Originally Posted by DL-EDI
Fair enough, but my main point of contention is: why "Damn Airbus" rather than "Damn modern flight decks"? Why "Damn Airbus" rather than "Damn modern training that apparently doesn't make appropriate use of pitch and power second nature to every crew in the absence of airspeed data"?
Agreed, with the addition that the AirBus integrated FlightDirector/AutoThrust system REQUIRES one to follow the FD's otherwise the AutoThrust becomes confused. This characteristic, that is Airbus specific I believe, forces the pilot to concentrate largely on the FD. That FD "focus" requires that Airbus training is largely void of pitch/power reliance. In that sense, the airplane is at least part of the problem.
My fix is simple, if you turn one automated system off, get ready to turn ALL of them off. A/P OFF, A/T OFF, FD's OFF. Works quite well.
