dp davies admonishes us not to use the rudder in certain turbulence conditions.
however we must ask ourselves about being taught to use rudder in certain situations as part of a recovery. indeed, since the tragic crashes in pittsburgh and colorado springs involving the 737 hardover, new methods have been introduced...these started about 1995 to my memory.
if one limits the use of rudder to engine out and crosswind landings, leaving it on yaw damper for the express purpose of countering "dutch roll" fine.
but it is not being taught that way...and no specific mention of NOT using the rudder is being made at many large and respected airlines.
indeed in certain wake turbulence encounters, rudder and aileron/spoilers are part of the equation, at least according to some schools of thought at some major airlines in the us.
may I suggest, what has been suggested before, that since American's primary aircraft is the MD80 (super 80) a mindset might have evolved that what was good for the MD80 was good for everything else. And perhaps it is not so.
Indeed, for the record, since 1935 in the US, Rudder has been a vital part of the controls. It is said that a CAB test pilot took off in a plane that had the ailerons rigged backwards and used the rudder to land and since that time the rudder was part of the equation.
in 1982 my ailerons failed inflight on a small aircraft and rudder is what I used to land the plane safely.
We have all learned in different ways how to fly, how our decision making process is influenced by how and what we have learned in the past.
good luck to us all