Kennytheking
Perhaps the answer to this thread is to have a good systems knowledge of your particular aircraft and of the various modes and their respective limitations. Fiddling with V/S at FL400 is perfectly fine, as long as it's not set at 3000fpm climb. Likewise, not a great idea setting the same decent rate at 10,000ft whilst trying to maintain 230kts. Agreed?
Whilst the Airbus will happily do a given rate in the hold, other aircraft have different logic. In any situation, the pilot should always be prepared to select the most appropriate level of automation for that task. Ideally, this will be the highest, but it's not always possible or suitable. So, my question to you would be, if you're light and climbing rapidly in a busy TMA, would you still leave the VNAV mode engaged?
Perhaps when the 'turboprop' guys you refer to see that experienced guys like yourself can confidently interchange the various levels of automation to suit the situation, maybe they too will gain the knowledge and confidence to operate our aircraft safely and efficiently in the manner they were designed.
Harry