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Well, Spook, you won't be getting any rounds from me; I think your remarks are right on target. I think a lot of the preoccupation in aviation with youth is merely the bureaucratic way of taking the safe way out. After all, it's easier to require conformance to a young, vigorous parametric framework than to examine individuals pilot by pilot, skill level by skill level. It appears to be part of what I call the MITR Approach -- Make It To Retirement. I'm not slamming the FAA here; this is endemic to any bureaucracy. These FAA dudes are mostly all pilots, and even though I tend to attach great credibility to somebody who has herded junk through the sky, we have to remember that they are, first and foremost, bureaucrats. FAA bureaucrat faces a double whammy: if he's wrong about something, he risks a black mark on his record.s. But also, he might actually kill somebody, so he tends to be more conservative than the late Barry Goldwater. So it's simply more dangerous to say, "we'll examine individual pilots to encourage aviators," than it is to say, "we'll set up stiff standards and if pilots fall through, then too bad." CYA? Absolutely! Fair? LOL! Next time you fly commercial, would you rather have in the left seat of that 767 a 10,000-hour, perfectly fit female who happens to be 77 years old, or that very young, oh-so-physically-fit airline pilot out in the midwest recently who was walking through the concourse to get in his commercial jet so drunk that a guard smelled it on him and took him down? Since FAA and the American youth-culture in general militates against age, I suggest that pilots like me - old, used-up, bad-temered, and on the Brink of the Tomb - need to be very wary and mighty cagey in order to keep themselves in the air. Stay aviating however you can. Never give up. R. Beeman ----- Original Message ----- From: "Georgia Trehey" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Dr. R. B." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Albert Barber" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "James B. Brennan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Desmond & Denise" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Hewes, Mary" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Meetze, Hank" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Howard P. Reynolds" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: "ercoupers" <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, April 15, 2005 1:48 PM Subject: Re: [COUPERS-FLYIN] Class 3 med exam. > What really bugs me is that our culture seems to be > zeroed in on what it says on a person's birth > certificate rather than on the person's health, > fitness level, skills, and abilities. > > There are (many) elementary school kids that have > diabetes. An alarming number of elementary, junior > high, and high school kids can't even pass basic > fitness tests. > > On the other hand there are people in their 60s, 70s, > 80s, and even 90's that run marathons, climb > mountains, sky, skydive, do long distance bicycle > trips, surf, etc. > > My point is why not look at the individual person > rather than their birth certificate? While we're at > it, stop forcing airline pilots to retire at 60. OK, > so put them through stringent physical and mental > tests if you must, but let the ones continue who are > up to the job. > > Airline pilots don't suddenly turn into drooling, > feeble morons just because they hit their 60th > birthday. Geez. > > Personally, given the choice, I'd rather have a sharp, > fit, very experienced, 60+ airline captain in charge > when the **** hits the fan in bad weather or whatever, > rather than a guy that just graduated for airline > pilot school and is conviced that he is God's gift to > avaition. > > Spook > > > PS OK folks. I usually get blasted when I make > comments so if you absolutely have to shoot at me, > bring it on. > > > > > > > > > __________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Mail - You care about security. So do we. > http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. > Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.9.11 - Release Date: 4/14/2005 > > -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.9.11 - Release Date: 4/14/2005 ========================================================================== ==== To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm Search the archives on http://escribe.com/aviation/coupers/
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