RAT 5
"I still say any captain should be able, when given the a/c at 4000agl, 5nm from the airfield, 90 degrees to the Rwy, clean speed, to make a visual circuit low drag onto either Rwy with no G/P indicators, daytme. It's possible to use level D sims for this and would be a simple element of a CAA annual handling check, but at the very least a command check. Sure we should all be capable of the most basic of aviation's manoeuvres, the visual circuit. If so, should it not be tested? You learn a great deal about a pilot's abilities watching someone fly a visual descending circuit."
I could not agree more but change your should to could and your sadly in a whole new ball game.
Sadly the modern generation are not pilots but system managers - there was a thread on here a while ago - probably still here hiding somewhere - where a simmer who used the 767PIC program asked if anyone thought he could land a real 767. From reading what he wrote (some pretty technical on the ball stuff) i was fairly convinced that he 'probably' could - using all the systems - which actually was his question - however i am 100% sure that he could not hand fly that plane in anything other than SLF.
I wanted to fly.............now it seems that people want to be airline pilots for many other reasons that have little to do with - "flying is what i love doing". One of my friends wanted to be a pilot but for many reasons could not be - so he lived his life through his very clever son who at a speed faster than Concorde (how i hate BA/AF/BAE for what was the biggest piece of aeronautical vandalism since the TSR2) is now a 777 Captain. i really wonder how many hours he has when he was actually hand flying the plane on his way to becoming a 777 Captain. How many miles out were they on the 777 (BA038) that scraped over the fence at LHR when they dumped the automatics - and when does your typical C/FO take over and complete the landing in normal everyday landings?
We are moving into a gereration where kids can be super heroes on things like Gran Turismo on the XBox PS2 Playstation etc but what are we finding is that put them in a real car on real roads and they are killing not only themselves and others including their mates as well. But are we addressing that in any sensible way - by real life training - nope. I know the analogy is not directly compatible to flying BUT it feels like it is getting a bit too close to that (a computer game) for my liking. Sadly i dont see how that this is fixable - in this - lets fix it with a sticking plaster - modern world we live in. With the frequency and level of serious aircraft accidents we are having nowadays i am sure statisticians airlines and airline manufacturers will be able to prove we are 1000% safer with the NG of planes and pilots - (non existent) problem solved.