I would not be comfortable with my colleague’s feet being on the pedals during the cruise. At high altitude the reality is that OEI asymmetry is naturally limited due to the reduced thrust from the engines, but the effect of the rudder is (if not limited) potentially amplified due to the high TAS and low damping due low CAS? No thanks.
I have experienced OEI at cruise altitude
for what that is worth - on the 737 the AP could deal with it quite happily (at FL300+) even without any rudder input from PF. Not the prettiest sure, but it wasn’t going to instantly kill you.
Things may have changed now, but when on check/demo flights on the 737 we checked engine accel/decel at cruise altitude the SOP was not to apply any rudder and allow the AP to adjust - AP on, AT off. Never done anything like that in the airbus but of course even with AP off normal law comes to the rescue of my mediocre abilities.
Again, just my own experience - and worth exactly what you paid for it.
Last edited by Speed_Trim_Fail; 2nd March 2025 at 10:24.