Thread: Dependence on Automation
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Old 04-11-2010 | 01:18 PM
  #9  
CaptFuzz
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Originally Posted by ryan1234
I've wondered about this outlook:

AF pilot training now with the T-6.. which has some pretty nice looking avionics:
From my experience:

the T-6, while having a lot of glass, has little automation, and the syllabus further restricts what the students are allowed to use. There is no auto-pilot. The student hand flies the entire syllabus. You're also still looking at separate gauges for airspeed, VSI, and altitude. It's basically a glass 6 pack.

There is a GPS unit with a map display, but we weren't even allowed to use that through much of the syllabus. We were required to maintain our orientation in the training MOAs using the TACAN and ground references.

Even moving into the next phase with the T-1A, we weren't allowed to use the autopilot nor the flight director until after the first phase of training. Even moving to my front-line platform, autopilot coupled approaches were rarely flown, and due to issues getting an analog flight director to talk with digital instruments I'd often just turn the thing off.

The Air Force is still concerned with producing pilots who were not reliant on automation.
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