In message , at 12:40:39 on
Wed, 19 Jun 2013, Recliner remarked:
I'm a great believer in understanding what's going
on around you, and being interested in the jobs of people who affect you
directly, in the way signallers and ATC do (for drivers and pilots).

Equally, do signallers have cab rides (or sim sessions)? Or do
drivers spend any time in maintenance depots or train
factories/rebuilders? And how much time do pilots spend seeing how
their planes are built and maintained? Or do ATC officers have sim
sessions? I suspect the answer is a negative in each case.

As pilots are directly responsible for doing a visual engineering
inspection of their planes before every take-off, I sincerely hope they
have quite a good understanding of how they are built and maintained.
That's probably the most important 'crossover skill' on your list, but
all the others should be done to some extent or another.
--
Roland Perry