Obie,
Ever flogged around on DC3s for 12, 13 or 14hr duty periods? Middle of the night, numerous landings, low level, rough as guts, no radar, no food, hosties gone to pieces and pax throwing up!
Well, having lead an interesting and varied aviation career, the answer to all of the above is Yes, with the exception of having flown the DC3.
Although I have seen them.... dissolving into heaps of corosion ,parked around the edges of various backwater airfields.
But if the crux of your arguement is that you've flown a type I haven't I'd say you need to try a lot harder. Essentially all you've done is illustrate - yet again - that your career happened at a different point in the development of the industry.
I don't really see where you're coming from. There are various pro's and con's in the way the industry has developed in the time I've been associated with it. No question about it - some things have definitely got easier. For myself though, there is no doubt that rostering practices and to a degree total time flown have made this a more tiring job than it used to be. Doesnt mean flying isn't fun, or that tiredness can't be mitigated by lifestyle, to a degree at least.
For me, the real eye opener was losing my medical temporarily. Fortunately nothing as serious as your situation, but I was grounded for a few months. I wasn't on sick leave though, I took a deskjob on an avionics project. So I wasn't rested because I was having a lot of time off. I was working regular hours and eating regular meals; and I can honestly say the difference was astonishing. I felt 100% more alert, far better able to focus, and I lost half a stone as well.
I should also point out that I've had more tiring jobs than as a line pilot... but not by much.
Bottom line is this - within my circle of experience, fatigue has become more of an issue in recent years. You can say not - but if you're haven't flown 800+ hours under 'modern' rostering practices for several consecutive years you can't really speak with any credibility on the subject.
pb