Nostalgia aint what it used to be.I'm always curious as to when exactly this halcyon era of faultless instrument manual pilots was.Would it be around the same time that aircraft flew into mountains at a rate that would shut down the industry today? Since the onset of highly automated/FMC equiped aircraft roughly co-incided with modern ideas of multi crew cooperation is it fair to asume that FO's prior to then transitioned to the LHS having been nothing better than the Skippers sexual advisor for a few years? (i.e "If I want your F**king advice I'll ask for it.")
Accounts from the glory days of flying certainly give the impression of co-pilots rarely being blessed with a sector.No doubt the crusty old skippers bemoaned the abilities of these young whipersnappers who relied on hydraulic flight controls and who had never even flown in an open cockpit.Our industry is a fast changing one and we need to keep abreast of it as professionals.While "Hand flying " is still a valuable tool in any modern pilots box we have to keep its significance in context.If it's the best way to get the job done-use it.If not -don't.
The "What happens when it all goes tits up" argument is only valid to the point of a reasonable expectation of the reliability of the system.How many of us would know how to start the car if we had to retard the spark/richen the mixture etc? Does that make us less capable as drivers of modern cars?.What if the auto choke failed?.
I have absolutely no doubt that todays generation of so-called "Button Pushing Pilots" will in ten years scratch their grey beards and mutter about the young upstarts who dont even know how to program the FMC when the datalink fails!