I flew down to Florida once on the MD-10. On the return leg, we got out to the jet and the wing anti-ice was deferred. MEL said that you have to remain clear of icing conditions.

The captain said, no problem - he had printed out the satellite picture of the southeast, and if we just aviated a little west of our filed route we'd be fine.

I asked him if he'd realized what we were signing up for - maintaining VFR at night at Mach .82. Hitting clouds and then getting out of them is not "remaining clear" of icing conditions.

You guys with the eagle eyes and the fighter reflexes are all studs and all, but the FAA can ruin your whole day - I've seen it many times, and I'd say over 50% of the time the pilot is trying to do the company a favor.

Consistently spotting the right 727 at night with no logo lights from ~3 miles away while flying a two-man airliner through the takeoff profile... you guys are Yeager, man.....