PEI: Thank you for that insight. However, what, in your opinion, should be flown as target if there is a difference between PAPI & ILS G/S? Mark 1 eyeball will help greatly, but sadly many airlines these days do not teach or allow F/O's to fly approaches with no G/P guidance. At night it is certainly Capt's only. Dreadful state of affairs.
I have been to airfields on CAVOK days where the is only an NPA and very weak VASIS seen only very late in approach and on centreline. Rwy visible from 40nm slightly off C.L. Even with the VNAV box of tricks modern F/O's are not always capable of flying a visual G/P accurately and effciently with configuratioon/speed changes from 20nm out.
Because of this lack of training and exposure to visual approaches the one time it happened that we were overhead at 5000', due traffic. on a severe clear day and then cleared to land on the NPA Rwy, the PF was lost about what to do & how. Where have the piloting skills gone? Is it still the same as was amongst the Greek islands? Mark 1 eyeball approaches? In the B737-200 you had nothing unless there was a DME nearby. Now, with all this computer mappy VNAV guff you are spoon fed, but even then it is screwed up.