Centaurus…what a wonderful collection of tales, yet it brings into focus the value of experience and recognising your own mortality in decisions which you have made.
All of us in aviation have lost a friend or a colleague, or certainly know somebody who has paid the ultimate price.
I remember the training I got at TAA during my apprenticeship which was five years and a lot of mentoring by the wise old LAME’S of yesteryear which only gets appreciated as time goes on. (What did those silly old buggers know was usually in our thoughts as we were being lectured for a tiny thing left undone, or some such thing?) It is the sum of the small things which causes catastrophes.
Over the years I have had the pleasure of working with some characters who were utter professionals as well. I am sure I have met and possibly been in the jump seat with TG and Centaurus in the old TAA and Flying Unit days. It was also times when everybody had the total respect for each other as they carried out their jobs with dedication and professionalism; due to the fact their whole being was a love of aviation. It was simply their mistress and the wives often felt relegated to second place.
I have also worked with some characters outside of Australia and have swapped many a yarn over a cold one or three with them; Hugh Prior, Harry Hanlon, and Hans Grabbenwager to name a few. Gentlemen, I will treasure those memories.
These days both pilots and engineers are trained to the “world best practise” which is the quickest and the cheapest way. Usually they have only a passing interest in aviation instead it being part of their core and it shows. The approach to exams is when they fail it is unfair, and there should be assessments instead. Status is more important than professionalism.
With the forgoing attitudes a LAME who has only been a few years from their 12 month training, or a 250 hour pilot in the right seat of a jet are both useless when the going gets hard. A freshly minted license is simply a license to learn nothing more; not be the boss. If they want to learn and they are keen, I have all the time in the world for them as I say there are no silly questions, only foolish mistakes because the questions were not asked.
I fear for the continuing safety in the air in the future; I sincerely hope my fears are unfounded and we continue to have a safe aviation future with no loss of an aircraft full of passengers, but with an increasingly dysfunctional CASA, airlines run by accountants with no eye on safety because of the cost, low hour pilots and LAMES I often wonder.
To all of us who have made aviation for what it is today, all the blood, sweat and tears, the extremely steep learning curves as we transitioned from pistons to jets, and now the avalanche of automation in the latest aircraft, we can be proud of the legacy we have left and hope it is carried on by those who follow.
Centaurus, I dips me lid!