Pace
So flying with the most appropriate level of automation to meet the current circumstances is usually the best course of action then. Agreed?
The circumstances to consider may be numerous indeed. Among them though are a few things we might want to consider:
1) How much spare workload capacity do we need to "free up" right now versus how much do we need the "work" to maintain manual proficiency?
2) How able are we to perform at a high level right now versus just wanting to reduce the likelihood of ending up feeling a little too "challenged"?
3) What kind of performance can we expect from the automation? Is it more work and/or are there more potential "traps" using a particular level or mode of automation versus other modes including 100% manual?
4) Regulatory, MEL, company policy or fellow crewmember or pax comfort considerations.
Obviously these priorities are ordered according to some combination of policy and judgment, depending upon the type of flight organization. They won't be identical in every operation or circumstance. In a private operation, it's pretty much the airmanship of the pilot(s) which must be relied upon to answer any questions regarding competing priorities. In a highly structured airline environment, much may be determined according to company policy. Similar to automation itself, decision-making authority has multiple levels and modes according to where you work. But the responsibility remains with the PIC when things go wrong. It's good to be King eh?
Similar to your experiences Pace, I have spent a fair amount of time flying some older planes with quirky automation. To tell the complete and unvarnished truth I really enjoyed it that way because you can really see the subtle differences between skillful flying and just going through the motions. It just feels good to do something skillfully. Especially if it doesn't come easily. But alas, professional flying sometimes requires a certain amount of submission to policy. And sometimes the higher level of automation is the best/safest course of action. Still, if someone would pay me a decent living wage to do it, I'd be perfectly happy hand flying a Super Cub on floats below 500'AGL for the rest of my days! That's still some of the most enjoyable and gratifying flying I've ever done. But then, there's some pretty interesting flying to be done in bizjets too. Automation or not, multi-crew or not, it's all flying. And flying is GOOD! I hope you all enjoy yours everyone, no matter what kind of plane and regardless of how you log it.
westhawk