Quote:
"long ago I suggested to my airline that we set flaps prior to leaving the gate area and have a visual confirmation by the mechanic in charge of pushback."
The answer was No Way, as you might hit something on your way out to the active rwy.
I was always taught that the reason you always taxi flaps zero is to avoid contamination by dirt, sludge or mud and the risk of foreign object damage to either the flaps or the stuff inside the wing. Wasn't there a case where foreign objects blown back by an engine lodged somewhere in the flap mechanism, blocking it?