Originally Posted by
Vessbot
Here again you say it is everything, but elsewhere you say you do not hand fly. So does it include everything, or not?
It is specifically the topic of this thread.
I have never once seen someone deny the importance of all the the other elements of airmanship, based on them being good at hand flying. Have you?
The one time in the sim makes you so capable of that skill, that you aren't willing to do it in real life? I don't buy it.
Are you suggesting that the industry is at a shortfall of practice at using the autopilot?
Given that 99% of the time is spent with the AP on, of course that's where you're going to see problems. How many problems with hand flying are you going to see starting from 1000 feet or less on the glideslope, with no configuration changes, already trimmed, with thrust already set (or even on AT)?
Bloody hell, this is like pulling teeth. What I am saying is those pilots who insist on hand flying all the time due to some false belief that we must all hand fly regularly or we are not real pilots are actually the ones who are the pain in the ass. Most Pilots don't need to hand fly all the time to practice and are of a good enough standard through day to day operations which at times will include some hand flying and of course the mandated simulator programme certified by your regulator. No where did I say that I don't hand fly, I did say that I don't feel any need to practice every day or every week as my skills are good enough through the practice I get in normal day to day operations. It is a real concern that we have Chuck Yeagers on here who actually think procedures like GS from Above and Missed Approaches are better flown manually as there are too many 'button pushes' required to do it with automation. I will say again, if your normal day to day operations and simulators are not sufficient to keep you practiced enough to handle that one day in a thousand where you are required to hand fly due to a non normal or MEL then you shouldn't be a professional pilot. I reckon I do a manually flown approach a couple of times a year and my skills are top notch as evidenced by all my training reports. I don't know why anyone has an issue with this, what I get sick of is those pilots who pressure others into lots of manual flying when it is just not needed in most situations.