Originally Posted by
Ascend Charlie
So, in Manwell's flying school, nobody goes solo until they have mastered every unexpected, unannounced and unpredictable failure, because that's what he reckons a captain must be able to do. Somewhere around 10,000 hours by the look of it, as a lot of failures are totally unpredictable. That only leaves the "unknown" failures that might catch him out.
Horsefeathers.
I do appreciate your scepticism AC. If you can't win an argument with logic nowadays, it's commonplace for people to resort to ad hominem attacks, or reductio ad absurdum rhetoric. Both are an expression of fear, and fear is just one emotion that must be controlled by anyone who dares to tempt the hunter - fate. By that response, I take it you aren't in command of either your aircraft, or your self, and that is definitely cause for alarm. The idea that "a lot of failures are totally unpredictable" is a comforting excuse for pilots as they walk away from a smoking wreck, but it's simply not true. Maybe it is in your mind, but if that's the case your mind isn't aligned with reality. Modern aircraft have made it easier for deluded pilots to survive, and pretty soon they'll be able to throw any damn fool in a cockpit and let the automatics "fly" instead. And they will call it progress...