RAT 5, that is exactly what I would have expected. I can't post the powerpoint, but essentially he shows quite a bit more dynamic N1 variation with the autothrottles OFF vs. ON. In the one test condition that he cites airspeed data for, he shows an average of Vref+9 and a max of Vref+20 (with A/T on and bug set at Vref+5), compared to an average of Vref+18 with a max of Vref+31 (with A/T off and bug set at Vref+12 for wind additives).
I cannot yet speak from any experience on this ship, but like you, I have always found that I could do quite nicely with manual throttles. I don't know what my actual profiles would have looked like, but to me, running the throttles is just part of that pilot stuff. However, if nothing else, I think Bryan's argument is that the recommendation to turn A/T off when A/P is off probably can't be sustained for any good reason. Nothing in the Boeing manuals says we can't go all manual like we have always done. But the main argument that I have heard from our training folks is that with A/T off, you must add the wind additives to Vref+5, whereas with A/T on, you do not need to do this. Apparently, this is some kind of revelation...although I could swear it's been in the Boeing manuals since the beginning of time.
Now that I think about it, I think I smell the TALPA people around somewhere...
