PBL:
Very true, and for the most I agree 100% with you regarding the role of automation, it's sophistication and reliability. Modern fighters simply cannot fly without it.
Why learn basic maths when a calculator can do it for you? The skills, the mental reasoning and mental processes need to be there as a foundation. Same ideology with our profession, I believe. Example: Ask your FO on your next flight when briefing a hold what he expects the aircraft to do passing overhead the fix: sector 1, 2 or 3 entry?? Why? Because "what if" the dutiful yet dumb computer makes a mistake? How will you (or the FO) know if those foundations are not there?
Ask any pilot who has experienced real life "torque roll" in a turboprop, or other and you'll see an entirely different perspective on Vmca. I struggle to convey the importance of understanding the 777-200LR's performance, all to do with a V2 floor, etc, etc (
http://pilotlab.net/aircraft-manufac...higher-thr.pdf) yet the blank looks are worrying.
Personally, I whole-heartedly embrace technology. The 777's EFB and Perf Tool (all be it a very slow processor!) optimizes performance and can remove "book error" from poor interpolation, etc (but replaced by the possibility of "finger error"?) But I also believe it should be worked with the human element at an amicable ratio. Too often we are seeing over-reliance on automation to the job the pilots
should be capable of doing themselves.
Blindly relying on it is not only not right, it's stupid. Understanding it, working with it, etc is completely different and a quality an airman should seek and have.
The QF32 incident and Hudson Landing, as well as the 757 incident mentioned in my first post, shows how a profession team of airman were able to draw on a sound foundation, strong training and good experience to use the tools they had and to develop a means to achieve their task. Like Guppy (believe it or not!) I too believe that what these crews did was commendable in the highest, but not something we should deem as extraordinary. Sadly these skills, experience, decision making, etc, etc, etc are becoming rare in airline environments - even deliberately so since such attributes are (in my opinion) deemed as "cost liabilities" when someone else with zero to fresh CPL holder can be employed instead.