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Latest Flight International has article by aviation journalist on his impressions of flying in an Air Atlantic Classic Flight DC3. The Head of Training a lady pilot with 2000 hours plus on Daks flew the plane. Accompanying photo reveals a four bar chappie or chapess in the left seat and a three bar someone in the RH seat. The journalist comments somewhat pointedly that most of the white lettering around the rows of identical switches had been worn off.
I don't mind a bit of class but wearing four bar eppaulletes just to fly a battered old Dakota with a beaten up cockpit is a bit too much like ******** to me. That said, the article reveals the operator has even copied Boeing technology by designating the flap positions as 1,2 3 etc when the original design flap position indicator was up, one quarter, half, three quarters and down. Its called pretentiousness in my book.
I don't mind a bit of class but wearing four bar eppaulletes just to fly a battered old Dakota with a beaten up cockpit is a bit too much like ******** to me. That said, the article reveals the operator has even copied Boeing technology by designating the flap positions as 1,2 3 etc when the original design flap position indicator was up, one quarter, half, three quarters and down. Its called pretentiousness in my book.
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Or maybe it's just a practicality, if Boeing pilots are flying it in their off duty hours. I don't see a major problem with this, provided the PF ain't waiting for a jet-type VR on take-off! 
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TM, that's a very strange, embittered post! Even a 'beat up battered old DC3' is still a heavy twin that earns respect from any pilot! I don't know what connotation rings have for you, but in the aviation world, 4 rings denotes an aircraft commander. It is perfectly acceptable for even a Cherokee pilot to wear 4, and wings. It is more to let other people know who the commander is, so what is the beef about it? It does seem to instigate derision or ridicule in certain people (like you)- may I suggest if you don't like it, don't look? So what is your problem with the aircraft commander identifying himself conventionally as such? Are we going to go through the usual 'but you're not really a Captain!. If that's the basis of what you are saying, please tell us what your problem is with that? I would have thought flying 430 people across half the world at 600 mph qualifies one for the title. Yes to that, but no to a DC3? So....the problem you have is........?
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Can anyone understand TM's other peculiar point about flap designation? Seems perfectly sensible to me. Far simpler now that people fly such things from countries that may not even use Roman numerals in their numerology. For someone used to symbols like Pi and Omega and tic-tak-toe grids, is it easier to have Flap 1 or Flap 1/4? I guess one to ignore!
