Originally Posted by
Uplinker
A last example from me. We are in the cruise and PM has gone to the loo. Or we are following vectors in a TMA and PM is getting cabin secure from the CC. Out of the blue ATC says "avoiding action, turn left 30°." I am going to take out the AP and turn immediately by reference to my bank and heading display, and ignore the roll bar of the FD but still follow the FD pitch bar. When I know the aircraft is safe, and/or PM comes back, we can turn the heading bug to realign the FD, and pop the AP back in.
Why not turning the heading bug yourself ? Because you know you can follow a heading without the need for the bug ?
Originally Posted by
Uplinker
Pilots should always "fly through" the flight directors - by which I mean you should always be looking at the pitch and roll presentation of the PFD, and any adjustment to the aircraft path should be by reference to this. Pilots must always refer to the pitch and bank presentation, and only regard the FD as a suggestion for guidance. Unusual attitudes? look only at pitch, bank, and speed, ignore all else. This should be instinctive.
The FD is an advisory instrument, and it should never be blindly followed. Doing so has caused accidents, and one must always look through it to confirm the actual pitch and bank of the aircraft, and that the FD is offering sensible guidance.
I fully agree with you.
But do you have at your airline some instructors who require "pixel perfect" following of the FDs ?
I find that in this debate, this article from an airbus test pilot would be very relevant, especially the quoted part :
https://safetyfirst.airbus.com/app/t...df.php?p=25242
It would be interesting to survey pilots as to what they understand by the terms “fl ying manually”. Personally, I have often heard during test, demonstration, acceptance or airline fl ights, colleagues, young or older, airline pilots or test pilots, proudly say that they would do such or such a part of the fl ight - in general a complete approach followed by a landing - “in manual control mode”. I would then observe how they performed and saw that all they did was actually disconnect the AP and servilely follow the Flight Director, leaving the Auto Thrust engaged. And this until start of the flare. [...]
Flying in this manner can in no way be considered as “flying manually”. Indeed, the orders given to the flight controls by the pilot consist in setting the Flight Director (FD) bars to zero, which corresponds to the orders generated by the guidance function.
These stick inputs are actions done mechanically by the pilot but are in no way elaborated by him/her.
[...]
In other words, this exercise provides strictly nothing towards the manual flying training for the cases where the pilot would truly have to fly the aircraft manually.