Originally Posted by
Probe
Airbus FCOM (from Airbus) procedures have the PF calling out every FMA change. I thought it was silly, but after a few months, I noticed a distinct reduction in the amount of mode errors, or they were caught almost immediately.
I am not sure it is a bad idea, and I kind of miss it.
Unfortunately the robots I was flying with turned on the AP at exactly 100' after TO every time. The manual said that was what to do. LOL.
Hold on there Tonto,
I flew the bus for 7 years and I don't ever recall reading that. I typically turned the AP on when it suited me, or the current workload. And 90 percent of the time that was somewhere above 18,000'. I was never advised that I was busting SOP. Pretty darn sure I wasn't as plenty of Captains flew the plane throughout the climb as well, and then turned it off again for landing when still many miles from the runway.
From the FM
3.10.6 Normals
Autopilot Operation
The use of the autopilot is encouraged in high traffic areas, when operating in
RVSM airspace, and other situations in which hand flying may cause a high
workload for the other pilot. The PF may engage the autopilot or call for it to be
engaged by the PM as desired. Use of the autopilot is required for:
• Autoland approaches
• PRM approaches
• Nonprecision approaches when the reported ceiling is less than 1000 feet
or the visibility is less than 3 miles
FCU/MCDU INPUTS