BEagle, It is great that you have an opinion on almost everything. A shame that you didn't last a little longer on the F4 and then you would have learnt how to operate some of the more temperamental systems. The F4 autopilot was basic, some may say crude, however, a Godsend on a 8 hour transit flight. Due to lack of any integration or proper testing it's limitations were learnt in Sqn use. It became well known that every time that the Nav selected PD on the radar there would be an AP disconnect. This may be accompanied with an un-commanded pitch-up or pitch-down. I'm sure that 228 OCU QFIs would have taught you all you needed to know!!
The use of the AP just required an understanding of the system and good Crew Coop.
On a previous post, the was no significant difference between AAR on the Victor or Vulcan on the CL. I must admit that I never tanked on the Vulcan wing pods, maybe you did, and have an opinion