bugg smasher
What is surprising here, these pilots were old-school, and very experienced with the machine
You probably didn't mean this the way it sounds.
I prefer to read it with the word "surprising" replaced by the clause "of note".
To me the skill of the pilots might relate to their knowlege and flying skills.
However if a critical factor is one that is rare enough
not to be included in their training, their ability to identify, assess and correct for it may be an issue.