Night flying in the mountians in a cessna 150,

Saying that you accept the risks, because you are a
professional pilot, is a cop-out of a reason. A true professional would not
accept missions of undue risk, and wait for conditions more acceptable, and
manageable.

This statement presumes that there is an objective measure of risk, and
an independent, objective measure of acceptability (or its inverse -
"undueness") which applies to all circumstances. This new learning
amazes me. Tell me again about the theory that the earth is banana shaped.

There are circumstances which merit higher risk. There are other
circumstances where even a low level of risk is too much. If this were
not true, there would be no difference between the hundred dollar
hamburger flight, a lifeguard mission, a combat mission, an aerobatics
exhibition, and any other kind of flying.

Of course this would have to include getting drunk and then flying in
the mountains with a shotgun pointing out the window to try to ping some
mountain goats for sport too, something I'm not willing to put in the
"acceptable" category, no matter how much fun it is to fire a gun under
the influence of altitude and alcohol while diving at a hundred fifty
miles an hour towards something furry standing in front of something
very hard.

But (except for degree), what's the difference between this and flying
upside down, sober, at mach 1, fifteen feet AGL in front of three
thousand people? You wouldn't catch me doing that either, no matter how
cool it is! No matter how much you train for such an exhibition, it is
more risky than the average hundred dollar hamburger.

So, while I agree with the statement:
A true professional would not
accept missions of undue risk
it begs the question of what counts as "undue", and how to measure it,
and by and for whom. The FARs have outlined a few antics that would be
"undue risk" (and prohibited them), but this leaves a whole lot of other
things that are legal, don't come under the ruberic of "careless and
reckless", but for some are seen (by others) as "unduly risky". So, the
statement comes off as "unduly simplistic".

Jose
--
Nothing is more powerful than a commercial interest.
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