411A;
Re, "Give me a proper FLIGHT ENGINEER every darn time."
Agree, and given an AD that says,
"Unsafe Condition
(d) This AD results from a report of two occurrences of engine thrust rollback during takeoff. The Federal Aviation Administration is issuing this AD to prevent dual-engine thrust rollback, which could result in the airplane failing to lift off before reaching the end of the runway or failing to clear obstacles below the takeoff flight path.",
what shall we do with the software "engineer" who wrote the code?... A scene from Python's Holy Grail comes to mind...
Re "Ahhhh...Lockheed, a truly remarkable aeroplane"
Again agree...finest airplane I have ever flown. Your description of the FMS/Autopilot/Autothrust system brought back fond memories.