Policy on turning the autos off?

[Low Fidelity]

Hi,

A brief question from a curious non pilot.

For those operating highly automated types, does your airline have a policy on when you may disengage the autos (and to what extent) to polish up your manual handling skills, or is it left to the commanders discretion? i.e. do they encourage it, forbid it, or just say nothing at all?

Cheers :)

Low Fi

[Rainboe]

It's up to the pilot.

[BOAC]

More correctlyleft to the commanders discretion

[411A]

left to the commanders discretion

Yep, same here.
However, as I fly the Lockheed L1011, some might not consider this type to be 'highly automated'...but of course it is, and it was the first to do so.
And, even after thirty five years, still is mighty fine.

[beamer]

How often have I heard this ' I've got a sim coming up, do you mind if I fly the aircraft manually for some practice....'

[despegue]

Departure flown normally until at least 10.000' unless in congested airspace, weather, inexperienced collegue,...
I mostly fly the whole ILS raw-data without any "tools" like FD, exept when in bad weather (fog, heavy rain,...). A lot of my collegues do the same or fly manually raw-data until/from cruising level.
In general, keep it sensible and try to enjoy the flying when conditions allow!:ok:
When I was flying for the Brits however, this was unheard of. Different culture, different style ( I am Belgian).

[DooblerChina]

We are encourged to use the a/pilot at times of high workloads, complicated departures, bad weather etc. however it is not mandatory. On the flip side, is the weather is good, and the arrival straight forward quite the opposite is encouraged.

Hope this helps.

[Low Fidelity]

Thanks to everybody who posted, your comments have been very helpful.

From the responses I get the impression that most operators encourage you to practice manual flight on the line when conditions are suitable i.e. low traffic area, good weather.

From talking with colleagues who fly automated jets I get the impression that most would like to spend more time manually handling the aircraft. Is this a common opinion? Do you think that you get sufficient opportunity to practice manual flight on the line? Also, do you think that the balance of simulator training is ok, or do you think too much/too little time is dedicated to manual flight?

Thanks again

Matt

[BelArgUSA]

Hola Matt -
xxx
747-200 from another era of aviation...
For me, "George" flies the plane after flaps are up.
If weather permits, I click it OFF at the outer marker.
xxx
My buddy Otto flies the plane better than me.
But occasionally, I let Manuel fly too, for practice.
Poor me, I only average 3 or 4 landings a month.
xxx
:)
Happy contrails

[Tight Slot]

BOAC.... hmmm. Left to the commanders discretion? What? The guy/girl in the right hand seat is paid to be a "pilot" when was the last time your oppo ie F/O hand flew the plane and you said argh no put the A/P back in?? Its left to the "pilot" as and when to disconnect IMHO. Thats what their paided for