[PatrickHenry]

But isn't it ironic that pilots who fly "by the seat of their pants" are less likely to survive to bear children than pilots who trust their avionics?

I suggest (but certainly can't prove) that if all of us had to fly, and if our flights were always high-risk dogfights and the like, the children of the survivors would be the product of a "Darwinian filter," and would go on to breed terrific "seat of the pants" flyers.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you so much for your reply!

I suggest (but certainly can't prove) that if all of us had to fly, and if our flights were always high-risk dogfights and the like, the children of the survivors would be the product of a "Darwinian filter," and would go on to breed terrific "seat of the pants" flyers. I'm sure that would be true if they were flying in daylight, clear weather and aircraft that were of a lower speed. OTOH, if they were flying at night, in low visibility and supersonic aircraft - the ones who ignored the 'seat of their pants' and paid attention to the instrument panel would be more likely to survive, IMHO.