What is tihs Top Gun? I've known someone blind in one eye who was a
good pilot, and various people who are scared of their own shadow who
are good pilots.

Someone who is not prepared to be solely responsible for his fate, and
to make quick correct decisions under pressure should not be a pilot.

The particular situation was this. We were on final. It was night and
mist was setting in reducing visibility (hours ahead of the forecast -
horoscopes with numbers) but it was OK beacuse in another minute we
would be on the ground and rolling. Part of the runway was shut down
but 2200 ft was still remaining to use - more than enough for a
Tomahawk. At 500 ft I reached for the flap lever and it would not
move. ****! Now what?

Go around and sort it out, since the fog probably wouldn't roll in
during the 5-10 minutes that might take? Land anyway, because 2200 ft
was probably still plenty for a no-flap landing in a Tommy?

It's not articularly a big deal, though it might seem that way to a
pilot who has just over 100 hours and can count his in-type hours on
his fingers. What's the correct decision?

You can make an argument in favor of either answer. In retrospect
either would have worked. I had a hell of a time finding the airport
in the lit-up suburbia (even to the point of needing a RADAR vector)
and didn't want to risk losing sight of the airport on the go-around,
so I opted to land. 2200 ft was plenty. The other way would likely
have worked too - it took another 30 minutes at least before the vis
dropped below VFR, and I could always have gotten another vector.

It was no big deal.

After the flight, my passenger asked me what the "****!" was about, and
I explained it to him. Right there and then he decided that he wasn't
interested in being pilot in command. Ever. At first I couldn't
understand why, but then I started paying attention to his driving. He
doesn't do well with making decisions and sticking to them.

For example, you're pulling out onto a road. You need to pick a space
in traffic you can merge into. That requires mostly looking upstream.
Once the decision is made and you move out into the road, it's really
too late to change your mind. You move briskly and look downstream,
the direction you're going. He moves slowly and keeps looking upstream
when he can. He has been rear-ended a couple of times. Not his fault
of course.

Downthread, someone mentioned that anyone who can safely drive a car
can learn to safely pilot an airplane. I agree. But this guy can't
safely drive a car either - and if you spend much time on the road, you
quickly realize he isn't unique.

Michael