Like ive said fuel is cheap planes arnt falling out if the skies
I disagree.
I have at times been fortunate enough to have access to large amounts of aviation occurrence data. I had a particular interest in spark plug fouling, fuel mismanagement and carburettor icing, as these are largely preventable by the pilot. These three factors were the cause of well over half of all engine failures in the data I looked through. Especially when you consider that they can be hard to diagnose after the event, harder at least than a cylinder, valve, or bearing failure. Aside from the fact that some mechanical failures can be prevented by a cleaner burn.
In my opinion fear of the red lever, a total lack of understanding of what happens in the cylinder, and the spread of OWTs about the relationship between detonation and mixture have caused numerous engine failures, some of which have claimed lives. I believe that the information provided by John (and its great to read new writing from you too!), Walter, and co saves lives. Plane (ha) and simple.
The data shows that opinions like those from RAM are simply not true, and the idea of LOP operations being "on the edge" make me laugh. I guess they are on the edge, but where we've always been told to operate is over the edge. People like Yr Right, while likely very competent and dedicated to their jobs, but who ignore the mountains of data, are in my opinion doing the industry a great disservice.
My flight school training made me afraid of the red lever, and taught me to operate aircraft in a way that was inefficient, unsafe, and ignorant. Its a shame some fight so hard against those that are trying to change this.