Originally Posted by
ExperimentalAB
Curious...how so?? I haven't used the FD since IOE at TSA...boggles my mind that it would limit you like that.
Originally Posted by
ExperimentalAB
I fibbed just a little bit in my earlier post...on my first approach to mins I let George fly. I won't be responsible for a go-around when I screw something up. I will gladly give George the aircraft when safety of flight calls for it.
But to answer your question, no. I think it borders on irresponsible to use automation religiously. The two best Captains I've flown with flew raw-data almost exclusively. They were sharp as nails and I learned a ton on both trips. And let's be honest. I feel safer with my family on a ratty-old DC-9 or 727 with two crusty old guys who have never seen a FD or FMS...than one of our state-of-the-art RJ's. We Pilots today would NOT cut it 30 years ago...That's a sad fact!
Originally Posted by
ExperimentalAB
Hand-flying with the FD, huh? That's worthless - you might as well be on A/P then. If you can't maintain SA while you're hand-flying, you probably should use the A/P then. Good call on that.
Originally Posted by
ExperimentalAB
Safety statistics have improved greatly over the last thirty years because of technology like EGPWS, TCAS, LLWS Alerting, etc...NOT because we now have a FD crutch...is it now just a race to the bottom? Just because the Pilots of today CAN rely on new, fancy equipment, doesn't necessarily mean we should. I think doing so is lazy, irresponsible, and un-professional.
You can go ahead and and forget that you are actually a Pilot ::gasp:: I will continue trying to be the best Pilot I can be - managing a/c systems and components, hand-flying, SA, the entire package...
Originally Posted by
ExperimentalAB
Yeah, thats me
If you had actually taken the time to read my previous posts, you would know that I am certainly NOT anti-technology, but rather anti-band-aid/crutch. As I said earlier, automation should be used when safety of flight is concerned. NOT because we cannot handle the aircraft w/o it.
Are these the previous posts you are talking about? Where you refer to the FD and AP several times as band-aids and crutches, then proceed to belittle anyone who uses them as "worthless" (your words)? I guess I, and it would seem that most of my colleagues both here and on the line, look at those things as tools. I guess you would also consider a hammer a "crutch" for driving a nail rather than a tool? Tell you what, I'll use a hammer to drive my nail through a wall while you handfly yours through. Let me know how that goes. Have you ever stopped to wonder why an autopilot is required above FL290? Is it possible that the autopilot can fly the airplane far more accurately far more consistently than any human pilot? I don't use the autopilot/FD because I can't fly the airplane without it. I use the autopilot because I feel a true professional uses the resources available to them in order to deliver aircraft, crew and payload from A to B in the safest, most efficient manner possible. If that makes me a bad pilot or "worthless" than I guess thats your opinion. Whats that saying about opinions and *********s?
Seriously though, if you are
that worried about losing your flying abilities with all these "crutches" and "band-aids" we have in the cockpit, then perhaps you should ask for some sim time where you can handfly anything anywhere to your heart's content. But in my mind, there is no safer aircraft than one flown by an individual or individuals who are using all the tools available to them.