In the 80's B732 we flew to the most major & minor airfields: those with all the aids, those with almost nothing; no radar, no DME, perhaps only an NDB & VASI. If really necessary an NDB let down on time and altitude, but usually it was a day time visual. This was the most common into small Greek islands. If you were lucky the larger ones had an ILS. However, on a clear day a visual was the norm; even into LGW, LTN, MAN etc. The a/c had only 1 DME as a range aid. The whole descent had all been done on 1 DME from FL350 and if you spooled up before 1500' you bought the beers. I'm not hankering for the good old days; it was hard work, but satisfying. A visual was the norm using Mk.1 eyeball and knowledgeable control of the parameters necessary to make it work. One of my last airlines, there've been a few, dissuaded against visuals. If necessary it could not be flown shorter than 4nm and a VNAV LNAV route had to be constructed to 4nm to aid the profile. Good god! Every medical you have your eyes tested; every 6 months you have your skills tested. You pass and then you are not allowed to use them. No wonder there are some out there who can not do the basics and do not know how to in any case. Shame on such a philosophy. It was all about saving money due to avoiding G/A's. So when the poo hits the propellor the crew will be hard pushed to sort it out. Trained robotic button pushing monkeys; not pilots. True pilots can do both in their sleep. Even the button pushing is done as per rigid SOP's rather than understanding exactly what is going on and allowing you to chose the best method for the job in hand: even down to what CDU page you have for every phase of flight. Good God almighty. Pontious would turn in his grave never mind Ernest K. G. I fear the pendulum has swung fully to one side. What will take it to swing back to a more sensible centre? sadly too many smoking holes. Every time I watch Air Crash investigation I cringe and wonder how many times something similar has 'nearly' happened. I do not suggest we all fly like Bush Pilots or Flying Alaska jockies, but we should be able to do the basics. There are some things about flying a jet which are basic principles and don't change from a cherokee. We learnt it on the job. It was the norm. Now the HOT says there is not enough simulator time to teach these skills. Ouch! I fear not enough out there can do those; and whose fault is that? CAA's or the airline?
I do not believe flying manually at constant power and speed upto FL XYZ is keeping manual flying skills honed. It is the idle descent to a CDA LDA to a visual or visual to ILS/VOR/NDB finals manually flying through flap extension while keeping on profile that will keep your skills honed. You need to manage speed, power, attitude and configuration to a LDA/CDA. It is that which is discouraged for commercial reasons. A sad day. The saddest thing is if you want to enjoy flying don't become an airline pilot.
Last edited by RAT 5; 29th Nov 2012 at 12:52.