What I meant was, say you're supposed to be flying to a certain fix/intersection. How do you know you're on the right course?

You look at your navigation display, whoever is sitting next to you is also backing you up with raw data. Switching the Flight director off only removes cues on your primary flight display, everything else displays normally.

You look at your navigation display, whoever is sitting next to you is also backing you up with raw data. Switching the Flight director off only removes cues on your primary flight display, everything else displays normally.

Ahh okay, thanks for the reply. Think I might start trying this in the sim.

 

 

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I always use the aid of the FD. I use AT, VNAV, & LNAV on takeoff & climb out but AP off. On decent I turn off everything (FD on) but use the FMC for the ILS. When you get into some rough low weather (AS2012) it can be really gratifying to pop out at 200' with heavy wind, precip and grease it when you have been hand flying from TD. I must admit there are times it gets ugly but that's part of it, practice. I'm getting ready to take up the NGX or JS41 into this ice storm now.

It seems the FAA is pretty concerned that pilots are losing their hand-flying skills due to over-reliance on automation in the cockpit.  Given the number of people who have been killed due to pilot error at major airlines lately (Asiana and Air France), I think it's pretty hard to argue that they aren't.  My dad flew at a major carrier after he left the Air Force and said it was awful how little they touched the controls.  Autopilot went on at 3000' and didn't come off until decision height.

"60% had manual flight error by pilot." Excellent video and report. Gets right to the core of my post. Tell your Dad I am right there with him.

Thing is with such complicated noise routings and SID/STARS it's almost impossible to hand fly the plane without automation. Lots of SID/STAR waypoints are intersections that would require at least an ND/GPS display to fly and even on routings that use just VOR's you're still using the RMI to pass over them, and in reality is that any different to an ND and flight director? 

 

Your eyes spend just as much if not more time focused on the instrument except you're recieving less detailed information and less assistance therefore you're more likely to be distracted from other cockpit operations and CRM. 

 

I don't buy into the argument. Assuming it is fully functional and programmed correctly, a computer will always be more accurate and reliable than a human being at operating a machine. 

 

 

AE

 

That explains a lot!!!

 

Moi <- AT

Thing is with such complicated noise routings and SID/STARS it's almost impossible to hand fly the plane without automation. Lots of SID/STAR waypoints are intersections that would require at least an ND/GPS display to fly and even on routings that use just VOR's you're still using the RMI to pass over them, and in reality is that any different to an ND and flight director? 

 

Your eyes spend just as much if not more time focused on the instrument except you're recieving less detailed information and less assistance therefore you're more likely to be distracted from other cockpit operations and CRM. 

 

I don't buy into the argument. Assuming it is fully functional and programmed correctly, a computer will always be more accurate and reliable than a human being at operating a machine. 

 

Well that's the paradox of automation, it makes normal situations safer, but potentially degrades skills that are needed in abnormal situations.