You can't learn airmanship out of a book. When I grew up in the military, There was a basic framework of rules, big ones, which were good guidance and non negotiable and were there to hopefully stop you killing yourself. You then flew with an experienced commander or were well mentored by senior squadron members, who provided guidance and you learnt to make decisions when operating your aircraft, within that rule framework. This allowed you to use initiative, gain confidence in yourself, accept reponsibility for your actions and learn sound airmanship.
A few years ago I flew for an organisation where control was severe, so much so that I wouldn't have been surprised if an instruction came out telling you how to breathe in the cockpit. This was sadly driven by the litigeous world we live in, it was so Senior Officer Top Rung could claim no responsibility, it was Junior Officer Tooslow, who broke rule 4b,sub para 3d, footnote 1b, so it's all his fault. As such in a system like this you don't think, you have to follow the the million rules rule book to the letter. No wonder airmanship is gasping for air.
Last edited by PerAsperaAdAstra; 24th Jul 2014 at 09:26.