A lot of younger pilots sit there with the aeroplane behaving odd and mumble 'what's it doing now?', and just watch a situation develop. I have to jog them sometimes with a discrete hint: 'why don't you just disconnect the damn thing and FLY IT? Who cares a flying f what it's doing- it's not doing what YOU WANT, mate!' As automatics become more complex, the 'paralysis' of watching, in a sort of cobra-like trance, automatics misbehave without actually doing anything about it is getting more of a problem.
Yup, couldn't agree more.
Even the 'ole L1011, which was the first airplane with true fail/operational performance with the autoflight/autothrust systems, every once in awhile does a hiccup...that is what the pilots are there for...to FLY the airplane.
What an absolute surprise...
