JimL, I don't think we differ very much in our views. However, when I see the virtually uncriticised adoption of procedures meant for far heavier, faster FW a/c into the offshore environment (like the criteria for a stabilised approach for instance), I have to ask myself why. 500 ft above threshold on a VFR approach is not much on a 747 but it is lots on a medium helicopter. Especially if we're then required to fly a visual approach at 200 ft from 0.75NM away at the end of an ARA in crappy weather. To me it is much more a "cover your behind" action from bureaucrats than a well thought out improvement of safety. I'm not a luddite, but I am a critical customer of "improvements".
As an LTC myself I will take the monitoring role every time when we are getting close to limits or have an unusual situation (stuff breaks, occasionally). It frees my mind to consider other things further down the road and make sure we as a crew are prepared to deal with those.
To me the PiC needs to be a few steps ahead of the a/c every single second of the flight, and when you literally have your hands full, that becomes very difficult.
However, there is still a real requirement to handfly a helicopter, much more than there is in FW. Simply because we are not always able to fly coupled approaches into wind onto large surfaces but sometimes have to manoeuvre low level out of an ARA to minima onto a deck that is surrounded by obstacles. It takes practice to become proficient and confident. All well within OM parameters but challenging nonetheless. So there is a place and time for handflying as well as for full automatics.
To me, the PiC needs to (be able to) manage the flight, using all the equipment available including all the automation to the level appropriate for every stage of flight. But that can only be achieved through learning how to control the flight first, and then learning to allow the automation control the flight while monitoring its correct functioning.
Reading about the tactile feedback from controls I find them very interesting. It would be great to have the feedback without having to scan instruments. It will aid SA enormously. Looking forward to that.