There is no arguement here, the 2 + F/E is definitely the better option, all things considered!
comments -
"would hand the approach plate back to the FE, if it was a pilot FE,"
- and why wouldn't you hand it back to a PFE, most have pilot licences, and even the ones that don't have a very good understanding of the instrument settings/briefings required of the pilots for precision approaches. I find that comment a little insulting, piloting an airplane is not that difficult!
comments -
"Equally, we can find examples where an ill-disciplined three man crew performed rather indifferently"
- in my experience, the ones that performed indifferently were the FAA licensed pilots 'acting' as FEs. But I guess that's the American way!
Cheers...FD...
