Originally Posted by
Adlerdriver
This whole attitude of excuses is a huge source of this problem. It's a busy airport, I just flew 12 hours, I don't want to overload the PM, etc. These are all just cop outs. Sure, there are times some factors may combine to create a situation that warrants max use of automation. But, if you're making these excuses every time you fly and actually feel uncomfortable leaving the automation off after takeoff or clicking off the autopilot and auto-throttles at ~10K or at least significantly prior to a one-mile final, you have a problem.
You owe it yourself, your company and passengers (if you have them) to challenge yourself and the PM when conditions permit. Are you magically going to bring the A-game when stuff does happen after a 12 hour flight if you never even try to do it on a regular basis? Whatever excuses have been keeping it from happening won’t matter at that point.
I don't think you can definitively say what benefit hand flying at various points in a flight may or may not have. It certainly can't hurt. You know what probably will mitigate risk at the end of a 12+ hour flight?.... making a regular practice of hand flying after a 12+ hour flight. Didn't you just spend about half that 12+ hour flight not even on the flight deck resting in the bunk? Give me a break.
Of equal importance is familiarity and competency with manual manipulation of the flight controls and throttles.
Competency with automation is certainly important. I would suggest that the attitude that automation is going to drastically reduce your workload in the approach environment is another huge source of the problem with over-reliance on automation. Understanding what to expect from automation and how to employ it is the first thing. In addition to that, the ability to recognize when it has failed to deliver the expected response (due to failure, improper use or improper expectations) require just as much, if not more, attention and pilot awareness as hand flying.
I’ve seen the problem children throughout my career: The pilot who lets the speed get 10 knot slow waiting for the auto-throttles to do their job.....the guy who uses up a thousand feet of runway hoping the auto-brakes are going to kick in........barely paying attention to the level off, expecting the A/P to handle it…..letting the jet over speed because the VNAV is AFU instead of putting himself back in the loop……getting vectored to final with his hands in his lap and feet flat on the floor reaching up to occasionally change the speed or heading bug........all basically along for the ride watching the airplane fly itself. As opposed to hands and feet on the controls, knowing what will happen next, recognizing immediately when it doesn't and being ready to intervene at a moment’s notice to ensure the airplane does what he wants with no delay. If you think being at that state of awareness and readiness as you monitor the automation is significantly less difficult than hand flying, then I would suggest you're doing it wrong.
As others have pointed out in this thread, giving up and just becoming a button pushing, automation monitor isn’t a good solution. If the company SOPs allow, stop making excuses and do whatever you can to be as proficient in ALL aspects of operating your aircraft as possible. The airlines forcing max automation on their pilots are making a big mistake, IMO.
I'm curious as to what automation level you want to practice at? Simply handflying the aircraft while using the monitoring pilot to manipulate the flight director seems pointless. You could probably train a chimpanzee to do that. Certainly any twelve year old proficient in PlayStation could do it.
Are you suggesting flying a departure on raw data? Is that how you 'practice'?
Are you suggesting handflying a raw data approach? Even in high traffic, complex arrival situations?
Are you suggesting violating company (and consequently FAA) procedures by turning off autothrottles? Use of autothrottles is mandated by my companies FAA approved Flight Manual.
I stand by my assertion that automation has prevented more incidents than it has caused. All the automation accidents that I'm aware of were caused by pilots who were unfamiliar with the limitations of their systems.
The notion that one is simply a 'button-pusher' because you use the automation to make the operation safer is nuts. I've done my time cranking and banking a B737 into Tegucigalpa, and I enjoyed that kind of flying when I was doing it. Widebody international flying is a different kind of beast.
I maintain my stick and rudder skills by flying my C170 taildragger into short dirt strips. I'm pretty confident that the day that all three auto-pilots on my WB fail, I'll manage! In the meantime I'll strive to operate as safely as possible, which will include max use of all the automation available.