"Gord Beaman" ) wrote:

More like 'lack of knowledge by fighter jocks' has reared it's
ugly head I'd say...

Say what you will, but one thing's for sure is that Ed certainly isn't
lacking in the "knowledge"department.

It's quite amazing to me that a supposedly intelligent pilot like
Ed would show his bare ass so badly in public .

Oh don't be such a wet blanket Gord. Jeezus, anyone with a
*functioning* sense of humor thought Ed's "fighter pilot perspective"
WRT multi-engine flying and the concept of CRM was actually pretty
damn funny.

Can he really not know the excellent reason for all that "Crew
Cooperation" that he so scornfully knocks has it's rightful place
in the cockpit of a machine that's carrying maybe 400 or 500
innocent humans at ~600 MPH and several miles above the earth?.

Of course he knows that (see above). Granted, there are some
instances when CRM and multiple hands on deck has saved the
day (the DC-10 that crash landed in Sioux City back in 1989, for
example). But let's face it, the vast majority of co-pilots (pilots
too, for that matter!) are simply eye-candy for the unwashed
masses and needed only in extreme emergency situations.
(You've heard all those jokes about dogs in the cockpit to keep
the pilots from touching the controls, no?)

Let me tell you Ed, there's an excellent reason.

It's called SAFETY.

As a former Part 135 single-pilot IFR jockey, rather than
enhancing safety I can tell you that having an extra guy
(or gal) in the cockpit mucking up the works can, and has,
lead to disaster instead of adding to safety. Too many cooks
spoil the soup and all that and if a PIC has his authority diluted
and/or is over-dependant on a co-pilot reading off a checklist
by rote it can be a formula for disaster.

Catch some clues mister.

Perhaps you should take your own advice and catch a sense
of humor. In your haste to put Ed "in his place" you've taken
what he wrote completely out of context and failed to see the
humor that he was obviously attempting to convey. Besides,
you're preaching to the best of the best and no offense, but I'd
feel infinitely safer flying with Ed (or most any other fighter
pilot) in control of *any* airplane than I would flying with YOU.


-Mike Marron