Michael Birbeck,
Allow me to disagree. Since the Wright bros there has to be someone flying the plane, because the plane doesn't know how to fly itself no matter how sophisticated the machine is. Automation just helps to "freeze" a clear intention of a pilot, like "stay on the g/p" or "keep my speed at X" allowing time for other tasks to be performed. If you tell the machine "help me on this" you have to keep an eye on what is going on, just in case the machine drops the ball, and if drops you already know what needs to be done (otherwise you wouldn't be qualified to operate it). Airplanes are so damn reliable these days that I suspect some pilots sometimes forget that they can malfunction at any given time, Murphy’s' law and all that.
GD&L