Meet the airplane mechanic who went viral for connecting aviation with ... 'The Lord of the Rings'?

28.08.2024 - 14:08 / thepointsguy.com

What do a hobbit and the leading edge of the wing on a Boeing 737 have in common? Not much.

But that doesn't stop one prolific airline pro from pointing out a connection.

Max Comer is an aviation maintenance technician who works at a maintenance base for a major U.S. airline. If you're on social media and follow aviation accounts, chances are you know him as @airplanefactswithmax.

(He asked us not to name his employer or publish his base's location in this article because he's not authorized to speak as a representative for the company.)

Want more airline-specific news? Sign up for TPG's free biweekly Aviation newsletter.

Comer has taken off over the past year or so on social media, amassing more than half a million followers on Instagram and hundreds of thousands more on TikTok. Staring straight at the camera with a droll, deadpan effect, Comer explains interesting little tidbits about commercial passenger jets — and then explains exactly how those technical features are nothing like "The Lord of the Rings" movies or books.

Confused? That's understandable; it's totally absurd.

It's also hilarious.

He shows viewers everything obscure or mundane on an airplane as he works on it. For example, he'll explain how a plastic covering called a "window reveal" makes up the interior portion of the window in the passenger cabin but doesn't play any role in the structural integrity of the actual exterior window; this means you don't have to worry if there are any scratches or dings on that clear inner part.

Then, he'll point out how airplane windows are nothing like "The Window on the West" — the fifth chapter of the second section of "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" novel where Frodo was questioned by Faramir after the Rangers of Ithilien successfully waylaid a company of the Haradrim as they were marching to the Black Gate to bolster Sauron's forces. But even so, they're still pretty cool.

A post shared by Max (@airplanefactswithmax)

"The Lord of the Rings" is probably not the first thing you'd compare or contrast to an airplane. You may have absolutely no idea what he's talking about. But somehow, it just works. Based on Comer's follower count and the reaction he gets to his videos, the absurdity resonates with people.

"It's been crazy watching this explode, I never expected it to," Comer told TPG in an interview.

Comer initially started making videos with silly throwaway one-liners and would share them with friends to try and make them laugh, he said. He added that in his first video, he pointed out that the tires on a commercial plane are different from the tires on your car because ... they're on an airplane, not a car. With the encouragement of friends, he started posting the videos publicly on