Even if you could, my bet is most JO's wouldn't listen.
I would venture to gamble the truth in this, but think about when you were an invincable aviator, the stories you heard of so and so doing this, or whats his name doing that, it would never happen to you right? I confess I fell into a similar trap once upon a time, and fotunately for me, I walked away from my mistakes, but I've seen those that have not. Until it happens to you, I think we can all agree the respect for reality is minimal.
bunk22
Some of what you say unfortunately holds true for many fleet guys/gals.[/b said:
A fuck up in checklist, no respect for the weather, lack of discipline, etc has and will lead pilots into bad situations. The ego thing can often lead to very bad things. If left unchecked, bad things can only come of it. One has to know their limits, challenge themselves but know what the line is. I'm talking beyond studs here......all the way to the front office. The old assumption of I'd rather be lucky than good certainly holds true I think.
True, but right now I can only call it from my side of the line, I'm sure you can figure out who the "others" are to me without me saying it... trying not to step on too many toes being the little guy and all.
Part of the problem is the process to change procedure even if by some long shot you do find a better way, seems so complicated, people generally just do it however they want with disregard to the paper in my experience. The general cover up word "technique." Which is a nice word for "opinion" which we all is like an ass hole, everyone's got one and they usually stink.
Ok that last part may be a SLIGHT exaggeration, but 10 pilots have 10 different ways to do the same thing...That probably goes back to ego.
Aviation is an unforgiving, time critical business military or not. Altitude above you, knots in front of you, and fuel in the truck do you no good. No matter who you are, you can not outsmart the airplane, and if you try to, you will most likely lose. Some live to tell about it, some do not.
I don't think the environment that pilots operate in is stressed enough with the glitz and glamor of being a pilot. I can tell you 8 hours in a cockpit, peeing in a Gatorade bottle are not glitzy. I can tell you the first time your friend doesn't come back, its not glamorous. I can tell you propellers were meant to keep the pilot cool, because when they stop, the pilots starts to sweat. But I can't tell you there is a better job in the world, because seriously, with the doom and gloom I may have just painted, flying is not really a job. (I know I know the ground jobs and such, but thats not what I'm talking about).
Pilots get to defy the bounds of the earth, at speeds far in excess of the average person, they understand a totally different part of the world than the average person, and most importantly/eventually for most, they get paid to never grow up. I wouldn't trade the good times away for anything, but be aware of the not so good ones, no one is above them, remember its just ink.