PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Practicing manual flying in jet transport ops.
Old 10th Mar 2014, 08:54
  #41 (permalink)  
PENKO
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Europe
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What some posters do not understand, notably the ex-air force, is that the modern cockpit environment is different from strapping on a jet fighter or a Cessna.

To start with you have hundreds of passengers behind you, think passenger comfort.

More importantly, a few knots too fast, a glide dot too high, a bank angle more than 25 degrees...there is no room for error. Not because we might fall out of the sky but because our OPS department is watching our every move. We have to operate to very strict limitations with regards to handling the aircraft and strict limitations with regards to the energy state and flight path. So add to that mix a rusty hand flown approach and no one who has any experience in modern commercial jets will doubt that the workload goes up quite a bit for both PF and PNF.

So no, flying a 320 or a 737 manually is not difficult, but the work conditions set by our employer and the fact that passenger comfort is also a factor make hand flying more challenging than in a Cessna or dare I say, a fighter jet.

And do not forget that in one month we fly more IMC approaches than any typical jet fighter or Cessna pilot in a whole year!
So yes, when conditions are suitable, I hand fly. Maybe once or twice a week (one week averages 16 flights).
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