.. and, likewise, I recall with some fondness a particular upgrade crew (74 F/O to initial 73 command and 74 S/O to 73 F/O). We thrashed engine failures to death during one extended session with the result that both could comfortably and competently address critical handling failures (min weight, aft CG, minV1, seizure or similar during the rotate, and backtrack the opposite localiser - try it sometime .. even allowing for sim fidelity problems, it presents a bit of a handful for the first few attempts).
The command upgrade student had been a little defensive in several earlier sessions but he unwound completely after this one ... I recall quite clearly his comment along the lines of "I was always a bit frightened by failures but now, too easy ...". This pair, in a later session leading up to their low vis quals, had similar views about overtraining when they got to the stage of being quite comfortable (if a bit sweaty) on handflown raw data 0/0 ILS to a full stop.
A number of these crews had serious I/F problems due to too much time on the widebody without enough concern to the next endorsement ... it was VERY satisfying seeing the sort of standards that the small group of contract instructors (of which I was a part) pulled out of these folk ... took a lot of good will and hard work on both sides but it was great fun....
At the end of the day, it is really a case of trying to scrounge some extra time for confidence and skills building in the face of the Great God Dollar.
Likewise, as a young FO on my first jet, I can recall sitting right seat to one of our old checkies ... one of his mates was playing the panel and all sorts of interesting things were thrown at him. As I recall he was able to handle multiple wings falling off and the like with grace and dexterity... although, at one stage when everything imaginable was happening (and I remember this as clear as ..) he turned to the FE, who was playing the Wurlitzer with much skill, and said words to the effect of .. "I say, old son, when you have a spare moment, could you possibly do XYZ".
I would have dearly loved to have had the seniority to fly the line with this guy to learn a bit at the feet of a Master.
Last edited by john_tullamarine; 4th Nov 2005 at 22:52.