Alex,
No need for disagreement as there is no basis for that.
If my previous words infer that I am suggesting seat of the pants routine decision making as the aircraft is yawing wildly while passing through 150 KIAS or thereabouts, then I apologise ... for that was not my intent.
The thrust of my comments was directed to the concept that by rote application of technique (as developed in Bat Cave exercises) generally is going to give the most reliably desirable outcome .. but not always. The knowledgeable and competent pilot ought to consider (pre-takeoff) the whole picture and determine his/her plan in the light of all the information .. a bit like the CRM philosophy when utilising the resources at hand.
Very occasionally, it will be appropriate to change that plan in the heat of the moment if the day is to be saved .. for example ..
(a) if, under post-V1 failure conditions, the aircraft is departing the side of the runway (eg near certification Vmcg in a strong crosswind .. which can easily put the real world Vmcg above the failure speed), then it would be prudent (probably) to close the throttles and do the best one can to stay on the runway and accept the possible overrun .. in lieu of rolling the aircraft into a ball at much higher speed during the runway side excursion.
(b) the O'Hare DC10 engine separation accident may have had a very different outcome had the excess airspeed been exploited .. no criticism of the crew intended as they only had a fraction of the story with which to work at the time and made the best call they could .. but it is noted that the accident report suggested that the situation only needed a few knots to keep the left wing unstalled....
(c) if a control selection results in a strange response reselection to the previous setting may get one out of whatever the problem is. One is reminded that the TP fraternity generally subscribes to the "loud noise (etc) = keep things as they are .. at least it is still flying" approach to survival.
.. and a substantial list of such examples can be generated without too much difficulty ...
History is dotted with exceptional feats where the folk in the hot seat did wondrous things .. in the heat of moment .. by keeping cool heads and being innovative ... for instance
(a) the Sioux City DC10 accident which, by rights, probably should not have got that far in the first place. Al Haynes and his offsiders earned their collective career salaries that day ...
(b) the JAL B747 .. OK, the crew didn't have a happy outcome .. but they kept the bird in the air for a long time ...
Last edited by john_tullamarine; 8th Feb 2006 at 20:50.