lol Sounds like you just don't know how to gracefully lose an argument.
Why was the comment above necessary and how did it help the discussion?
This question, ironically, adds nothing either and just detracts the subject further, back onto a disagreement should have already passed.
When your argument is turned into a strawman and then, someone says I'm just "making stuff up", I don't take kindly to that. Sorry, but I tend to respond to rudeness in kind.
Anyway, while I'm definitely opposed to changing the scan penalties for the pilot, I'm all for lowering it for the other crew. There also may be other creative suggestions to help combat these problems, for example, new built in features to the LOOK <direction> commands when on a skimmer in the silt seas, which may temporarily make your character stand to get a better look - though at the risk of falling should the skimmer move. What we could also do is let one or two characters (aside from the pilot) stand on the skimmer and hold onto the mast for support. By holding onto the mast, you do not risk falling off and you have no penalties to your perception skills. That's win-win I think. Unless somehow the whole mast gets destroyed, in which case everyone is probably screwed anyway.
Other ideas suggested here are also great. Being able to leave the skimmers safely and also to change captain also.. they totally make sense. Again, this is realism, though it greatly benefits the players in this case. On the topic of realism: you just can't have a harsh, gritty world without it.