Geriaviator, thank you for your excellent posts from Jack Stafford's memoirs. He may have had the job of busting anything and everything that moved on the ground, but he was obviously a man of sensitivity. The gliders seemed to bring about an epiphany for him. The serene simplicity and quiet consorting with nature must have been in stark contrast with the noisy and aggressive business that was his recent employ. As you say, Peace at Last!
Danny, agreed that discussing modern aircraft management has no place here, but that is the point I'm afraid. Modern airliners are managed rather than flown and there is some worry that they do not require, nor even encourage, much in the way of manual handling, a lot of which is done in the simulators instead. The more proactive operators seek to address the issue, but others do not...