Originally Posted by
APCLurker
That's a bit of a stretch to go from saying that hand flying is deemphasized in training to hand flying is essentially an emergency procedure.
It's not just that it was deemphasized in training, it's the whole mindset of how it slots into the other elements of our operations, and where we place our confidence in getting us to the destination. That is to say, the autopilot is where 100% of our confidence is placed. Hand flying is just something you do on a lark for some variety, only in the most benign of conditions... if even then. Most of the time I do it in IMC I get looked at sideways, and if it's anything close to minimums then I risk a talking-to about risk management.
A normal procedure is something you do, well, normally, with the everyday ease and comfort of putting your pants on in the morning. An emergency procedure is something that is too risky to practice normally, so you save it for the sim and hope that it comes out OK if the necessity comes up in real life. One time I witnessed an approach brief (from the jumpseat on mainline, by the way) that included "and I'm gonna keep the autopilot on, I'm not gonna F around today." It was 800 broken, with no compounding factors. To characterize it as F-ing around instead of, you know, flying the plane, the main thing we supposedly do as pilots... does that sound like a normal procedure to you?
If that is indeed true and how you feel about the pilot's ability at your airline, it sounds like your airline should immediately be shut down and all it's pilots given re-examination rides.
We passed it the first time around. And every time on recurrent. So maybe there's something also wrong with the system that allows this?
Originally Posted by
aiir
I’m curious as to what regional airline you work for since I’m just beginning my training and part of the reason as to why I’m pursuing this career professionally is that I really enjoy hand flying, and flying in general. I’m well aware that European and Asian carriers are very restrictive in regards to allowing pilots to hand fly the beast but I thought we were different here in the good old US of A.
All the restrictiveness I described is in the everyday company culture, but the good news is that it's not in the actual rules. We can handfly all the time except a few clearly defined cases. One can choose to do it with little trouble. In the beginning I would ask the CA's if they mind, as if I'm asking to borrow money or something. Later I changed to simply briefing my intentions, and letting them change the plan if they see fit.
Originally Posted by
A330FoodCritic
Every sim event we hand fly single engine ILS with a 200 foot ceiling and 1/2 mile visibility.
I think we are OK.
We do that too. But for the reasons I outlined in my earlier post, I don't share your confidence that this ensures comfort and proficiency for everyday ops. How often do you do it not in the sim? That's what would put me at ease.
Originally Posted by
SpeedyVagabond
Anyone who thinks that hand flying a single engine approach in imc in any weather to 200 and 1/2 is a dangerous challenge would be better off either taking a step back and getting some real actual experience or going away and doing something else. Because hand flown single engine Cat I approaches are easy and no danger at all to us experienced professionals. Sorry if that’s harsh but that’s just the way it is.
"We're not pilots anymore, we're automaton managers." Sound familiar? This was said to me with no hint of derision or sarcasm, by the guy that gave me my 121 checkride. As actual advice. He explicitly said that he doesn't care about stick and rudder skills.