I'd like to throw my ha-penny worth into this intriguing discussion. Chesty; Firstly, if you do everything you say you do I think you're the ONLY pilot who does. I've been dispatching for eight years and I've NEVER seen a pilot visually inspecting his aircraft holds to check that it's been loaded correctly. Secondly, if you have time to check the holds with a x-ray scanner on a 25 minute turn-round, how much time does this leave for your pre-flight checks? Thirdly, referring to your quote "the captain has sole responsibility for the safety of his aeroplane." if the dispatcher DOESN'T share responsibility for the correct loading, then how come it's the dispatcher who gets it in the neck when an error is made and not the pilot? Dispatchers sign to say that the aircraft has been loaded in accordance with the instructions; the impression you create is that this is your responsibility; fine by me, maybe you can load the bags next time, as this seems like the only way that you can be 100% sure that your aircraft is loaded correctly! Fourthly, as A Loon stated, you DO rely on the dispatcher to check the loading. Just about every pilot that I've dispatched requires the dispatcher to sign the loadsheet, but why should they sign it if the safety is "solely your responsibility?" What are they there for then??? I'm afraid I don't really agree with most of your remarks, however some constructive come-back would be interesting. Which airline do you fly for by the way???