Manually flying a helicopter is a refined art in which all the senses of the body are involved . It is still something in which I love to do esp on a good weather day . We use to tell the plank drivers that to fly is heavenly But to be able to hover is divine . However modern helicopters with its superior automation does not req so much superior handling skills but rather req superior KNOWLEDGE to safely fly it. That is why I feel base checks should not only be on handling skills only . More emphasis should be placed on use of automatics . Even the FMS usage is quite often overlooked in checks.