How on earth did we ever get on with the 13 IGS at Kai Tak??
Have to agree with you Keg.
Actually that is a pertinent point. Having flown the Kai Tak 13 IGS approach many times in another life, it was nowhere as difficult as I was led to believe.
With a modicum of basic jet handling skills it was most enjoyable to hand fly the approach and gave one a great sense of satisfaction to complete the turn on to final without S turning.
I don't envy todays pilots where it seems to me they are forced into hanging on to the automatics to satisfy their company standard operating procedures. Then when they go click click and fly by hand because they enjoy flying the aeroplane rather than continue with button pushing until the last few hundred feet, they run the risk of tea and bikkies because big brother QAR is waiting to catch you.
It should be a seamless transition from automatic flight to manual flight
providing the pilot has the confidence in his own ability to do so without scaring people
No one is saying after a long flight you should disengage the automatics at 15,000 ft just to get hand flying skills up. Time and time again we see sarcastic remarks on Pprune pages when someone dares to suggest they enjoy the pleasure and personal satisfaction of flying by hand.
What has happened in the last 30 years since automation became increasingly reliable and sophisticated, is that there are airline pilots secretly apprehensive of switching over from automatic flight to manual flight paths because they have got rusty and don't want to look a fool in front of the other pilot. They then rationalise by mumbling that autopilot flying is smoother and safer. And of course it is under certain circumstances.
A recent analysis of flight operations data (including normal flight operations, incidents, and accidents) identified an increase in manual handling errors. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) believes maintaining and improving the knowledge and skills for manual flight operations is necessary for safe flight operations
There are even Australian regional airlines mandating full use of automation from barely airborne to short final. And that is in CAVOK
No wonder this breeds a pilot totally dependant on his automatic pilot and flight director. The cadet system does just that.
Apologies for thread drift.
