Speaking as 'grumpy old retired git' I see the same mental trends here as we saw in the Schipol, Colgan, PGF etc etc accidents - over-reliance on the 'automatics' and computers. I NEVER favoured the use of extended c/line (co-pilots were 'trained' to use it and of course I let them
) BUT my view has always been that an idea of where you actually
are and where you
should be is the necessary function for your brain. In the absence of DME. NDB, VOR or whatever on an airfield, what about a mental plot of where you are? Where were you? What headings have you been on for how long? What is the wind? Is this skill now dead?
IF you are incapable of keeping such a plot, and I suspect a frightening number of newer pilots have never had this suggested to them - and are - by all means put the a/f in as a fix and work out your energy levels, DTG etc from that. There is, after all (if it is working) a 'map' in front of you with range circles and a built in extended c/line already there!
I recall one 'famous' lady co-pilot (claiming several thousand hours, too) who was COMPLETELY lost without a magenta line, could not plot her position on a map and could not navigate an airway on VORs. ETAs from the PLOG and the clock without the PROG page in front of her were a total impossibility. Probably in command somewhere now - and we wonder why these 'unbelievable' accidents are occurring.