Top Gear is a very entertaining show which is aimed fairly and squarley at the type of male and (more recentlty) female which you can see idolising bully boy Clarkson - It's My Show SO I Win OK! - from the audiance standing behind.
Now, in a previous life I was that man - not Clarkson thank God - the gauking pertolhead in the audiance. I have owned very nice sports cars which were far too powerfull for my abilities and had some hairy moments on and off of race tracks. I have had the Burberry wearing Fiesta driver 2 inches off of my tail at 60mph showing what a man he is that he can keep up with me and I've had the rally look alike 40 year old born again drivers of Subarus overtake on blind summits just to show me how much faster and braver they are!
I got well pi**ed off with this and sold the cars and took to the air. What an amazing skill to have, to fly an aeroplane. We probably all now take it for granted being able to jump into an aeroplane and head off for that £100 burger. When was the last time you thought about doing that in a car!
I quite like the Hampster Hammond however I would probably have made my excuses and switched the intercom to crew only after a while. But that was not in the script and therin lies the truth of the story - its a scripted show!
Don't get sucked in by their uneducated comments - I wonder how Hammond would have coped with the engine coughing shortly after take off due to water if the tanks had not been tested?
Me, I'm going to stick to flying long distances, whether commercially as a passenger or private as a pilot, for the forseable future. If I have to drive then I take my trusty......
Volvo !