Mismanagement of automation

[Geoffersincornwall]

I can see that the brevity of our submissions has led to a oversimplification of the debate and the selective use of quotations.

CRAB
We all tend to use our own experiences as a guide to our opinions and of course our perception is also our reality. Let's cut each other some slack and I'll attempt to clarify one or two things. Firstly you are quite correct you didn't say anything about practicing with pax on board but then again you SAR guys don't get to fly many bona fide fare paying (paid?) passengers around so excuse me for making that assumption.

My complaints about the competence levels I see from the global diaspora of helicopter pilots has a lot to do with a lack of the basics and many are new to automation so need to max their work with it to try and get them up to speed. With the tick-box system (practice until you can do it then slap a tick in the box before moving on) there is a nagging doubt about overall competency and I am one of those 'glass-half-empty' guys when it comes to my opinion on that.I personally believe there is a dreadful malaise in the helicopter industry and that maybe Evidence Based Training might be our saviour. But I'm not holding my breath.

BLADESTRIKE & SK92
All presumptions about pushing against the spring fall apart if you encounter the worst of nightmares and suffer (or give yourself) a double AP fail. Any unusual attitude recovery strategy that relies on the AP to help is doomed if you have no AP's. Best use a more basic strategy. In any case modern helicopters have been designed to be flown using the automatics and flying manually goes against this ethos. Yes we need to have that skill but we should not disguise the need by pretending that a little bit here and there is a substitute for a properly designed, conducted and assessed lesson. As long as we play that game then we will not get what we need.

G