Eliminating assymetrics effects in Jets

[john_tullamarine]

74,

We probably have to agree to differ.

I have observed, and worked with, conservative TPs/FTEs who, while getting the job done, spent a lot of time considering the risk management side of things .. I am aware of several occasions where such thought in advance ended up saving a bunch of dollars or worse.

On the down side, I have colleagues who have suffered serious, lifelong injuries at the hands of cowboy FT elements.

I think that we are all well aware that the Flight Test schools place an appropriate emphasis on risk management and that most Flight Test Facilities have a very healthy attitude to risk control and mitigation.

I presume that you were tied down appropriately with the sand bags ? .. one doesn't relish the thought of the inertial loads in the event of a serious departure and the likely effect on your good self as you are flung about the cabin ? From my vantage point, possibly reckless .. certainly foolish ... and I freely own up to having been guilty of a variety of foolish, nay stupid, things in my early flying days.

All pilots must have a healthy ego and a strong self confidence .. otherwise they never make it past the early days of the right hand seat.

However, I suggest that those pilots whose need for wheelbarrows is somewhat greater than mere mortals such as I might well figure strongly in the early age death notice columns.

While it is a trite expression, the old tale about bold pilots and old pilots still holds some validity.

The freezing up bit, I think, relates more to inadequate training and exposure to task than to the size of one's wheelbarrow. In fact, I am working on a checklist problem at the moment and note that the OEM has printed on the front cover the useful admonition "the best safety device in any aircraft is a well-trained crew". Surely that applies just as much to FT work as routine commercial operations ?

Granted much test work is routine and unglamorous .. most of what I have been involved with fits squarely in that category. I still don't like unexpected surprises which see me rolling rapidly inverted and do my best to put safeguards in place to minimise the likelihood of such things occurring.

I can only despair at the philosophy in your final paragraph in the previous post ... the words bring to mind two colleagues (neither FT people but both very experienced instructor pilots with a gazillion hours) who were not averse to a good bit of hack-flick-zoom dare devilry ... both were killed in separate stupid accidents ... along with their passengers ... can't quite figure out where the percentage is in doing that sort of thing ... ?


Or perhaps it is just a case of my own wheelbarrow being far too large for my reasonable requirements ?