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Old 27th Aug 2010, 10:30
  #24 (permalink)  
despegue
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: In my seat
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Well, at Sabena (and other Belgian airlines ), it was GOP (Good Operator Practice) to regulary handfly the complete climb/descend without the damn FD. It was done by everyone, from the first line-training sector.
The training filosophy was to first show/train to fly the aircraft raw-data in a smooth way up to SN standard, and then focus on the various tools that the aircraft has regarding autoflight/management. It proved very safe as there were no accidents since 1961, and still Belgian pilots are regarded as very proficient in general.
The Flight director is for me only a tool to see what the aircraft autopilot system wants to do, and if I do not agree, it is NOT followed. The flight-crew is still the boss, NOT THE COMPUTER.

Any airline that discourages manual flight is in my opinion a hazard to fly on. Any pilot not wanting to fly manually has no business in the cockpit. Mind you, this has to be compensated with adequate training. Flying manually is not just trying to keep altitude, speed and heading. It need to be done in a smooth way, and without losing your sit. awareness. All too often do I see collegues yanking the yoke like their life depends on it where a little pressure is sufficient...
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