In rec.aviation.student Mxsmanic wrote:
Michael Ash writes:

Not all of it is done by the computer. The pilots still have to know how
the stuff works and how to run it. It is largely to the point where they
can push the lever and get the power, but not 100%. If you believe
otherwise, just look at the circumstances surrounding the recent 777 crash
at Heathrow. The computers didn't save those pilots from a dual flameout
on short final.

So what was the cause? Has a final report come out?

No final report yet, but everything indicates that the loss of engine
power was due to ice in the fuel system, which in turn was due to flying
through unusually cold air.

I really have to wonder if you realize just how unbelievably insulting
that statement is.

To whom?

You really are the master of destroying context. It's quite astounding.
I'm guessing it's not deliberate, but this kind of thing really looks
extremely sneaky and underhanded. To snip out the supposedly insulting
statement while it's still being discussed is quite simply unacceptable
and makes it look like you're trying to hide it.

So let's restore the thing to its original glory, right he

And don't paint all private pilots with the same brush.

I don't. There are plenty of smart ones around.

Since you're apparently incapable of understanding irony or subtlety
despite supposedly being at least occasionally an ESL teacher, I guess
I'll have to spell out why this is such a terrible thing to say. The
combination of "There are plenty of smart ones" with "I don't paint them
all with the same brush" heavily implies that the brush you're using right
now is the "stupid" brush.

In other words, in the above exchange, you called every private pilot you
talk to "stupid", and implied to a somewhat lesser extent that a lot of
private pilots in general are stupid. And then to really spell it out very
plainly, this implication that the people you're talking to are stupid is
highly insulting.

Your obsession with people's "purpose" is bizarre and nonsensical.

Purpose is what motivates behavior. It's hard to overemphasize its
importance.

Non sequitur. Purpose is important to one's self. Purpose is important
when trying to analyze why someone does something. Purpose is not
important in the sense of continually bringing it up for no reason.

Anything you do while piloting an airplane is "flying", whether it's
cruisng steadily or endlessly fiddling with the engine levers.

So going to the toilet or galley qualifies as flying? In that case, I have
flown airplanes.

Ah right, reading comprehension, alongside logic and being nice to people,
is one of those skills you inexplicably lack despite acting as though
you're very smart.

I said "piloting". If you've piloted an airplane while going to the toilet
or galley then yeah, you've flown airplanes. But somehow I doubt that's
the case.

So, I ask you: what does one have to do in order for "flying" to be their
purpose? And why should anyone care?

Why do you ask the question if you don't know why anyone should care?

Because you bring it up all the time as if it were some sort of flaw and
it's annoying.

--
Mike Ash
Radio Free Earth
Broadcasting from our climate-controlled studios deep inside the Moon