite plane! Working for Austrian Airlines in the late 70s/early 80s, the fleet consisted of DC-9-32, -51, -80 and I loved them. They really are working horses! Thanks for this great video!

"It keeps you on point so you don't lose your flying skills." This is so true. I'll bet this pilot has more raw skill than most.

The DC9 was a workhorse for us, right up until the very end. It's an extremely reliable and solid airplane, that gave us decades of service, with low maintenance issues. It's a great airplane. Great job Sam.

Wow! That plane is so cool. All the gadgets, knobs, compartments, amazing. These pilots are studs flying these old birds.

Wow! Thank you Sam for sharing this very unique experience of DC-9!

There is a real team spirit between the crew and ground staff, Captain George is so relaxed and calm

This is an awesome watch. When you see people with aviation flowing in their blood, you can't but love them. It speaks loudly....Capt George is just a delightful person.

I used to fly a lot in USA. Then I came to Kenya and Tanzania. The sceneries are second to none

Mr Chui was smiling from ear to ear. Great video, love the old classic planes..."Built to last". !!!

DC-9 is always a memory for me. One of my first onboard experiences was on a stationary DC-9 in a local transportation museum in my city, a defunct DC-9 registered as PK-GNT of Garuda Indonesia, nose name was "Bebai". Running around the "spacious" cabin--for all of the seats were taken out but 3 foremost rows of 2-2 business class seats--and taking the captain's seat, examining all of the broken, inactive mechanical flight instruments. This is why 3:56 is strangely familiar for me; looking at the very familiar throttle quadrant pedestal. I still remember vividly that the weather radar panel (or what's left of it) is still a mechanical one (not the glass one like what Astral Cargo uses). Sadly, the airline now had repainted her with an anachronistical present-day GIA livery. It's a shame since the aircraft was sent to the museum still in her Landor livery and was kept that way till the early 2010s. It would be better if the airline repainted PK-GNT in her original Van Diaz (red-orange "hockey stick") livery. Not just that, all of the missing cockpit gauges were replaced with nondescript faux gauges displaying inaccurate instruments.

Cant think of any commercial airline pilot who would manually fly their aircraft above 8,000 feet, unless there was a tech issue. These guys are true flying hero`s, proper pilots who don`t fly on a lap top.

a gem of a captain ! The first officer as well. The true fun of aviation , You can see the passion in both their actions and words ! good Content here @Sam

love to see the DC-9 flying! what a super plane. *please keep up the classic content Sam!* very interesting at 12:00 Tanzania People's Defence Force fighters, Captain says they are MiG-21 and the Air Force did have 16 MiG-21's, they also had an unknown number of Chengdu J-7, the licensed Chinese version of the MiG-21. Production of the MiG-21's started in 1959 and the Chengdu J-7 ended production in 2013, a long run! Very little is known about the Tanzania airforce fleet... cool to see

I like this captain. He gets what flying really is about. He can be my wingman any time.

Thank You Sam Chui. You have educated a lot about plane and flights. Pilot knows what he is doing. He is very confident

Warmed my heart to see that row of 727's at 17.34. Just great to see all these old classics not only still in the air but also still doing what they were built to do; flying regular revenue flights and making money for the operators. Thanks Sam!

Sam, It is with heartfelt gratitude that you included external takeoff footage. Some of us need this validation and can't get enough! ❤️✈️

Delightful! Thank you, Sam. Did anyone else notice the Iberia branding on the inside of the L1 door at 06:43? This aircraft was EC-CTU 'Pedro de Alvarado' (NOT Alvaredo, Planespotters!) and was with IB until 2001.

Thank you for covering this Sam! Shout out to the captain and the crew!

Thanks Sam for the coverage of our DC9F which we are truly proud of....

Fantastic video. Nuno is correct. Captain George is an aviation hero.

Your series on these backwater destinations flying on super old jets is so awesome! You've got some guts Sam!

Great captain

You can see the "Iberia" logo inside the passengers door. My father used to work on these and on the B727 too as an electrical technician for Iberia at Madrid Barajas airport around 1972. Maybe he even worked on this one!

Captain George is awesome! I’d let him fly me anywhere on anything. Great video Sam!

Manual flying till FL250? These gentlemans probably know what they are doing!

Wow!!!! This is real aviation. Excellent video

Love the smile on the Captain's face after landing. What a pro.

What a great captain and a well built old bird, some serious hand flying skills.

Love Captain George!! Great to see a man loving what he's doing! Relaxed but 100% professional!!

Fantastic video ! Happy to see that those majestic planes are still flying ❤

My father flew this exact dc9 at iberia and airlines, good to know is still flying!!

Love these African aviation videos! As an Avgeek I’m so excited to see these classic aircraft like the 727, 737, 75/767 & DC-9s still safely flying!

Real deal...Amazing duo at the cockpit....Hats off !

Wow, what a wonderful experience! Thanks for sharing these videos; I love them……

Thanks guys for the great tour! I've been a pilot for over 50 years and no longer fly but I have the DC-9 on my X-Plane simulator and I love flying with the old steam gauges as well as this old bird!

Love these cargo adventures Sam, hope to see you fly more with other freight companies :)

Oldies goldies thanks Sam for tracking down these legendary birds. You're a true aviation enthusiast...

Loving the 'autothrottle'! These guys are so professional and they manage to keep these old birds in the air with a smile!

fun fact sam: In a mcdonnel douglas aeroplane( Dc-9 Md-80 and md-11) it is always recommended to handfly until u reach a stable configuration after takeoff where the flaps and slats are up and ur on LNAV heading , autopilot early engagement can cause the plane to do nosedive etc etc.

Nice classic Aircraft, These pilots live their jobs, Thanks for the ride.

Sam you're amazing, we are always waiting for you

great video, great crew, what an amazing experience this must have been for you!

Sam, You really make Flighing and Flyers Interested in the Different aeroplanes destinations, Thanks and Keep Up The Great Work

Aviation at it best, thank for this great type of videos Sam, allowing us to see the unknown airliner of the world 🌎 ✌️

I like your videos. It was always great and interesting. Thanks Sam.👍👍👍❤️❤️❤️

Another gorgeous classic aircraft! Great crew and great video as always!

What a great experience it must be to fly a 46 year old aeroplane. Well done Sam. Keep it up.

i love Sam's aviation uploads , the best

Great camera coverage and story. Thank you for showing that in all countries there are folks that are very skilled, professional aviators.

Great flight! Sam, your videos are interesting, informative and well-edited. Today's flight on the DC-9 was such a trip down memory lane. Now, they're being used for cargo. Such a strong plane that was the backbone of so many airlines is still in the air is marvelous. Those pilots are tremendous. Switches, lights, gauges and a pad w/pen to make notes are truly old-school. Well-done!

At @6:45 you can see the Iberia logo still on the door. This plane's (5E-UAE) first registration was EC-CTU in 1976 and belonged to the Spanish extinct airline Aviaco, which was merged into Iberia in 1999. When it was retired in Spain it flew for several other airlines and converted to a freighter somewhere along the way. It's very likely that I flew in this airplane back when I was a kid, because of my old man's job we traveled quite a bit. So glad to see these old workhorses still soaring the skies! Great video!

Lovely airplane, great pilot Capn. George. Many thanks for the video. Greetings from Montego Bay airport Jamaica.

Thank you Sam! Such a great video!

Amazing aircraft and amazing video Sam. Well done!!

It is always a surprise how those two small rear engines give power for this plane to fly high and fast !

This was really great! Having grown up flying DC-9:s from Sweden to destinations all over Europe in the sunshine heat, in foggy rain, in snowy blizzards and in arctic cold I have to agree. The DC-9 is truly a very rugged airplane able to take a lot of punishment and still fly on. Just give it a bit of loving care and you´ll fly safe.

Capt. George's walkaround is the way it should be done! What a guy!

I love your videos, it's awesome how you meet so many great people all over the earth!

amazing!! thanks for share the wonderfull experience of flying this kind of planes

Wow, no fly-by-wire, no digital cockpit, these truly are real pilots! Thanks for this jump in the past

I flew on several Hawaiian Airlines DC-9s as a kid in the 1970s and early 1980s, I even had a toy Hawaiian Airlines DC-9.

Greatly appreciated thanks for sharing another wonderful experience

Just like the recent, wonderful Azerbaijani Silkway Captain Rasim, Captain George exudes confidence, pride and skill. This battered beast is in good hands, let's hope IT keeps up its end of the deal! This aircraft started in 1976 with Aviaco. After 197 owners and surviving a scrap yard it is back in service.

What a lovely Captain 👌

5836 flight hours as a FA/Loadmaster and Crew Chief in DC9s in the Navy. Wow that cockpit looks EXACTLY as I remember

damn i always love to see a classic cockpit.. the modern aircraft may have the most advance cockpit today but this cockpit it's a relic and i love to see it..

Must be very lucky to fly on a DC-9! Love your videos Sam👍

Sam I really love your channel - you set the bar so high for all other wannabe vloggers and they pale in comparison. Keep up the awesome work man.

That last landing, she floated right in!! I was waiting for the stall horn! Exactly how we are trained nice work!

Very beautiful and interesting footage. Love your work Sam. Thanks and greetz from an ex DC9 pilot in Holland.

Great to see out-of-the-way places Sam!

Awesome, thank you Sam from Italy!!

sammmm!!! i absolutely luv ur videos, ive always luved planes and i love how you take us on these journeys with you, i rlly luv ur videos and your channel, i hope to meet you some day!!! xx

Wow, I am very glad that Astral let you fly along. They must know that they fly very rare aircraft!

Great video Thank you for sharing

Sending some aviation love from Tanzania❤️

Great video - thanks!

Great pilot captain George liked his sense of humour when he gets hold of throttles then says engage auto throttles

Thanks for the valuable video.

Oh that 9! My favorite bird to ride on. Went DTW to IAD on NW late on a Sunday, and we deplaned direct to the mobile lounge. Coolest trip. Thanks for this video!

"So you don't lose your flying skills". Well said, captain! Much needed these days.

Congratulations Captain George! Nice vídeo Sam..

Very interesting, great job as always Sam ! :-)

I love the DC-9 it is my favorite airplane , I have so many memories from flying on Finnair, SAS and Iberia DC-9's back in the days. Great video Sam!

Captain George is extremely articulate with english! 💛🙏🏾

Fantastic video for this former "Aviaco & Iberia" DC9 ( EC-CTU )

Good. Enjoyed the video keep it up sam.