CRAB I hear you but....you have failed to correlate the 5 cases cited above where lack of familiarity, lack of procedure and failure to mandate the use of automatics in DVE (Degraded Visual Environment) killed over 30 people.
In all but one case (the S61), the events leading up to the impact started with a low speed/low height loss of control.
We should never, ever, ever, ever practice or do this in the real helicopter with without the use of a 4 axis autopilot. All of these events have arisen from attempted VMC in a DVE. That has nothing to do with hand flying on Instruments which is the confusion you keep bringing to ths thread.
The association of VMC flight not requiring the use of Coupled modes sits right at the heart of the matter here! Make no mistake about this.
Your repeated posting in support of flying by hand in such conditions tells me, that despite your obvious SAR talents, you do not understand the prime causal factors in these events. I will propose that you do not understand BECAUSE you, and the crews you fly with, do not hand fly in DVE beyond the boundaries of acceptable and practical VMC and when you do, you have have your automatics deployed by mandate or as your airmanship dictates.
CRAB you are important to this thread because, unwittingly, I suspect you actually practise what I preach. However, I need you to open your mind beyond the one dimensional view that more hand flying will solve this problem.
Before you reach for the keyboard ask yourself this one Q. Can the best pilot in the world assure a safe flight path flying visually in a DVE in which insufficient visual references exist?
Now tell me that good hand flying would have saved these lives.
DB
Last edited by DOUBLE BOGEY; 10th Sep 2013 at 21:57.