I love all your questions, so keep ‘em coming. I’m pretty active on Instagram and of course YouTube. But there are some questions that come up fairly often, so I figured I could save you some time by listing answers to them here. If this doesn’t help, send me a message using the form below and I’ll see what I can do to help.

Can I fly with you in the Cirrus?

I wish I could fly with everyone who asks, I honestly do. Sharing the love of aviation is a big part of what I’m trying to do. However there are some practicalities here. Mainly timing and being fair to everyone. It wouldn’t be possible for me to fly with everyone who asks, and I don’t want to choose to fly with people based on when they asked, or location, or how many times they asked, or how many subscribers they have, or any other factor. I want to be fair.

So I’ve concluded the fairest thing is to (sadly) politely decline every request to fly with me. I really REALLY do appreciate the requests though.

Can we meet up for a coffee and a chat?

As with people asking to fly in EYZ, I get asked this a fair bit as well. It’s humbling to be asked to catch up for a coffee or to have a chat about getting into aviation, but it’s not fair to do this on an ad hoc basis.

Instead I do sometimes do meetups at various aviation events like airshows, keep an eye on my Instagram http://instagram.com/stef747 to hear when I’m doing meetups.

Is it Stef-ANNE or Stef-Arn?

Either, either. I get called both. Just call me ‘Stef’, rhymes with ‘breath’ (if you’re from London).

Are you a Commercial Pilot?

I have a Commercial Pilots License but I don’t fly commercially. I wanted to get a CPL in Australia to improve my skills and fly to a higher skill level than if I stopped at a PPL. That’s just a personal thing though, it was more of a challenge to myself to get a CPL rather than something I think everyone should do.

If you want to fly privately, then a PPL (or RPL) are perfectly good for that. But I don’t have any intentions on flying commercially. I kinda like deciding when and where to fly on my own, rather than having someone tell me what to do. I talk about that some more here.

What pilot ratings or licenses do you have?

CASA (Australia)

  • PPL (Private Pilots Licence)
  • CPL (Commercial Pilots Licence)
  • NVFR (Night VFR Rating)
  • IR (Full Instrument Rating)
  • Aerobatics endorsement
  • Formation Flying endorsement
  • Cirrus SR20 / SR22 certification
  • Retractable gear / constant speed propeller (CSU)

FAA (USA)

Why do you have two YouTube channels?

I have always equally loved being a private pilot and travelling on commercial aircraft as a passenger, and until recently I would create video content in both those areas and publish them on the same channel.

However it became clear that the audiences for these two types of content were different, so to ensure you only get the content you enjoy, I split my “aviation” channel into two: Stefan Drury (for General Aviation private pilot life) and stef747 (for Commercial Aviation and Air Travel) so you can subscribe to whichever you are interested in.

Of course if you enjoy both (like me) then please feel free to subscribe to both channels. But now you have choice!

Can I send you something?

Of course, thanks in advance. But please note if you’re sending me something because you want me to review or feature it on my channel note I rarely review or promote products unless there’s a serious benefit to my audience or to me as a business. All letters / packages can be sent to me at my business address here:

Stefan Drury, Fly Digital Investments Pty Ltd
PO Box 6458, South Yarra VIC 3141
AUSTRALIA

What gear do you use?

I have a list of most of the gear I use currently on my Amazon page here.

If you want to see how my gear is setup in the aircraft to record video and audio, I made a video walkthrough of my setup here showing a complete guide to the camera gear, aircraft mounts, audio recording setup for ATC comms, and more.

If you’re interested in what I take when I travel here’s a ‘What’s in my camera bag’ video from 2018: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wBzsho5xL4

Why do you have two flags on your aircraft?

I fly the Australian and Aboriginal flags on the tail of my aircraft.

The Australian flag denotes the country of registration for the aircraft so people know where I’ve come from when I fly overseas.

The Aboriginal flag is to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture.

I pay my respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. I am grateful to call Australia home and to travel by land and air across this amazing country.

Contact Stef

If you have a question that’s not answered above you can send me a message using the form below.

BEFORE YOU EMAIL ME THOUGH: Please note that I try and respond to as many messages as possible but I don’t write back to everyone. Also please kindly remember I am not able to take you for a flight even for payment, I don’t do personal meetups or chats over a coffee, and unless you have a serious proposal for a business opportunity I won’t be able to promote a business just because it’s aviation related. Thanks, stef