Originally Posted by
aeronaut321
737qanda that's a great idea.
Ferry pilot, I think producing pilots capable of hand flying with confidence is an essential skill - it can be achieved without much cost but just requires a change of culture. Some airlines already do this just by encouraging turning off the automation (when appropriate, ie good weather, low traffic levels).
I remember a skipper I flew with when I almost overcooked a hand flown approach say: what would the passengers rather have, a perfectly flown approach by the autopilot everytime or a pilot who can confidently fly if the situation requires it, even if we'd had to throw that approach away?
There are a great many out there who think exactly as you do, and I am one of them in spite of my argument. Hand flying is an essential skill. But it is a dying one. The tide, my fellow artful flyers, has turned against us. Were it any other way, we would not be having this discussion. Like your car that spends ninety five percent of its useful life parked on the ground, airliners may as well be spending theirs parked in the sky when it comes to improving your driving skills. The truth is, you get those skills the hard way, before you arrive in the big leagues. The only way in not all that long ago.