unless you are able to permit only those us who have flown with FEs to reply,you are opening a can of worms.of course we loved to have them there. my aircraft has no FE but I wish I had the luxury of one.. .your remark about pilots not being trained to understand systems is a bit severe though... .anyway,the best thing about FEs is that if you come down in the desert,you can eat them. <img src="tongue.gif" border="0">