Ok ready for a rant!!!
I am compelled to write on this one because of the huge amount of Sh**e i am reading. some of you have made me want to use many expletives but i wont (perhaps just rhyming words).
Flipster(i know you really well mate) you are absolutely right, if you are not a pilot, not a display pilot, not a high performance aircraft display pilot, then shut the cluck up!
Ali Barber - All this crap about outside seat peramiters - bulls**t
Senga - i hope after your comment that youve never made a mistake in your aviation career (and if your career isnt aviation then sod off!)
I dont know what happened, but lets give the bad mouthers the benifit of the doubt, lets imagine it was pilot error. There is not one pilot on this forum that is not capable of putting an aircraft into a dangerous situation! I bet there are only a handful of pilots on this forum that would have the skill and kuhhoonas to pull off a recovery like this guy did. He showed an imense amount of moral courage to stick with it (some of you will call it stupidity), and THEN get back in the jet and carry on. Dont know the guy, but if he porked it (there but for the grace of god ...!), he got his way out of it, then he had the balls to carry on (regardsless of the cause) at a time when most of us would have been on our 5th scotch.
This is whats known as the 'right stuff!'
for some of you if he would have crashed you would call him a banker
if he would have banged out you would call him a banker
he pulled off an amazing recovery, and you still call him a Banker
lady luck must always smile down upon you when your in th s**t (i know i have been there enough and without her i'd be toast), its not just a skillset that gets you out of trouble- read Chuck Yeager. I often enjoy the comments from wannabees and non pilot types on this forum, but on this occasion you dont know, you can't empathise(that means youve never done it!) so keep it to yourselves. I wouldnt dream of telling an engineer how to fit an 'offle waffle grommit valve' to an aircraft - because they're qualified and im not! point made! i hope so.
Rant Over
Who ever you are, whatever the reason, you did bloody well mate. Saved an expensive aircraft, and BAes reputation AND most importantly your life. Nice one!