Hi Gums,
Excuse me, but what is it about this "FD (flight director)" that is so important to the end result of an "upset" or just a basic takeoff/landing or approach?
My first 10 years of commercial aviation was on AC types which only had the flight director turned on for ILS approaches. For the first 30 years we never had the FD on for any take offs. (minimum Alt for engagement was AA - often it was much later) In those days "pilot error" was high in the accident records.
Nowadays, the FD is on continuously from takeoff to landing. The big advantage is that each pilot knows the intention of the other by monitoring the FD modes. The big disadvantage is the erosion of basic flying skills. However we seem to need those basic flying skills far less frequently than we need good crew co-operation and monitoring of each other.
During an upset recovery, the FD can uselessly give incorrect "orders" (e.g. the climbing VS order for AF447 during the stall). Some pilots become fixated on the FD.
Good for basic clues, but not to blindly follow.
I couldn't agree more.