ATA: MAN ACAO: EGCC 53.36°N 2.20°W
MANCHESTER AIRPORT LIVE
Analysis of the Live Streaming of Plane Spotting at Manchester Airport on YouTube
How to Find the Best Real Time Action !
MANCHESTER AIRPORT
Manchester in the North West of the UK is the busiest airport outside London. It has more live streams than any airport anywhere in the world !
Why Manchester ?
Unlike the really big airports such as LHR, LAX, JFK, ATL, AMS & DXB etc, MAN suits a more relaxed streaming style. There is time to discuss each movement & the big wide bodies have their chance to shine just because they are not arriving every one or two minutes.
All of the above tends to attract streamers that are not quite as much ‘in yer face’ as those at the more rockstar venues. Add in the notorious rubbish Manchester weather and some of the streams often become a battle of survival with the elements ! This is Aviation up close and personal but on a human scale. Once you have watched one of these streams you will realise you have found something really special
Where do people stream from ?
As well as having just the right amount of movements, Manchester has a lot of locations where it is possible to set up a camera and stream your footage. There are two basic areas each with it’s own pro’s and con’s. These are the Runway Visitor Park and on the other side of the runways there are a number of spots in the area known as Southside. There is friendly competition between the streamers and this stimulates innovation which benefits us, the viewers. The map below shows one of the popular places on the Southside marked 1
Fantastic really close up views of aircraft that have landed on 23 Right making their way to the apron. If the airport is working 05 Left, departing aircraft also pass very close.
The Visitor Park is a real asset to the airport. It has a well thought out raised area for spotters together with a café and shop. There is also a Concorde on display under cover together with several other interesting aircraft.
Whilst this a good location to visit it is not a very good one to stream from. There are two major drawbacks – the first is that you are looking ‘out’ from the airport and although you can get a view along the tarmac you don’t get the same immersive feel as you do when looking ‘into’ the airport from the Southside. Secondly, the light is not good here as during the morning and most of the day you are filming into the sun which every photographer knows is a real challenge.
The majority of the streamers work from various locations down this side of the airport for the very reasons that make the Visitor Park on the northside poor. When the airport is working ‘Dual Ops’ (see How the Runways Operate lower down this page)the departing aircraft usually use 23 Left meaning they spool up right in front of some locations. Given that the sun rises behind this area, on good days, especially in the winter months, the light on the aircraft can be breath-taking.
As the streamers look ‘into’ the airport you get a real feel of the hustle & bustle of Manchester Airport and can see a lot that is happening on the apron & stands. Given the high quality of the cameras and lenses that all use you get real close ups, into for example, the Emirates A380 being provisioned prior to departure.
As the ‘audience’ we do not have suffer the major downside of this location which is that it is not easy to get to. You cannot get a car very close & are faced with a walk through paths that can be wet & muddy. It is a tribute to the dedication of the streamers that they lug their equipment to the various spots.
The second disadvantage is minor. This is when the airport is working ‘Single’ ops you only get a view of the aircraft’s tail as they spool up to take off on 23 Right as they usually do. However the upside is that they usually rotate right in front of the camera.
Other Locations
With the exception of Simon Lowe Aviation the Manchester Streamers venture further afield to other airports now & again. The one with the most itchy feet is Macc Aviation and between last Christmas & New Year Arek brought us some fascinating views from several European airports.
The most visited airport in the UK is unsurprisingly the country’s busiest – LHR. This has recently reclaimed it’s crown as having the most movements of any airport in Europe. Although like MAN it has two runways, these are widely separated with taxiways & infrastructure between them and it’s not possible to get good views of both simultaneously. The sheer number of movements is awe inspiring and this has given me both the best and worst streaming shows. The best was a couple of hours of landings on Jan 1st ’23 in a vicious cross wind. The worst was an excruciating stream by Macc Aviation of landings filmed from a place called Myrtle Avenue. This location gives really close up views of the aircraft as they descend but unfortunately after they pass overhead they cross over a road and fence and then suddenly just disappear before actually touching down ! I’m sure Arek just wanted to give his audience what they wanted and an hour or so of this action is impressive but a stream that goes on for getting on for 8 hours is a borefest of gigantic proportions. It is a never ending stream of aircraft all on exactly the same glidepath and I feel it ends up with these magnificent machines feeling like mere objects and not being given enough respect. In the end it was poetic justice and the planes got their own back as Arek’s generator ran out of petrol just as the most interesting movement for hours, a Boeing 747 came into view. Suddenly the stream froze and this iconic aircraft was hanging in mid air with the rotating YouTube rings of death around it. It was streamer 0 and planes 1. Who said there is no such thing as Karma ?!
The Streamers
These are the guys that are prepared to get up at the crack of dawn and lug their state of the art equipment down lanes and often muddy tracks to get to the very best spot to film the coming action. Being Manchester in the soggy north west of the UK it is also quite likely to be raining or even snowing.
Two Way Street
RANT So as you sit in front of your PC with a cup of coffee or tucked up cosily in bed at say 6.32 am waiting for a 6.30 stream, stop drumming your fingers impatiently on the desk and tell yourself that this dynamic scene is a two way street & maybe it’s about time that you played your part with a SuperChat, no matter how small /RANT.
The Streamers range from one man bands to slick teams. Each has their own individual style and all show remarkable determination to bring us the Manchester Airport live action regardless of what mother nature throws at them !
SOUTHSIDE
Simon is a one man operator who somehow manages to keep on top of the live chat at the same time as bringing us breath-taking footage. To some extent this might be because the filming part comes quite naturally as he has been doing it at MAN for a long time and has a large back catalogue of interesting movements. When it comes to streaming he has a particularly skilful moderating team working the chat and welcoming all visitors. Like all good photographers, Simon has a superb eye for composition and IMHO this puts him head & shoulders above the other cameramen (so far no camerawomen sadly).
On a personal level he has a quiet unhurried style and seems happy to stand for hours in every type of weather ! Even though he might be getting drenched in heavy rain he always maintains a good sense of humour and you can frequently hear him chuckling away to himself at something or other that has been said in the chat. The only time you ever hear him get stressed is when the stream goes down and this is only because he does not want to let people down – a true gentleman in every sense of the word.
All of this makes him the Doyen of the Manchester Airport Live Action Scene.
https://www.youtube.com/@SimonLoweAviation
Let the Planes do the Talking
RUNWAY VISITORS PARK & SOUTHSIDE BONUS SHOWS
These guys really are pro’s and know how to nail social media. In some ways we have them to thank for the recent explosion of online streaming at MAN. They are constantly pushing forward and have attracted a big user base of followers. My personal view is that the obvious financial success of this channel has attracted others to join the party – we have ended up being the winners so thank you guys 
They have cleverly split their resources. Andy works the camera and very good he is too, and Martin has become an accomplished commentator.
Apart from the commentary, Martin’s other main function is to thank people for their donations and support for the channel. TBH, this is what first grabbed me about the whole live streaming scene at MAN.
When I first stumbled across these Airliners Live guys I knew roughly what was going on but what genuinely blew my mind was the amount of money people were donating
Then I noticed the number of subscribers Airliners Live have – whereas the other streamers are moving on up through the low thousands here we are talking in the hundreds of thousands !
I have to admit I am in awe of how they have mastered this online space although there is a strange anomaly which surprises me. This is because their identity is less clear than it might be as the channel also includes a regular stream from Vancouver Airport and virtual flights made using Microsoft’s Flight Sim. I can sort of understand the Vancouver streams but watching someone piloting a virtual aircraft doesn’t seem to gel with their real life, real time coverage of Manchester Airport. I realise there is obviously a big space & demand on YouTube for the streaming of flight sims but I get the feel they are attracting two different audiences and consequently muddying their identity.
There is something else worth mentioning about the real life Manchester Airport streaming and that is the quality of their output. It is true to say that the majority of the streamers all have excellent cameras and lenses with powerful video encoders and some are moving to 4K but Airliners Live has a real punch to their footage.
Lastly, there is however a fly in the ointment. There are so many subscribers and members that they are unable to personally greet each person as they log onto the chat as the other channels try to do. In reality the commentary mostly ends up with Martin & Andy chatting knowledgably about aircraft interspersed with constant ‘Thank You’s” for all the donations as they come in. The ‘community’ vibe just gets swamped and this is an issue that all channels will face as they expand (see The Elephant in the Room below), its just that these guys got there first.
https://www.youtube.com/@AirlinersLive
SOUTHSIDE
Macc Aviation is run by a super nice guy called Arek. It is a one person operation but he seems to have remote backup in the form of his friend Piotr. These two names are fairly large clues that their roots lie outside of the UK in Poland. I know little about Piotr but Arek has a young family and is based in Macclesfield (Macc Aviation get it ? !). Arek tells us he has given up his full time job (I get the impression he held a good position) and is now working part-time as a stepping stone before becoming a full time airport streamer. This is obviously a courageous step and Arek has put a lot of thought into how he can build his community. Although he produces most of his content at MAN he travels to other airports and has just produced shows from Berlin, Prague and Warsaw. Plans in 2023 are ambitious with a seven consecutive day streaming extravaganza around the UK taking in a military airport along the way. Arek is really only just starting out and his journey into the world of online streaming is just a few months old.
As I mentioned earlier he is very personable and has quickly built up a loyal group of followers and there is very much a ‘good vibe’ feel to his channel.
https://www.youtube.com/@MaccAviation
SOUTHSIDE
Think Planes is a two person operation in the form of Simon & Lizz. Simon works the camera and Lizz keeps across the chat and they have developed a refreshingly enthusiastic streaming style. Reading between the lines, they have a background in the aviation industry and this coupled with the fact that they are both accomplished photographers results in something that is different and very entertaining. On a technical level they are knowledgeable on the technology that supports the streaming process and were the first to offer 4K streaming to all their viewers.
Having two people in the streaming process undoubtedly has significant benefits. Simon is free to concentrate on getting his footage bang on whilst Lizz engages with all on the chat and ensures that nobody gets left out.
Their stream has an added frisson in that recently they admitted they were indeed a ‘couple’. This takes their presence online to another level and they skilfully use the banter and joshing that goes on in any relationship, (particularly a relatively new one) to great effect.
It is going to be onwards and upwards for this young couple without a doubt.
https://www.youtube.com/@ThinkPlanes
SOUTHSIDE
This is run by a guy who is just starting out on his online spotting journey. He did his first stream from MAN on 29th December 2022 and has since done others and also visited London Heathrow.
He has only just passed the one thousand subscriber mark so this channel is a good place to visit and maybe engage in the chat as it is still nice & quiet and I’m sure he will give you a warm welcome.
I don’t know his name but he is knowledgeable about aircraft types and keeps up a commentary of with flight details & registrations etc. His streams get a lot of positive feedback and the last one I watched from LHR had a real international vibe to it with viewers logging on from all over the world.
I like his thoughtful understated style and I’m sure he will go far in this space.
https://www.youtube.com/@AviationHunters
SOUTHSIDE
https://www.youtube.com/@blueskyaviation5676
RUNWAY VISITOR PARK
https://www.youtube.com/@TTENetwork
Occasional streaming from the T1 carpark roof gives a new persective.
@garethsplanechannel8436
If you have plans or already stream from MAN please get in touch using our forum and we will be delighted to add you to the list.
Viewing Figures
These fluctuate all over the place & I do not have the luxury of having any kind of control panel like the streamers have to monitor their performance.
As a back of a fag packet estimation of viewers as at early March ’23 I would guess at: Airliners Live way out ahead at 4k, next Simon Lowe Aviation at 1-1.5k followed by Think Planes at 1-1.25k and lastly Macc Aviation who if streaming on his own 0.5-1k but if up against Simon Lowe maybe 0.25-0.5k.
I only first discovered this scene in late 2022 but from what I can surmise, it strikes me that there was an initial surge of viewers which started from the early to the latter part of last year (2022) but that recently this has stalled a bit with the exception of Think Planes who have grown significantly in the past three months.
DISCLAIMER
To get the basics out of the way first:
This is a very personal site and everything here are just my opinions & are not intended to be factual statements. I have tried to be objective but inevitably some folks will not agree with me and I can imagine scenes with people shouting at me through their screen - "What, this is rubbish - the guy is an idiot !" I do really want to be fair though, and have a right of reply & a process whereby anyone can have errors and inaccuracies put right and apologies made if required. Please use the form below to report simple inaccuracies although it is probably better to use the forum to raise more complicated issues either in the public domain or by Personal Message - we will always respect your right to privacy if you wish.
I should also point out that I am aware that I repeat points, observations & opinions in various places and I intend to streamline a lot of the content. At the moment I am just concentrating on getting a site ready to launch and start the Search Engine Optimisation process. Phase 2 will be a much stripped down and hopefully punchier version of what you see here.
WARNING - watching live aircraft can become addictive !
March 2023
OOPS ! Errors & Apologies
Don't all shout at once !
Photography
I have mentioned that without exception all the streamers produce really high quality footage. They have developed contrasting styles – a good example of this is the two Simon’s. We have Simon of Think Planes who is only happy when he has nailed that PPP (Pixel Perfect Pan) and Simon of Simon Lowe Aviation who has a more freeform way of following the action and is a master of being able to blend zooming and panning in smooth harmony. You cannot say one of these is better that the other – they are just different and both styles are a result of a lot of talent mixed with a lot of practice and both are great to watch.
Big Step Forward
During Jan ’23 Simon Lowe Aviation have been dropping hints that Simon & his colleague (brother ?) are working on something new. I get the idea Simon builds some of the more advanced parts of the kit he uses and this morning (31st Jan ’23) on his usual Tuesday stream I immediately noticed that he was changing zoom instantaneously and it looked great. As I have said before, Simon is not super paranoid about talk of the technology he uses so he explained that he had two cameras & this was just the start of a multicamera setup he is designing. Even just with two cameras the effect is impressive – when he cuts from one to the other you get a professional ‘produced’ feel and It is hard to believe that just one guy is doing it !
IMHO this is a smart move, not only is he producing a stream that is more attractive to watch but also it plays into the advantage he has of being able to design & build some of the crucial bits of hardware & software himself. Put simply, if I wanted to join the party and build my own channel by just throwing money at proprietary hardware I still could not compete however deep my pockets – as I said, a smart move by Mr Lowe !
Sound
For me and I think many others the sound of the aircraft and the general ambient sounds of a busy airport are a very important part of watching these live streams. It used to be that Airliners Live had by far the best sound, in part because frequently the planes taxi right in front of them. Recently however others seem to have made changes and in their stream on February 2nd (replay it yourself sometime) Simon Lowe Aviation were filming right in front of the aircraft as they spooled up (LOUDLY) to take off on Runway 23 Left (they were working Dual Ops). I can honestly say that everyone in the chat was blown away by the added sense of realism, drama and raw power – Simon was so close he could have been literally blown away. This happened right at the start of his stream and I thought to myself that other than an early morning swim there are not many better ways to blow away the cobwebs than the roar of a couple of Rolls Royce jet engines. I then made the definitive decision to find out where this spot is and go there for real one nice morning.
Silence (NOT !)
There is only one channel though that has decided to go in a different direction and that is Macc Aviation and when Arek is not speaking there is near complete silence other than when a plane goes right overhead. I suspect he might be using a ‘shotgun’ microphone which focuses in a narrow area. I have asked him in the chat several times to increase the ambient sound to the point where I don’t dare ask again. Arek must think this is what people want and it does have the advantage of making his voice very easy to hear. Again, as I said in the Disclaimer above, this is a very much an opinionated site and who is to say that I am right in wanting more of atmospheric affect.
EDIT: I might not be right but when I popped into one of Arek’s streams the other day (late Feb ’23) it seemed that the ambient sound had improved somewhat)
EDIT 2: Great news ! This morning Arek has just been on a streaming run at MAN of several days duration and there is no question, there is a HUGE improvement in the quality & volume of the ambient sounds. It makes his stream so much more immersive imo
I have little idea how to stream to YouTube and dare not try to find out too much in case I get tempted to have a go. I would never in a million years be able to do what these guys do but there are other things you could stream ….
Anyway, from what I gather, you connect your camera to a box which encodes the stream into a YouTube friendly format and then send that to a server/host using a single Sim card or better still a number of Sims connected to different providers. The server then delivers the output to YouTube – sorry to be so simplistic but that is all I know/guess …..
The 4K myth
There has been a sudden rush to the use of 4K by many of the channels recently.
First out of the blocks were Think Planes closely followed by Airliners Live although theirs was initially only available to their paying subscribers. Recently Macc Aviation joined the party with the highest spec of the lot – 4K at 60 frames a second..
It is understandable in this competitive atmosphere that most streamers don’t divulge everything so we don’t know what bitrates each use.
Resource Intensive
This rush into 4K happened at the very start of 2023 and now it is bedding down there are a few issues that are becoming apparent. The first of these is that it appears to be resource intensive. We have Airliners Live asking their members to be extra generous and saying how much more expensive it is to operate and Macc Aviation being plagued by a series of problems with their power supply.
What it is Good For
Undoubtedly if you were filming in an advanced format such as D-Cinelike or D-Log and then processing and grading the footage afterwards then 4K can produce fantastic images but just streaming the unedited footage out to YouTube through various boxes each with their own compression algorithms has more potential downsides than upsides in my opinion. Even with compression it can resolve more detail than just regular high definition however there is a price to pay.
Tiring to Watch
As a keen photographer myself I am lucky enough to own a professional 4k monitor and have studied the footage carefully and to my eyes it is often too contrasty and does not run silky smooth. This results in something that becomes tiring to watch as your eyes and brain are subconsciously having to work hard processing the images. This is the exact opposite of what filmmakers strive to produce – something that is easy on the eye and which is often known as having a ‘cinema feel’. It is similar to the difference between music on CD and vinyl.
I have seen many comments in the chat about how good the 4K footage looks on a large 4K TV and I am sure it does – for a while. However if you had two TV’s side by side, one showing YouTube 4K and the other YouTube 1440p HD then I can assure you after a couple of hours the person watching 4K would be feeling a bit uncomfortable and very likely have the start of a headache whilst the other would be quite contented.
The better news is that you can choose a lower resolution by clicking the YouTube gear icon. It just seems a shame to me that this lust for perceived sharpness seems to have taken precedence over the overall viewing experience.
Realtime Production
Such is my desire to avoid becoming an out and out Simon Lowe Aviation fanboy I hardly dare point out that they film in 1440p High Definition and are going in a different direction by concentrating on the content and Simon is turning himself into a film maker. To me though this makes absolute sense.
Scores on the Doors
Best Photography
Picking the winner was easy. Even without the new multi camera setup Simon Lowe is easily the most naturally talented cameraman imo. This coupled with the fact that he has been at it longer than anyone else and unsurprisingly Simon Lowe Aviation is Numero Uno at MAN. There is bags of resolution & I love the cinematic feel he gets which is easy on the eye and nice to watch (so please no 4K !). Discussions about and analysis of Image Quality can go on for ever but imo this is of much less importance than how the camera is operated. This is where Simon Lowe excels and his eye for composition and ability to follow an aircraft whether taking off or landing in a way that suits that aircraft type is amazing. He also keeps each movement fresh and can pan and zoom in sublime harmony. I am also a particular fan of the way he is not too zealous at tracking each movement and is happy for planes to enter the shot unexpectedly which he sometimes ‘picks up’ and follows. (I use this technique myself when filming shipping although everything then is happening in minutes not seconds !) I guess a lot of this has become instinctive for Simon because all of the streamers have to become expert at multi-tasking – not only filming but also keeping on top of the chat and identifying the more interesting movements on the Flight Radar 24 app. Simon Lowe also has a really good sound setup and he mixes the microphones very cleverly.
Second Best
Choosing the best was easy and so was second best – it is Airliners Live. It was this channel which was the first Manchester Airport Live streaming channel I watched after YouTube must have decided I might like to watch it. I did like watching it and apart from being totally gobsmacked about the amount of money being splashed around I got a real buzz from seeing right into the cockpit of a Virgin A330 with the Captain and First Officer seemingly close enough to touch.
Their streams are almost the complete opposite of Simon Lowe’s. Whereas he is the master of subtlety Airliners Live are full on with everything turned up to the max. Colours are saturated, contrast is razor sharp, in fact the footage has an almost cartoon quality about it and the fact that they get about four times as many viewers as anyone else shows just how popular this look is.
As for technique this is also a matter of extremes. The guy that films from the Aviation Park has got a real gift for being able to pick up a moving aircraft and the speed he is panning at when it comes into shot is frequently judged to perfection. When this happens you can’t help feeling a sudden surge of pleasure. None of the other cameramen at MAN can pan as well as he can when he puts his mind to it. At the other extreme I have seen a couple of streams from Southside and both of them have been truly awful in terms of technique. I don’t know if they only take a low level travel tripod there but honestly even a complete beginner could do as well.
They also have better audio than anyone else. To some extent this is simply because in line with their ‘full on’ approach they obviously believe that loud is good but louder is better. There is more to it than that though and although I confess that I know next to nothing about how any of the streamers deal with sound, the guys at Airliners Live seems to have a knack of being able to mix their speech, the ambient background sounds of an airport together with the roar of the aircraft in a very effective way. Whether it is just a matter of having good quality microphones with a good mixer I have no idea but I do know you can always clearly hear what they are saying and the planes always sound mega dramatic when they spool up to take off or deploy their reversers on landing. The only time I have heard anything nearly as good was once when SL had departing ac spooling up right in front of him on 23L. There may have even been a bit of favourable wind direction but whatever it was absolutely fantastic.
Third & Fourth = Difficult Decision
One of the problems when you try to judge or criticise anything that is considered to have an ‘artistic’ component is that you immediately risk sounding like an arrogant condescending snob. You have to have a back like a duck or failing that, a hide like a rhinoceros.
Ignoring the above, we now search for the channel having the third best quality photography. Of the major players, Think Planes & Macc Aviation remain & choosing between them is not easy because of the many elements in making a live stream – colour accuracy, visible detail, autofocus speed & accuracy, panning & zooming, stability of the tripod and fluidity of the head & audio capture & mixing etc etc.
In control of all the above is the cameraman but they have another role as an artist or film director & they have to decide what shall be presented. For example as an aircraft spools up in front of them with it’s engines roaring, these are often close enough to fill the entire picture if required or maybe the whole plane might look better …..
Taking all into account it is still hard to choose. Macc Aviation has the superior picture quality due primarily to the different cameras they each use. Think Planes use an excellent mirrorless camera that excels at still images and also video providing you work on the footage afterwards (known as in ‘post’). Ironically, because of the way it processes the pixels it is a bit ‘too’ good for streaming untouched imagery to YouTube and Macc Aviation’s camera performs better in this regard. Given that they use the same decent superzoom lens it is not surprising that Macc Aviation’s footage looks just that little bit better. It is very close though and things like the quality of the light have a massively larger impact. In terms of composition Macc Aviation again just edges it imo. Simon of Think Planes obviously concentrates a lot on getting smooth error free pans but things can quite often get disjointed. I have to confess I have not really studied Arek’s technique in detail but Simon is going to be better because he concentrates on it more. Where Arek does win is the overall flow of his stream. It just feels more relaxed and natural with events gently bubbling along as one coherent sequence. This might be as a result of having more to do than Simon – in addition to filming, he (Arek) also has to keep across the chat and stay aware of upcoming movements using FR24. Simon on the other hand is lucky enough to have Lizz so he can keep filming and if there is nothing going on he keeps the camera moving looking for something of interest – Lizz is talking at this point and being frequently interrupted by Simon who is giving us news of how successful (or otherwise) his latest pan has been. Everything just gets really ‘busy’ and constantly your brain is being sent off down two separate roads & the sense of continuity is easily lost. This is real nit-picking stuff and very subjective but I am trying to find a difference where very little exists.
So there is not much separating these two: Picture Quality & Stream Direction goes to Arek & Camera handling to Simon. On this basis, third place would go to Macc Aviation but there are two issues I have not mentioned and that is the Audio and the quality of the stream. Here, Think Planes are the runaway winners on both counts. When it comes to audio almost complete absence of ambient sound and near zero feeling of being at an airport that you get on a Macc Aviation stream. There is a little bit of sound which is engine noise as an aircraft goes directly overhead although you can hear Arek’s’ commentary crystal clear.
Lightweight, Low Cost & Easy to Use Audio Mixer with XLR Support
Then finally we come to the actual technical quality of the stream and Think Planes are again the clear winner. I can’t help feeling there is something inherently wrong with Macc Aviation’s 4K stream as recently many have been full of missed frames with ‘stuttering’ as it is known as. The footage appears jerky and unstable and I wonder if the overheads associated with 4K are just too much for the setup he uses. As of late February he is being plagued by a series of technical problems and my heart goes out to him sometimes as he puts so much effort in only to be let down by his equipment. In my opinion he would be much better off not using 4K and instead adopting Simon Lowe’s 1440p approach. This resolution is less harsh, more cinematic and nicer to watch as well as being better suited to his relaxed style. and more For the time being though, as things stand the clear winner is Think Planes because they make you feel as though you are watching live action at an airport (which is the name of the game in my opinion).
The Other Channels
I feel a bit guilty that I have not had the time to properly look at Aviation Hnuters, Blue Sky Aviation, TTE & Gareth’s Aviation Channel. The only one of these I have spent any significant time on is Aviation Hunters and as he is quite a new entrant into this scene he has got a bit to learn yet. He is knowledgeable about the aircraft but needs to improve the sense of being an airport imo. As an example both Aviation Hunters & Macc Aviation recently visited LCY – London City Airport. Aviation Hunters gave us a good look around the airport as did Macc Aviation but in addition, not long into his stream Arek was showing us all the impressive buildings in the area and as the stream unfolded he skilfully showed how this single runway is planted right into the heart of the city of London.
The guy behind Aviation Hunters (apols, I don’t know his name yet) strikes me as thoughtful & determined and I have absolutely no doubt the channel will soon be up there with the best. Maybe he should watch and analyse a few worldwide airport streams for ideas and effective techniques …
Dropped Frames Averages
Stats For Nerds
My reader will have realised by now that I am not a fan of streaming in 4K. Apart from the hard work it demands from your eyes I have a feeling that it’s introduction has coincided with an increase in poor stream performance. This seems particularly true in the case of Macc Aviation who initially introduced (with a great fanfare) not only 4K but also a higher frame rate of 60fps (frames per second). From memory the first stream in this format worked OK but then came the start of some serious problems. I remember Simon of Think Planes coming on to Arek’s chat (not something I am a fan of) and made an enigmatic comment that he understood what Arek had to do to get his stream up & running again. This Arek managed to do but shortly afterwards the 60fps tagline disappeared. Maybe he had to do this to get a robust stream but this is all conjecture on my part.
Dropped Frames & Stuttering
At the moment my goal is to finish this site and release it to Google before it balloons any more but it is my intention at some stage to analyse all the streamers output looking in particular for dropped frames or stuttering which is a very unleasant artifact and one which I suspect is also made worse by using 4K
Runway Operations
DRAFT
Manchester Airport has two runways running broadly in the same direction but offset from one another laterally. It has two modes of operation, Dual Ops & Single Ops. As maybe guessed, when Dual Ops is in operation one runway is used for arrivals and the other for departures. When Single Ops are in force then everything happens on one runway.
It is obvious that the ideal is to work using the two runways but this only happens until 10.30 each morning (again in afternoon 0 must check). The reason is that when the airport attempted to get planning permission for a second runway there was a lot of opposition, particularly from the residents of Knutsford as they showed that departing aircraft using the proposed new runway would generate noise pollution. As a compromise the airport said that the new second runway would only be used in the extremely busy periods which tail off around 10:30 hrs. So it is that departing a/c have to sahre the original runwat with arrivals.
Is this logical because I think that in the summer when there is a lot of traffic Dual Ops is used all day ?
NB Lots more work needed on this – planning permission for 2nd r/way – new 440mil expansion & r/way usage etc etc
I think I remember someone on one of the chats saying that flights from MAN are significantly more expensive than LHR ? Is this true and if so why ? Airport charges or Airlines trying to maximise profit ? Will the new Terminal development mean prices will fall and so movements will increase ?
Seems a good topic for the forum as some people are sure to have some knowledge.
Explain how the runway numbers relate to the compass bearing & therefore how each end must be 180 degrees offset (no curved runways – or are there ?)
DRAFT
Honourable Mentions
This enigmatic lady from across the pond is on a one woman mission to help with the development of some of the Manchester streaming channels. Her wonderful generosity which she couples with setting increasing targets for the number of ‘Likes’ the steam is getting must make a real difference to the channels she supports.
Her main protégé is Simon of Simon Lowe Aviation but she is also extremely generous to Arek of Macc Aviation & a guy who streams out of BHX.
It is not just a financial commitment but also one of time as when the streams tend to go live it is extremely early in the morning for her.
Barbara’s passion is for any aircraft that has a propeller and several emojis have been designed in her honour !
I am sure there are numerous viewers who are intrigued as to her personal circumstances. These are not trifling amounts of money we are talking about, for example on yesterday’s Simon Lowe Aviation’s stream Barbara gifted around 80 memberships (maybe more) & 1 x 20 US$, 1 x 50 US$ & 1 x 200 US$ giving an approximate total of £460 ! This is just one day and she might have then logged into Macc Aviation or the BHX spotter.
So, is she a hot-shot business woman who has sold her corporate empire, a modern day Krypto Queen or maybe she had a long lost cousin who left the US to go gold panning in Australia and left her his fortune ?! It is only human nature to speculate and I doubt she will read this but if you do, please do not feel offended Barbara – myself like many others in the chat think of you with genuine affection (& gratitude). I am sure Simon (Lowe) knows your back story but he is far too much of a gentleman to ever say anything to anyone !
I am ashamed to admit that I don’t even know if this is a man or a woman ! I initiialed assumed female as ‘bird’ is slang for a girl in the UK but this might not be so in the US where Breaker Bird tunes in from. From the comments I have half heard I now tend to think we are talking about the male of the species !
Breaker Bird also shows great generosity and frequently teams up with Barbara P Sterling and acknowledges the number of target likes with Gifted Memberships which is a great way of developing a growing number of subscribers.
Mike pops up on various channels and he provides a running text commentary in the chat on all the expected movements. I assume he gets these from Flight Radar 24 in the main but he seems also to have other sources occasionally.
This flow of information is extremely useful to the channel host and also the viewers as it means if you are working on your computer as well as having the stream on in the background there is one less window you need to have open.
So if you ever do read this Mike – a huge THANK YOU from me !
One of the most interesting thing I have learned on this roller coaster ride of a learning curve of the past three months is the importance of the ‘Mods’ as they’re known. I initially thought they were just there to delete a bit of spam and the odd weird comment by some low-life or other. Far from it and they are a very important part of every channel and in some ways they are better thought of as Curators rather than Moderators because they help create the overall channel vibe.
Spotters Are “Nice” !
Working with the host they welcome everyone as they join the stream and generally keep things lively if things slow down a bit. They also have to make sure the chat adheres to the guidelines the host has set and these are usually laid back and obvious – avoid contentious subjects and always treat each other with respect. There is something fortunate about the people who are drawn to watching planes take off and land and that it they are almost always ‘nice’ (sorry, cringe but it happens to be true). The mods can be recognised by having a small spanner next to their name.
Lessons Learned at Macc Aviation !
It takes real skill picking people that are just right for your channel because they have such an important role. This was demonstrated recently when sadly, at the end of his 2nd February stream Arek of Macc Aviation announced that most of his moderating team had left the channel – Tina York, Wayne Hartshorn & MsWolves 13. Arek was very gracious in thanking them for their contributions and fortunately he still has the legendary Bryan “SKI” and also Amiman Travels. I can guarantee though that several thousand people were very quickly intrigued by the news and would have loved to have known what lead up to this – Tina in particular has always struck me as excellent and felt very welcoming to me. However such is the almost obsessive unwritten rule not to talk about other streams, the truth will take a bit of time to leak out I guess. As it turned out this did not take very long as on the next day Macc Aviation was also live and Tina & Wayne logged on as normal users.
I am sure that there were many like me who assumed the team of three had all resigned over some policy difference or other but far from it – it transpires that they had been asked to leave. This situation highlights several issues. One is the importance of transparency and openness because if subscribers are kept in the dark, imaginations run wild & people start to imagine all sorts of things, most no doubt being worse than the actual truth.
The second point highlights the importance of choosing the right team at the outset. Where can you go if your mods do not turn out to be suitable and there are virtually no ways of avoiding a difficult situation & it must be hard for Arek.
Storm in a Teacup
Three days after these 3 moderators had appeared to have been dismissed 2 of them, Tina & Wayne have been re-appointed. Not a well managed situation imo but at least a bit of damage limitation gave these two loyal moderators their spanners back !
Not Just Gossip !
There are more issues arising out of the above hence going into so much detail – it is not just gossip !
Profit Sharing ?
These issues demonstrate just how the streaming scene is breaking new ground. It occurred to me whether these moderators have any kind of rights. Also, maybe they should expect to share in the financial success of the channel they have spent hours & hours of their own time helping to create.
These are big questions but we know just how much money can be made and it seems like the Content Creators have absolute power.
It is an interesting point and one which also suggests that a bit more formality & transparency might be worth having. It could turn out that this Storm in a Teacup at Macc Aviation could have far reaching consequences and it was this situation above that prompted me to think we need a forum where these issues can be debated. It is, after all us subscribers that fund this whole scene and so we also have a right to have our say in my opinion.
Monetization
The Lure of the Lucre
A Case Study
Membership Costs
Monthly Fees for Various Membership 'Tiers'Typically these include access to exclusive Emojis & entry to the channel's Facebook/Instagram etc & other premium content. You also get an Icon next to your name which shows how long you have been a member for.
Initially sceptical about the Emojis, I now think they are the best part of the membership and so useful to use in the chat. Being the artist he is, Simon Lowe designs the best ones imo & what he conveys in just a few pixels is amazing. Several channels have designed a propellor - some are even hard to recognise but Simon's looks like it's moving !
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Simon Lowe Aviation - £2.99 & £7.99
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Macc Aviation £3.99 & 3 tiers to £44.99
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Think Planes £2.99 & 2 tiers to £22.99
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Airliners Live - £2.99 & 5 tiers to £44.99
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Aviation Hunters - Gifts only
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Blue Sky Aviation - Gifts only
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TTE - £2.99 & £12.99
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Gareth's Aviation Channel - Not Yet Monetized
This is a 2 hour snapshot of the donations & memberships from a random Airliners Live stream.
It was watching something like this that first grabbed my attention. Just what did these guys have that meant people seemed keen to lavish money on them ?
Two hours is a small part of their overall output and doesn’t include payments made by YouTube as a share of the advertising revenue that their many hours of video uploads and ‘shorts’ generate.
Below are three ways to donate Cash to your Favourite Channel
£££ How Much Do They Make ? £££
DRAFT
Probably unwise, unfair & fraught with potential pitfalls to go into individual details.
Probably best to invent a hypothetical channel that does not exist and try to come up with some estimations.
Also, interesting to discover what it costs to run a channel – capital costs for the hardware & running costs. Then maybe derive an hourly earnings rate for the streamers taking into account NI. Tax & Pension Provision. Almost certainly take the wind out of the sails of the “YouTubers make a fortune” brigade
DRAFT
but ....
It's not all Sweetness & Light !
The Dilemma
aka the Elephant in the Room
What happens when ….
a year or two into the future and the four main channels (or maybe five by then) start to attract more and more viewers. As this happens it starts to become impossible to give each viewer a warm welcome when they arrive like they get now. In fact the chat becomes so busy that it is near impossible to make yourself ‘heard’ amongst the rapidly scrolling posts.<br> The whole Live Streaming phenomena is no new that no doubt YouTube will be considering all the implications and testing new ways for a channel to interact and manage an online audience that is maybe ten times bigger than it is now. Maybe each stream could have more than ‘Chat Window’ etc etc.<br><br> I am going to put a post up on the new forum
Schedules & Timetables - who is on when
Anybody who has the patience and determination to make it all the way down the page to here will have probably realised just how dynamic and fast moving the scene is at MAN. None of the streamers have been doing it for a long time but Simon Lowe Aviation and Airliners Live have been active at the airport the longest. Simon has settled on Tuesdays, Thursdays and a day at the w/e and A/L have made Wednesday & Sunday at 10:00 their own space.
I have found this area of the analysis of this rapidly growing scene very interesting.
Routine & Reliability
The main thing I’ve realised is that live streaming is just like any other form of broadcasting and many of the lessons learned in say Television are applicable here. Years ago the television companies knew just how people like routine and how important scheduling was to the success of their output. As an example everyone knew Coronation Street was on Monday’s & Wednesday early evening and it was a big event when they added Friday. Now maybe 50 years later and with technology that was not even imagined the exact same rules apply.
As the routine starts to become established there has been one situation which I just cannot understand. For the past few months Macc Aviation has been going live on Tuesdays & Thursdays and I have recently realised this has caused a bit of ill will in some quarters because Simon Lowe Aviation is already streaming from the Southside on these days. There are probably a lot of in’s and out’s surrounding this situation but Simon is the innocent party because you can’t escape the fact that he is the de facto senior player at MAN and whatever it takes, other streamers should work round him. Quite why Arek has not realised this and changed his timings is a mystery – they are both similar types of streamers and appeal to the same type of audience. Simon’s is fiercely loyal to him and consequently he reliably gets over a thousand viewers whilst Arek is in the low hundreds. I also suspect I am not alone in not enjoying having to decide who to watch, I like both these hosts & their streams and feel a bit of a traitor to Arek when I tune into Simon. All this has not done any favours to Macc Aviation’s reputation but fortunately people have a short memory.
A month ago there was a simple solution to this problem as none of the major players were streaming on Wednesdays and Fridays and the field was wiper open for Macc Aviation leaving him free for his trips away anytime that suited on Sat-Tue. Sadly though this ship has sailed as on Wednesday Feb 1st, Think Planes started a live stream and in the opening minutes made it very clear this was a ‘land grab’ and from now on they would be on air every Wednesday morning.
This just leaves Friday as the only ‘open’ slot during the week and I really hope Arek grabs it as soon as possible as I would not be surprised at all if Think Planes also started a Friday stream – This would make perfect sense for this ambitious couple – 4 streams a week on Mon, Wed, Fri & Sun. Personally, (I know I should really stay impartial) I think Arek deserves this slot and I just hope he sees how important it is to be regular and reliable.
Friday seems to suit Arek & Macc Aviation and I have seen some really successful streams on that day by him recently. A couple of weeks ago he had to cancel his Thursday stream because of technical issues and so instead came back the next day on Friday. He had the Southside to himself and produced a great show which included an emergency landing of BA9775 (a 21 year old Airbus A320, registered G-MIDS) which was repositioning without PAX from GLA to LHR and developed a minor technical issue. It was great to see Arek full of beans and he got a big audience. Nobody deserves success more than he does as he is so committed and works really hard.
Planes & Photography
Planes & Air travel have played an important part of my life. I first got airborne with almost uncontrollable excitement in 1970 on a Bristol Brittania LPL-LHR transiting onto TAP LHR-OPO (Porto). In the following couple of years I was lucky enough to get around 8 hours on a de Havilland Chipmunk with the RAF Cadet Force at school. Again, total excitement when doing aerobatics in this lovely two seater aircraft and getting the chance at the controls myself.
My working life required me to travel frequently to and around the Far East. I probably notched up around 250 long haul flights on various wide bodied aircraft, mainly UK-Hong Kong-UK and many flights within China & the general region. I can honestly say that the thrill when the engines spooled up was there for every single take off.
I was very lucky to travel so much because my wife & I have only flown six times in >35 years of marriage – once to Egypt to see the Valley of the Kings, Honeymoon in Florence, three times to Lucca in Tuscany and once to Paris. Our last flight was about 20 years ago.
My better half has absolutely no interest in flying off to anywhere hot or exotic. her idea of paradise is lying at anchor off some remote Scottish Island. So that what is what we do and have spent every summer since 1989 sailing off the West coast of Scotland, We try to spend around 6 weeks island hopping and days are spent messing around in the dinghy laying the lobster pot or maybe trying to get that elusive photograph of a Sea Eagle fishing.
The only video I take is made using the drone which I fly a lot. The development of cameras for phones has spun off into drones which also have the advantage of having a three axis gimble. This has resulted in an almost silent & invisible aircraft, the size of your hand being able to produce remarkably high quality imagery (if you get the light right). Unfortunately, unlike the Manchester streamers who can just dump their output onto YouTube, producing drone footage is very time intensive and reducing a 25 minute flight to maybe two and half minutes of punchy video can take several hours of work. Consequently there is always a backlog waiting for those days when we are gale bound somewhere and can’t move.
Fortunately there is a buoyant market for half-decent aerial wildlife video, especially anything that includes Dolphins. Whales, Otters & Sea Eagles etc. in an attractive or maybe dramatic coastal environment so if I get anything good I sell it on to TV/Film channels mainly in Canada & the US. It doesn’t make a fortune by any means but helps fund my decision to use only prime lenses and not zooms on my camera – definitely not the cheapest or most user friendly decision I have made with lots of shots missed whilst faffing around getting the right lens on but when it works out it really works out !
Contact
Everyone calls me Robin (the reason becomes obvious when you know my surname).
I live right in the middle of a village south of Chester called Tattenhall. This is almost equidistant between LPL, CES & MAN. We do get our fair share of high altitude traffic though, coming from North America en-route to the London airports or Scandinavia, Holland, Germany & Belgium.
If you wish to contact me direct you can do so at:
richard_hood at manchesterairportlive.com
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Finally, once again I must point out just how obviously self-opinionated & judgemental this site is. One man’s meat is another man’s poison etc etc & I’m certain everyone reading it will disagree with something. I have no problems being a bit provocative but I do hope though that I have not given offence – this most certainly was not my intention ….