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...
Thank you sky god. You make it sound like we all rely on these systems and would be lost without them, I wish we could all be as great as you. The new fancy equipment is there for a reason to increase the margin of safety, why not use it. Your job is to provide the highest standard of safety to your customers.
I somehow doubt your out there shooting approaches to mins hand flown without the FD, when it is operational. I'm all for throwing the autopilot off if it is nice and and we aren't going to be near the mins, but when the weather is down, the autopilot is going on, so I can monitor more and provide the highest level of safety.