Many thanks

I believe I finally got it What I still don't get is why they chose to remove the feature. Along with things like LNAV / VNAV no longer being on / off buttons. Annoys me still...

Its just modern, thats all.

The 737 has the LNAV/VNAV feature as well.

What do you mean by on/off buttons?

 

The 737NGX can be flown woth two different panels.

One looks like the 777, with big square buttons.

The other one has the smaller buttons you might be talking about. But they work the same!

Its just modern, thats all.

The 737 has the LNAV/VNAV feature as well.

What do you mean by on/off buttons?

 

I mean that you can't press them a second time to turn them off. They can only be turned off by choosing another mode. So say I want to control lateral movement manually - then I'd want to disengage LNAV - only you can't :(

I mean that you can't press them a second time to turn them off. They can only be turned off by choosing another mode. So say I want to control lateral movement manually - then I'd want to disengage LNAV - only you can't :(

That is correct.

Having no lateral mode is like flying without FD.

The 777 is not the kind of airplane you would fly without FD.

 

If by manually you mean hand flying then you just switch off the FD switches.

But even then the assisting pilot will set the heading bug.

And then you just turn to where the heading bug is.

 

The thing is that it takes practice to become efficient with AP and FD.

At first it seems to be in the way.

But after a while, when you dont have to think about all those modes anymore, when they become second nature, then you will see the benefit of having a FD.