Iraq veteran Joey Neigh doesn't limit adventures to paragliding. He's also a unicyclist.

Paraglider Joey Neigh captured this image of himself on one of his adventures in the skies above Fredericksburg. Many people share his flights through YouTube.

Stafford YouTuber combines video vocation with aerial avocation

Date published: 7/1/2007

By LAURA MOYER

Stafford County native Joey Neigh was just back from Iraq, living in barracks at Fort Bragg, N.C., in late 2005.

Throughout his deployment he had captured video of civilian life in Iraq and his fellow soldiers' off-hours pursuits of scorpion fights and freestyle rapping.

Back in the U.S., he'd replaced his old Handycam with a Sony digital video camera, and he was constantly shooting something.

He was amassing some great, creative work.

And he had no way to show it to anyone.

Neigh searched the Internet for video upload sites. That's how he found the brand-new Web site YouTube in November 2005.

In Internet time, that was an eon ago. He uploaded a few videos, carving out a place as a YouTube early adopter.

A lot has happened--to Neigh and to YouTube--in the year and a half since.

YouTube became such a success that Google bought it, though its creators still run it.

And Neigh, 25, got out of the Army, moved back to his hometown and got married. He and Emily Neigh, a registered nurse, live near Falmouth in Stafford.

Neigh works as an audiovisual technician for Germanna Community College and takes classes there, too. Eventually he would like to transfer to Virginia Commonwealth University and earn a bachelor's degree in mass communications.

But he's not waiting for a piece of paper or permission to develop his video shooting and editing skills.

His car license says YOU TUBE in tribute to a forum that has taught him more about his vocation than a textbook ever could.

Neigh has 50 or so videos on the site now, and he's constantly working on more--many of them shot high above Virginia from Neigh's perch in a powered paraglider.

The one he thinks turned out best is also one of his most viewed, a 9-minute 57-second bird's-eye journey over downtown Fredericksburg and the Rappahannock River.

"Powered Paragliding in Virginia" is the edited footage from three flights last fall.

One originated from Hartwood Airport. The other two began at Old Mill Park, a takeoff and landing destination Neigh said he was specifically requested not to use again.

As he tells the story, a pizza deliveryman saw his descent over the Rappahannock and concluded that he had crashed into the Falmouth Bridge.

Search "Fredericksburg, Va.," on YouTube, and here's some of what you'll find: Local bands. Fredericksburg's live music scene is well-represented with clips of performances at area nightspots and festivals. A montage of scenes from First Night Fredericksburg, including the dropping pear, a re-enactors band and a couple dancing in Market Square. A student project in which three of four young men re-enact the Battle of Fredericksburg, including a very theatrical wounded-soldier scene. A foot chase by two teenagers through downtown Fredericksburg, the train station and city alleyways, with a funny ending. Real-estate ads. No kidding. Images of the Civil War monuments in Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County. To see many of Joey Neigh's productions, click on our link at fredericksburg.com or search 'Neigh' on YouTube.

Date published: 7/1/2007

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