Good Lord.... Hyperbole much? We all are still actually pilots, right?

This! I've witnessed senior Captains, to include a LCA, do some stuff that made my heart skip a beat. Also, were the guys involved with some of our more recent "incidents," junior or senior guys? If there is one thing I've learned over the years, is that no one (myself included) is immune to mistakes and even the most experienced guys can do some jacked up stuff sometimes. Some people need to get over themselves.

Why?

Just curious

First off thank you for your service, second I think you took the post about Tibbett a little to personally. There are a ton of us here that have combat missions over Iraq. My point with Tibbett's is that although he was 30 he had a ton of experience for his age.

Also it isn't superhuman airmanship that is required to fly the mad dog, it's knowing the quirks of the Long Beach sewer tube.

And the Colonels in fighter squadrons were 24. But then B-17 aircraft commanders were 20.

And that was during a World War. What's your point?

The Captain checkout program was 100 hours, with no extra time.

50 hrs "Familiarization" left seat ungraded
25 hrs graded IOE
A 6 leg Progress Check
(Insert more time here if necessary...)
A Six Leg Checkride.

Yup, it was a lot, but they expected a lot, and it was more training than just IOE, and it was historically common for upgrades to come off several years Int'l right seat. One new 727 CA I flew with had spent twenty years doing LAX-HNL in the right seat of the 1011.

Ooh, and throw in a hefty dash of anceator worship.. That was the new streamlined plan. FO's with time in the airplane could waive the Fam time.

The 88 is not that difficult. It does require more vigilance and focus. Monitor the FMA closely, make sure your input is correct and NEVER EVER get SLOW at altitude or on final.

Don't rely too much on the automation. Be ready to hand fly to correct crazy Vnav decents. Get the plane under control and reengage the automation.

The most difficult part of 88 flying is the schedule. 4-5 day trips, multiple legs daily, many O'dark thirty departures, hot cockpits and high traffic airport environments, all add up to fatigue.

Remember to take things slow and trust but verify the FMA.

Good luck!!!

This is 100% truthiness. I didn't mind flying the 88. Coming from flying a plane that didn't have autothrottles made the transition easier to autothrottles that don't quite meet the defintion of "working." I don't really have much of a desire to fly it again, though.

On ALL of our jets, the FMA is the way, the truth, and the life. Know and understand it at all times!

Good advice........I've got 20 years on the thing and you eventually develop a sense of "something isn't quite right" after a while........Two junior guys would have their hands full on a difficult trip, however..........