alf5071h,
I always thought that PWR + ATT = PERF was indeed a sound measure of speed awareness, among a number of other things. I was a bit surprised that you found the previous posts as supporting such a conclusion - I came to quite the opposite view.
JT,
I am a bit surprised about your conclusion in regard to the ease of flying from either seat. I have been doing it for many years and I still require some very conscious activities to re-attune myself with the different role, different instrument scan, different switch positions, different controls in different hands (except in helicopters, thank goodness) and remembering where everything is in total darkness.
I see a lot of command training and co-captain flying that suggests that it is not that comfortable for most people. Mind you, that is most often due to lack of practice.
I think that CAPT/CAPT upgrade training or initial conversion is not a great drama and I could certainly generate an argument that suggests that flying from both seats is so beneficial that the extra workload is justified. In the early sessions where the focus might well be on technical or "hard" skill training, there is no great disruption in flying alternate approaches or procedures, probably less so than freeze-reposition events. However, I do see some drawbacks once the emphasis shifts onto "soft" skill training involving flight management, cabin management and situational awareness type issues where the flow of events and preservation of the illusion predominate.
While not being overly keen on burning dissidents at the stake, I do have a different view about the benefits of flying from both sides for FO/FO initial conversion.
I accept unreservedly that alternating the flying will reduce fatigue levels and that that is a highly desirable outcome. However, I think that learning the CAPT's scans and war-cries and presumably the post abnormal/emergency management responsibilities is an avoidable increase in workload and, importantly, stress that may well offset the fatigue management benefits.
Clearly, it has worked for you. My reticence is based on the appropriateness of the approach for less-well attuned instructors than yourself and also on what I suspect may well be candidates from a different gene pool. I also think that the experience gained from flying in the left seat for FOs is somewhat illusory when they may not get back there for three to five years - the tradeoff is clearly one between which technique provides the most immediate or more productive benefit.
The sim instructor's mission is not only to prepare the candidate for the final sim check/rating but also for entry to line training. I suspect that, in the end, the choice of how to run the sim sessions should remain open provided that the instructor's enthusiasm does not prevail at the expense of the student. The days of adequate spare sim slots or management agreement to allocate more resources for poorly performing candidates are well on the way out.
Stay Alive