How much lack of similarity in airliner flying?

"Otis McNatt" wrote in message
om...
Suppose *both* pilots in, say, a B-737, were to die in flight
due to some incredible, but unfortunate coincidence. For
kind of a neat question that most of us have wondered at some point (meteors
not withstanding.) I've knew a guy who talked a non-jet pilot through a
landing in a lear with no problem. btw, small though they are, lears are not
that forgiving. there are a lot of particulars involved with each jet. i got
a chance at a little stick time in a straight wing citation, and even though
it was a much simpler airplane than any of the jets i've flown, i was not
familiar with it. i've sometimes thought that the tough part for someone who
was jumping in a jet with no experience would be the wing loading and power
response. without a ball park target power setting on final, one might start
chasing power, airspeed and sink rate, and not catch up in time.
could most professional jet pilots land another jet? sure, but they would be
on the radio asking someone who flew that type about system operation,
target values, etc.