golfyankeesierra:
Anyway, we are not an arrogant bunch of cowboys.
We use our experience, airmanship and good judgement to make cooperative decisions in situations like this.
Apologies to the majority who don't deserve the 'arrogant' paint-brush. I probably should have specifically acknowledged that my comment was intended to describe a small minority.
But I hold to my view that those few are not my favorite drivers because 'arrogance' and 'cooperative decisions' are sometimes tragically at odds, as anyone with a keen memory of accidents will be hard-pressed to deny.
In my own defense, although I've never flown anything bigger than a twin Commander, I've been a obsessed fan of flying machines since a relative who ran an FBO gave me a ride in a Navion, probably some 60 years ago. Since then I've had ample opportunity to see things from your side, minus the pilot in the other seat, spare engines, FBW electronics, or a friendly dispatcher or maintence tech on the line. And I am, probably insignificant to the discussion, a physicist and 'rocket scientist', by virtue of work on Apollo.
And, btw, I did develop an enormous respect for the many in your profession who contributed such vast amounts of knowledge to the AF447 threads - the likes of PJ2 and dozens of others far outshine the few at the other end of the scale.