When I first learnt to fly it was drummed into me that you used the controls to put the a/c where you wanted it and then trimmed out the stick forces - you did not use the trims to fly the a/c.
With hydraulic controls the manufacturers went to a lot of trouble to devise feel systems that told the pilot what he was doing. If you took the autopilot out and pulled the stick back then you would have to pull harder and harder to keep the nose up as the speed fell - there was a clue there!
Then along came FBW and we have a/c that no longer have feel but, worse still, trim the nose up as the speed falls with the a/p disconnected (sort of). Presumably someone decided that the feedback that feel provided was a waste of money or just impossible with a sidestick.
I flew t-tail jet airliners and we regularly hand-flew them because we enjoyed doing it and we were expected to be competent at it in the sim.
Incidentally I thought that pickle switches were used for dropping bombs.
