Originally Posted by
deja vu
You can take the pilot out of the fighter but you can't take the fighter out of the pilot.
These guys are different, deliberately different and are very good at that job That doesn't mean they will automatically be good at another job, particularly one that doesn't require anything but a good average level headed Joe.
Case in point. A colleague of mine in a well known airline ( previous job was steely eyed warrior on an F18) brought a seriously damaged aircraft 3.5 hours back to his home base from overhead the destination and passed at least 3 more than acceptable airports, did a downwind auto land off the only ILS available and then shutdown on the runway as the windshields were completely opaque. As a result of the damage to leading edges, engine intakes etc the aircraft couldn't make flight planned levels and required excessive thrust settings to meet performance figures.. It was estimated there was not enough fuel remaining to taxi into the parking area if that had been attempted.
The point being I don't think any GA trained Captain would even think to attempt that. What his FO and FE thought I don't know but it was of course before CRM became a thing.
The episode was widely publicised at the time and the airline defended the Captain as some sort of hero where there was privately a strong advocacy to fire his a..e! but that would have admitted some perceived failure of the airline.
I'm not suggesting that all ex fighter pilots think like that but many that I have encountered do.
A good, clear and correct post. Horses for courses. Take a test pilot, for example. They look for trouble. Most of us try and avoid it. Look for trouble, you normally find it.
Experimental Test flying is the only type of flying, where a higher degree of education would be benifical, IMHO.