Originally Posted by
Airhoss
I've always been of the opinion that I'd rather have a guy who has failed and successfully recovered on my team. A guy who's never had to dig himself out of a tough spot is going to be short on character and mental toughness IMO. Sometimes failure is one of life's very best teachers. That goes for flying, education, sports, business and a host of other activities in life.
I won't shortchange guys who have never had big setbacks...they'll probably do fine in the crunch since their own motivation to succeed has likely played a role in their lack of setbacks.
But with the guy who's overcome a setback, you know for sure where he's coming from.
Interestingly enough, a relative of mine crashed a Jenny in training. He went on to fly F4-Us in the Pacific, F-9's in Korea, and retired from UAL as a VP.