emb145captain

There is also something called the "coffin corner" that you want to avoid....another great reason to use an autopilot.

Florida Flyer

I just finished IOE in the CRJ here in the US. BOTH of my IOE check airmen REFUSED to let me use the autopilot until I got to FL180 or cruise. It's good experience to handfly and get to know your airplane and how it handles. What if you're dispatched an aircraft one day with the autopilot inop? Would your German friend even accept an aircraft with the autopilot inop?

Like others have said, there certainly is a time and a place for using the autopilot (busy arrivals, complicated clearances, etc). But what about the VFR traffic patterns you have to do sometimes? On my first IOE trip, we went from CLT to OAJ (Jacksonville, NC) several times. It is an uncontrolled field that only has one ILS. The day we went, the winds were favoring the opposite runway. So what did we do? Autopilot off, Flight Director off and hand fly the VFR traffic pattern to the landing. Not only was that a blast, but we had to do it that way (no ILS to the runway that the winds were favoring).

Properly knowing how to use the automation on your aircraft is extremely important. But just as important is knowing how to hand fly your aircraft when the automation fails or can not be used.