Scudrunners

WTF is the significance of wearing four bars?

Why do pilots wear them but bus drivers and truck drivers don't?

Naval Captain of a ship?

Because the guy paying our bills tells us too.  Perhaps if we we're lucky enough to NOT have to worry about money like some, we wouldn't have to wear them.  I couldn't care less if I wore them or not, and certainly never wear them if I don't have too. 

Ask Juan Trippe, I believe he's the one who started it.

I did find them to be quite valuable in Africa for getting things done at airports.


But that was a cultural thing.



Is it cultural in North America?

Perhaps if we were lucky enough to NOT have to worry about money like some, we wouldn't have to wear them.

I doubt there are many pilots here who don't have money worries.

I think there is 2 people commenting in this thread that don't need to worry about money.  To me, the bars are completely irrelevant. I have no clue why we need to wear them and I have no clue why people make such a big fuss about wearing them or not.  It's such a minor insignificant thing in our world, why make something of nothing? 

We come here to interact about flying, we all have different thoughts about the industry, some of us have different ideas than others and some of may seem to be a bit jaded like the Colonel and myself.


But actually we really do wonder how the industry has become a paint by numbers monkey see monkey do activity until something not covered in SOP's puts some pilots in a situation where they are just monkeys along for the ride with no idea of what is going on.


A common example of this is the seeming inability to correct for a cross wind that is at the maximum the airplane is able to handle with full control inputs and they go ripping down the runway sliding sideways.


My opinion is it is usually the fault of poor training from the start of their career to the moment they are passengers in their machine.


As to the four bars thing I am just using that as a means of getting some discussion going.


Automation is here to stay and eventually the industry will design and build an airplane that does not need pilots, then the airplane can have the four gold bars painted on the wings.  :) :) :)

Chuck Ellsworth wrote:
As to the four bars thing I am just using that as a means of getting some discussion going.

I gotta be honest, that was an odd segue. 


Anyways, I happen to agree with you and colonel 100% In Regards to basic flying skill.  I did most of my first 1000hrs on floats and taught myself how to fly a taildragger in a dhc-2 on a 45' wide runway. I like to think I understand a little bit of why those funny looking things are on the floor.  The flying is certainly a little more boring now, we have our own ways of making it fun, but the destinations are significantly better!


I once flew with a Chief Pilot who couldn't navigate from our base to a lake we used almost daily, 14 miles away, without his GPS.  He didn't last the season as a CP.  he also told me that doing anything other than holding the control column neutral during initial takeoff run on floats was pointless. Fortunately for me, I had a bit of experience and knew better, but our company had a habit of hiring fresh CPL's with float rating and he would be tasked to train them....would they know better?  Where did he learn to fly and how many CPL's have they churned out? 

 

Where did he learn to fly and how many CPL's have they churned out?

That is the frightening thing about aviation in Canada, quality control is non existent once T.C. issues the FTU-OC .


Canada is really fucked up when it comes to Aviation regulation, hell most third world countries are better regulated.


TCCA is run by cretins interested only in personal gain and power.


The Colonel and I have them figured out and are not afraid of them.

Chuck:  I just emailed you an incredible 3.6MB PDF
for your viewing pleasure ... let me know if I used
the wrong address!!