Originally Posted by Rat 5
…if it is decided by the powers that be, after many years of hand wringing and perhaps a few more high profile easily avoidable crashes, that it is necessary to revert back to basics and reaffirm the need for piloting skills, and to keep them tuned on the line, where will be the old farts to bring this about. In short time the training departments will be full of young bucks who have come up through the current system and who have ingratiated themselves in the SOP inner sanctum. Where will there be the knowledge and skill base to reintroduce these basics? It will be a lost art almost like using a pen to write a letter, read a map or cook a proper meal for 1 from fresh ingredients.
Another spot-on comment!. THE only thing that’s not allowing the accident/incident rate to shoot through the roof today, is that, at least for a while, the guys
managing the training departments, and for those few larger operators who can afford to do so, actually re-hire retired line pilots back into the training department, are the “old f@rts” you are describing … and they pass along the real necessity to fly the airplane – knowing full well that you may do that physically yourself – or – you may use the autoflight guidance system to manipulate the controls
as long as you remember that you’re NOT transferring control of the airplane to the autopilot (!) which is, I’m afraid, what a lot of the “newer” guys actually do. I’ve often told relatively new pilots that if you take out the
A/P Engage switch-light cover, and look on the back, it
DOES NOT SAY –
Pilot Disengage.