Oh, for goodness sake people ... how many times do I have to say that my comments were
tongue-in-cheek?
Still, the ferocity of the responses seems to indicate that I seem to have hit a bit of a nerve with some people!
So far, no one has actually seriously attempted to deny that the amount of 'hands-on' time is minimal - which is because it's undeniable. As we all know, pilots earn their money for the 0.0001% of time when they are in seriously deep kak and it's their skill (or lack of it) that gets their aircraft and its occupants down in one piece. I don't think anyone would deny that either.
So where's the problem, exactly?
[ 26 July 2001: Message edited by: The Guvnor ]