Gents , have flown the panel for years giving a good apprenticeship for flying up front . Was not an eng. but around Europe with eng. coverage at most stations was no prob . 25 years later had the privilege of operating with F/Es . Brilliant experience , and glad I was not too late .
Laterly , some engineering apprentices came out of the hangar to the ramp on qualifying . Then trained as F/Es , before being retrained as pilots . Bril.l crew when it was 1 1/2 pilots and 1 1/2 F/Es ! The younger ones then , are now senior skippers earning my pension .
Pros.
Mend things when broke , extend crew duty hours , expert monitoring , social evenings were beers in multiples of 3 not 2 . On layovers someone to mend hire car , boat , aeroplane . Did not not have to do the walkround in -30C blowin snow at Gander .
Keeping the show on the road by helping a fleet colleague mend a sister ship , whilst us 2 Nigels turned our ship around .
Cons.
Only one really ... It was always Engineers Year . They were the first to be able to chat up the 'gurls , or the 'gurls chat them up [ pleeeese mend my galley ] .
Best lesson learned from F/E .
The US had / has some great micro breweries , 'specially IPAs on W. coast ... However always served cold in a cold glass ..Yuck .
Engineers solution . '' Darlin' , please put that in the microwave for 25 seconds . Releases the aromatics and flavours so we can drink it properly . ''
rgds condor.