Starbear, with all due respect to Bader's memory, perhaps he is not the best role model for a civilian airline pilot. Wartime very different to peacetime.
While most of us love stories about these characters, they can also be a bl*%dy pain in the ass. Just a general observation from experience, not aimed at any one individual. Sop's are sop's, bottom line. If you don't like them, communicate with management and try to get them changed.
Sure, in a non-normal situation you can use your judgement and disregard them if you think this is the safest course of action.
But, you'll still have to justify your actions afterwards. Fair enough, that's the responsibility we accept when we sign the tech log.
The bottom line is, if you start picking which SOP's to follow and which not to, where does it end. And for the poor old F/O, it disrupts their normal pattern of operation, becomes a bit overwhelming and tends to lead to a one man band style of operation.
I've also noticed with a lot of these 'characters' that they like to be the only one - god forbid that you try and be a 'character' as well.
