....had not the pioneers. the Prince among them, not achieved what they did, with the aircraft and facilities available to them, you would not be flying in your shiny glass cockpit today.
What a load of bollocks,
bonzaman - it was lunatical antics that your hero "pioneer",
PoD, indulged in eg. electing to press on in,
"with rain restricting visibility" to "
avoid(ed) the necessity of climbing to lowest safe and flying the NDB letdown" which shows a true LACK of professionalism on his part.
NDB approaches were designed to PROTECT pax (and crew) from the likes of the
Cowboy of Dzun and others - a few of whom I flew with some 25 or so years ago prior to their termination, due to their desire to "do their own thing".
Or was it, in truth, an INABILTY to be able to come up to the new standards in a changing world.
I don`t regard the type of careless exploits described by your hero as pioneering - I wouldn`t classify beat ups "
along the beaches at 1000' or less", as forging new frontiers that would in any way add anything postive to aviation safety.
In fact, it reeks more of the "press on regardless" syndrome that have cost many pilots and their charges their lives since the dawn of aviation.
In reality, he was probably WORTH only half the pay!