I am fortunate(?) enough to now fly a modern jet (B777) but I learnt my trade on military pistons/turboprops flying around southern Africa. NDBs were the norm, and sometimes in ****ty conditions.
I graduated to large military jets in Europe but they were old and still needed a lot of 'stick & rudder' work.
Now flying an all-electric (almost) jet and what surprises me is that if you suggest having a go at something manually, without using all that FMS bollocks (which, frankly, often gets in the way of safe flying becuase guys are head down way too much), you get some real sideways glances by the folk who have little real flying under their belts.
That concerns me greatly because it means there is no practsie of the basics. Way too much faffing around twiddling knobs and pushing buttons instead of getting to grips with flying the approach (whats it doing now syndrome).
I acknowledge that young pilots making their way in their careers now are seeing less of the old fashioned steam-driven way of doing things ..... but that must mean there is a need to emphasise basic flying skills ..... 'stick & rudder' .... if not disaster surely awaits. MPL is a disaster waiting to strike, but it cannot be stopped .... the world is run by short-term accountants. Profit today ..... disiasters down the line are someone elses problem!