I am tempted to make one comment as it is not Mr Guppy specific.
I think we are all fascinated by threads where the writers purport to relate to first hand experience. Inevitably we take a certain comfort when we feel or know it is something they have done, rather than read about, been told about, or, in the extreme, made up.
Experiences are what seperates reality from theory, and we all know that in all sorts of subtle ways theory is usually not exactly the same as reality. I think we also feel that a friend telling you a story is one thing, but inevitably something is lost in the telling; recounting a story is not quite the same as being a character in the story.
The trouble is so much is written and discussed in the public debate that it is easy to blur the distinction between a first hand and a second hand account of events should you wish to do so.
Where is my post leading - well I am not sure really. Does it matter - again I dont really know. Should we be any more or less comfortable or take them any more or less seriously when someone posts an account and we believe their account is based on first hand experience?
I am inclinded to think that actually it doesnt really matter because we have plenty of time to consider whether anything we might take from their post is useful and whether we dare use it in the real world.
I have flown with quite a few pilots. You can usually tell within the first 5 minutes if they know their business. You have got a pretty good idea whether it is going to be a relaxing flight way before the aircraft ever gets off the ground. Often with the written word you are able to form the same impression. Their are subtelties in the things people write that make you suspicious of whether they are just talking the talk.
However sometimes people are very good at talking the talk, which words enable, but real life flying rarely doesnt.
Do I want to be in the same cockpit with someone who in reality doesnt know what they are doing - probably not; am I any more or less interested in reading posts that claim to be first hand accounts but are not - I am not sure. Am I suggesting that Mr Guppy falls into any of these categories - no I am not.