I am sort of amazed to see no autothrottle in the commercial releases of the 707 and 727. Surely they had autothrottle in widespread use by the late 1960s ? I can understand the original versions not having AT, but would it not be realistic to issue these add-ons with AT? JS

No, most did not. Then again, the pilots of these planes, like all pilots (even today) are well-trained at controlling speed, and flying the plane without any automation. An AT is / was certainly not a necessity. I used to fly trans-Atlantic to Italy on 707s every year during the 1960s and 70s, and they did not have an AT, an FMC, or autoland, yet we arrived safely every time. It's amazing what a competent pilot can do without automation. However, the AT was probably invented in the late 50s at the latest, but what you must understand is that it was, nor is not a necessity, just a luxury /cost-saving feature, just like an FMC is. Any good pilot can control airspeed, or fly SIDS and STARS manually, it's a basic flying skill. It's not that hard to maintain a given speed in a 727 or a Cessna 150, you just need the training / experience to do it, and that is what being a pilot is all about. Using the automation to do it for you is secondary. You do not get to that stage in a flying career until you have first demonstrated (and continue to do during your currency check rides) that you can do it by hand.Did you know that the largest operator of 737s, Southwest Airlines, does not have auto throttles on their aircraft, and that includes their latest 737 NGs? They also have one of the best safety records in the business.Why? Because their pilots always have to rely on THEIR skills, not just the automation. ;-)Did you know that most Beech 1900s do not even have an autopilot installed? I have a friend who flies them for a living, and everything he does in that plane is done with his own skills, not that of automation.Regards,http://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...R_FORUM_LOU.jpg

When I flew a 767-400 with an high time major airline check pilot several years ago, he strongly recommended using the auto throttle during the approach phase of the landings. He said that normally you would be too busy at a major airport looking out the window for other aircraft, to have to worry about monitoring your airspeed on the approach.

Lou,Thanks very much for your detailed and interesting reply! Good stuff. Cheers, mate,JS

Gee-it must be nice to have that-how do us GA guys do it! :lolI flew jumpseat on a 737 in 1998 and the captain of that bird said he never used autothrottle as he felt it alarmed the passengers.I have to admit-I never feel comfortable when as a passenger on approach the engines are whirring up and down dramatically-and I am a pilot!http://mywebpages.comcast.net/geofa/pages/rxp-pilot.jpg

In, Reality, all 707's and 727's had AT. It was called the S/O, F/E, Third Crewman etc.... All kidding aside, only sellect early 727's had AT and late 727's equiped for CAT IIIa Auto Land had AT's and these have mostly been disabled as CAT IIIa doesn't require AT(727). One has to realize that even with the late 727's, the AT was a customer option and not standard. Cheers,JohnBoeing 727/737 & Lockheed C-130/L-100 Mechanichttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/ng_driver.jpg

Our E-3's still do not have autothrottles. Infact, I've seen pilots put our gear down at 270 kias just to slow us down, then brought them back up again.Jeff

I think this is an interesting element of Flightsim - we seem to learn how to use an aircraft with the autopilot first - and then handflying if we dare. I'm guilty of this myself even lol. Now I'm trying to learn how to handfly all the planes with good accuracy by just going up and doing the same basic lessons I do with my real world flight training - changing airspeeds while flying straight and level is a good one to start with on any addon plane.

The 2 flight instructors I had when I was training for my license, always had me work on slow flight, climbs, turns, descents, all at minimum controllable airpseed. I do this with the sim planes also, and I view this as an good exellent way to get a feel of how the plane is going to handle during the most critical time of a flight.

I only use the autothrottle when I'm looking out for those pesky AI planes :-lol. I like to be in full control of an aircraft when landing, and autothrottles are normally out of the question.

Donny AKA ShalomarFly 2 ROCKS!!!I have heard Southwest standardises the avionics setup of their aircraft as much as possible. Usually there are dramatic differences in the same model of aircraft flying for the same airline. I think the major improvement in safety comes from pilots simply being familiar with what they work with rather than being more dependant on their own skills. If you are familiar with operation of the automation it doesn't necessarily decrease safety when properly monitored. Southwest also encourages aerobatics training for their pilots, (NOT in 737s though) since unusual attitude situations can develop in any aircraft which are not always due to pilot error but one with aerobatics training can deal with them better. Years ago any airline pilot who did aerobatics in a company simulator would be fired but that is being rethinked and subject to change. Cockpit teamwork and situational awareness are also strengthened by the "three challenge rule" when implemented.Personally I prefer IAS or mach hold with manual throttle operation during climbs and descents. I sometimes engage autothrottle during cruise but even during automated approaches keep autothrottles off usually. But to each their own.In the real world, pilots or owners with enough money have far greater flexibility as to the avionics suite in their aircraft. If you're willing to pay for it, I wouldn't doubt you could install mods and get EFIS in a Cessna 172. Though if you know how to do it yourself or can pay someone to do it for you, almost anything is possible virtually too.Best Regards, Donny:-wave

>Donny AKA Shalomar>Fly 2 ROCKS!!!>>I wouldn't doubt you could install mods and get EFIS in a Cessna 172. >>Best Regards, Donny:-wave It's already happened:http://skyhawk.cessna.com/avionics.chtmlCheers,JohnBoeing 727/737 & Lockheed C-130/L-100 Mechanichttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/ng_driver.jpg

Why would the use of the auto-throttle alarm the passengers? First of all would most of them even know what it ment?

i never use A/T.the DC8 doesn't have it,and i don't miss it,it's like Lou said,once you've taken the time to learn it,you'll know what situation requires which powersetting,and you'll do it instinctively,i guess.i must however confess i set cruise power by looking at the fuelburn :-hah ,2500pph gives a good mach 80 cruise,without overspeeds due to windchanges etc.tataJP.