Originally Posted by
terminus mos
HC Wrote
If voluntarily en route "hand" flying an S-92 or 225 without the upper modes and holds engaged at 5000' on a training sortie under the guidance of a Training Captain for night deck landing practice with 3 crew is considered to be flying a degraded aircraft to the extent that it unacceptably increases risk and categorizes pilots as expendable (in your opinion) then the world is going mad.
When else should pilots practice their "manual" flying skills?
No I agree that flying without the upper modes is not "intentionally degrading the aircraft" and of course we would do that with your passengers too. I was more thinking of AP out flying, trim failures, switching off NAV systems, failing screens etc.
You did say "practice manual flying skills" but I don't see plodding along for 200nm without the holds engaged, but instead just tweaking the beep trim every few minutes, to be of much benefit for manual flying skills.