ppragman
FLIPY FLAPS!
That's kind of a logical fallacy, the term "beards paradox" comes to mind sometimes it might be a good idea, some times it might not be, and to suggest that there is a specific point that requires deviating from SOPs and the AFM denies the dynamic and highly unstructured environment that aviation can be. The AFM isn't necessarily the bible - sides, most people only pay lip service to the bible any way. I'm sure it was spot on 20-40 years ago when the freight airplane you were flying at "Joe's Barbecue and Air Charter Service - Callsign Backstrap" was certified, however after years of abuse, 500 overhauls, and oodles of mishandled freight, and renegade pilots punching through level 5s at Mmo the AFM is just the starting point. You have to know your ship, know its limitations, then know the real limitations, some times those are more conservative, sometimes, the engineers building the thing didn't think of some of the nifty tricks you can use to make your life easier or help yourself out in a jam. Additionally, I've seen plenty of absolutely unreasonable or awful company procedures, or simply things that I truly didn't agree with (like not pushing the props forward until after touching down, or procedures that have you lower then raise, then lower the gear during a single engine approach) or think were a good idea, and plenty of awful checklists to know better than to say that the manufacturer's specific order is always the right way to do things. Checklists and procedures even vary from company to company for the same equipment. There are more than just a few ways to skin a cat.
Also, the AFMs having varying levels of legalese in them - this is especially true as time has gone on - to protect the company from litigation. Ultimately, sometimes the book has to be set down, and the situation has to be looked at from an "outside the box" perspective or atleast analyzed for logic. Just as every EP in the book isn't necessarily applicable, so too are many of the normal and abnormal procedures unuseable in some scenarios. Same thing with profiles, do you fly the published profile that tells you to slow to 140 on the approach in uncomfortable icing conditions with a minimum icing speed of 160KIAS? Hell no. You keep your speed up and adjust as required once you get the field in sight or high enough to stay stabilized. Do you add a huge gust factor when the runway you're going into is short? Nope, you'd just better be ready to go around if you can't stabilize it well on the way down. Part of being pilot-in-command is using your judgment to account for different situations that may arise, and adjusting as required. If it could be flown straight out of the book on every single flight, we'd be obsolete, and these things would be autonomous already.
