I love the way you can say "Not knocking anyone's flying style" whilst effectively doing so, I find that mildly amusing. Each to their own.

I'm not trying to, though it may seem like I am, I just don't understand the enjoyment factor of sitting there watching the autopilot have all the fun.

Because I bought the CPFlight MCP737EL and I want to get my monies worth  B)

I turn A/P on usually when reaching 5000ft more or less and turn A/P and A/T off about 1000ft

Same here, ever since I watched that MD-11 Training Video by that company that did a heap of training modules for the MD-11 then the 737NGX---sorry name escapes me.

It kind of gave me a challenge to follow the FD.

As an interesting footnote to the conversation, after the Asiana crash in SFO a year ago, the NTSB recommended more "hands-on" landing time for tube-liner pilots. The ILS was out at SFO due to maintenance and the autothrottle was mismanaged by the pilots (some blame boeing's confusing design), but it was a visual approach and all the professional pilots on board did not manage it well and were not able to recognize the approach was not stabilized. They clearly had relied on automation to the point of degradation in their raw flying skills. It would be interesting if 1 out of 10 approaches (in sim) were visual approaches flown by hand. Flying a visual approach is a real world challenge for real world pilots as landing systems do go out or are put out of service for maintenance. Only in the sim world are the ILS and other landing aids 'unrealistically' always available.

I'm not trying to, though it may seem like I am, I just don't understand the enjoyment factor of sitting there watching the autopilot have all the fun.

 

Just because you don't see the enjoyment factor doesn't mean they don't?  Why because it's not fun to you do you think everyone else thinks the same way?  I think we are all guilty of this to some extent or another, but we have to try to step out of our own perspective/viewpoint on things and try to see it from other points of views.  The world doesn't revolve around one single person(even though lots and lots and lots of people seem to think it does LOL)

Why should anyone.care what others do? It's a sim (or game) so do what you like. I think those who judge are more likely the ones boasting to their friends they could take over if the pilots passed out. BTW navigating VOR to VOR isn't magic either.

.. I usually leave to autopilot off until I reach cruise and then turn it off a TOD.

 

I fly GA manually in most cases but I try to simulate real world procedures with airliners. On the T7, I will usually hand fly until flap retraction or 5-6000 ft and disconnect it 5NM before the FAF to fly the approach manually. I actually autolanded once in more than a year I had the plane - because weather required it.

Airliners, I've been using the autopilot for this as it is done in RL, but that is why I tend to prefer twins and single props and rarely fly with the autopilot. The challenge is trimming the plane effectively and compensating for wind, navigating by VOR etc... but I might eat my words, next year I might be flying Dreamliners by the book ... who knows? That's a challenge in itself.

Why should anyone.care what others do? It's a sim (or game) so do what you like. I think those who judge are more likely the ones boasting to their friends they could take over if the pilots passed out. BTW navigating VOR to VOR isn't magic either.

Depending on the plane I could take over lol I'm a real world pilot.  I don't know about an airliner though as the biggest thing I've ever flown is a DC-3. I'm not trying to be a jerk and say others aren't good pilots, I just asked why do so many use the auto pilot so much.

I have never used an autopilot in a flight simulator, but then again I have rarely flown an aircraft in a flight simulator in a way that even remotely matches its real world counterpart. For me, flight simulation is effectively nothing more than "the interaction of a virtual aircraft with a simulated atmospheric environment". It doesn't mean that I have to fly exactly like real world pilots, or stick to real world checklists, or follow real world procedures to the letter. Nevertheless, I appreciate that some people like to do just that.

So I've been watching videos

...

I'm not trying to be a jerk and say others aren't good pilots, I just asked why do so many use the auto pilot so much.

 

Good movie-making skills? You know that sticking your neck out on utube isn't that easy. If you want to deliver quality work, your video has to be as error-free as possible, to still be instructive, entertaining and re-fly-able by any watcher. If you get things wrong (and you probably will, if you record your hand flying while trying to explain some system to the viewers at the same time) you will just get swamped with negative comments. And what if you truly are an exceptional pilot who manages everything with ease and by hand, then you might come across as a show-off and be dissed nevertheless.

 

So, apart from the RW aspect of flying on AP because it is supposed to be more economical, I applaud all those fine video producers out there who do some really amazing and helpful stuff.

 

 

This reminds me of the two AF447 pilots on the ill-fated Rio-Paris flight who took control while the more experienced captain took a rest break.

They had so little experience in hand flying they made fatal mistakes when attempting to get out of a dangerous (but not critical) situation.

 

the first they made was ignoring the memory procedure  which would have kept the aircraft under control.

 

The second they made was hand-flying while pulling the stick full back while the stall warning sounded continuously for 54 secs.

the first they made was ignoring the memory procedure  which would have kept the aircraft under control.

 

The second they made was hand-flying while pulling the stick full back while the stall warning sounded continuously for 54 secs.

 

Pretty shocking really Gerry. Many of us here wouldn't make the second mistake if we were in that situation but I suppose it's easy to say that sitting in the comfort of my home. But for professionals...

I don't know about people who like to sit and watch a magenta line, I suppose it is like people who sit watching youtube video's of other people flying. I use the autopilot on a tubeliner because I don't want to sit watching 6 hours of sky. If I am doing a short VFR flight then I might hand fly, maybe hitting the autopilot during cruise. I much prefer the takeoff and landing then the cruise.

 

Saying that, if I did decide to make a youtube video then whether I use the autopilot would depend on the type of video I was making. If it was a tutorial then hand flying would be better, if it was an arty landing and takeoff video then I would use the autopilot more and concentrate on the shots. I don't think I worry about people using AP unless they say "I hand flew this" then you see the AP lit up.