My confusion is this. What Mansfield describes is the way it was, and IMHO he way art should still be. It was the way I was taught & the way everyone flew in my outfit. Captains demonstrated it and we apprentices follow suit. It was what our pilot management expected of the crews. Plus, the network required such skills for the airfields down route, and the basic kit of the a/c also required a high manual skill set.
What has happened is that the a/c have become technically more sophisticated, more capable in automatics, and the airfields have become more updated in their equipment. It is possible to manoeuvre the a/c to 3nm finals via automatics and then disconnect, when the a/c is in full & stable landing configuration, and perform the role of a real pilot for 45secs as you bring your steed back to earth. Job done. Indeed that is a necessary skill, but it has caused the earlier required skills to become museum pieces. Why, because those other skills are not taught, no demonstrated, not encouraged nor expected by some flight ops management. There are some operators who hold true to classic standards, but there are far too many who do not and create a fleet of trained monkeys. What is sadly true is that a pilot, from old school with high level basic skills, joins an airline of the restrictive kind and is no longer allowed to demonstrate his skills on line even for his own enjoyment and latterly for the education of the apprentice. The airline wants max use of full automatics.
It is a tragedy, and it will bite them one day.