Originally Posted by
RIGHTSEATKC135
Having been a first officer on a KC-135R, and having experienced an engine shutdown on my #3 engine, followed by a fire warning on #1 (determined to be erroneous while my Captain was issuing our MAYDAY call), while almost 400-miles from the nearest adequate runway, I, for one, was more than glad to have had that flight engineer's carcass stationed four feet from my back.
Stuff happens, and it sometimes gets damned busy in the cockpit. That third set of eyes, and ears is often priceless, no matter what the bean counters say.
Ummmmmmm, I'm well into my second decade on the 'R' model, but I can't seem to recall an FE ever looking over my shoulder. On the 707, of which I only have a couple thousand hours in command, we had them, but they were mainly there to make fun of the FOs.
So, I guess I'm calling bs