You do realise your posts are almost unreadable natstrackalpha? I don't know why you are applauding clear BS in post 98, but that led me to believe you think that the airbus does not call retard in some cases.
I'm not argueing in anyone's favour nor to undermine anybody. This thread is full of BS that is more a reflection of peoples opinions rather then factual information.
In general:
1. According to airbus the pilot judges when to close the thrust, not when "the ol man says"
2. The callout is only a reminder not a command during manual flight.
3. The airbus will ALWAYS call retard
Source: a320 manuals
I'm not sure how anyone's way can be better then what the manufacturer says in their certified manuals about how it is done. It would be bad training to teach anything other then what the manufacturer says.
A. It would leave you open to a whole range of nastiness when something goes wrong.
B. The manufacturer has more experience with their aircraft then you will ever be able to get in your career.
When somebody asks for advice on here I'm surprised to see so much BS, that can easily be disproven by opening the FCOM/FCTM.
Closing the thrust when the ol man says might work 9 out of 10 times, but we are trying to score 10 out of 10 aren't we? The flare and closing thrust is a judgement, and getting it wrong a few times does more for learning then 1 solution for everything advice. But what works even better is manual thrust.
Yes I fly a320 and I have flown 737's.
Back to the Old Man: Closing the thrust levers when he says "retard" is not going to do anyone wrong. Watch the a/p doing it and see what `it` does (somebody mentioned this observing of the a/p and emulating that - it is very good advice!)
Well the autopilot starts reducing the thrust at 30ft RA, not at 20! So how does that relate to the old man? It doesn't.