Are Pilots Forgetting How to Fly?

[labbats]

I wish I still cared enough to shout WHERE IS ALPA.

Honestly, I used to say things like that but now I'm so used to inaction it's hard to conceive anything from them. I'm pro-union but at best ALPA is the only and worst option for many of us.

Lastly I agree with many of the above posts. You can't forget what you never had. Learning to fly a jet as fast as possible is just the same as learning to cook as fast as possible. You miss a lot of the nuances that may be called upon someday. Yet the dollar leads the way to our current standards. That should be addressed.

 

[waveflyer]

Great point igneousy. Very much agree.

But I actually do agree with the article. Once a trip, handfly down from 180 or 10k into a large busy airport. Get configuration changes and multiple level offs- land raw data in a semi low ceiling- as you get more comfortable take it to lower weather. Practice vsi flying. Right turn hdg 170, descend to 4000, slow to 180, now do it at 1000fpm-

Most of us absolutely are not great hand flyers anymore- when I do this -80% its a rolled on landing.

The debate is real- does hand flying do anything for us? I think yes- I've had instructors tell me not to be a hero and keep the autopilot on. I believe that if hand flying is a distraction then you aren't up to standards and are flying way too complacent.

IMHO

 

[AA717driver]

WHERE IS ALPA!

At the cocktail parties in D.C. Where else would you expect them?

TC

 

[EatinRamen]

I think there are weak pilots, and then there are good "stick and rudders." Pair a couple of weak pilots together, and when the brown stuff hits the fan, bad things happen. I've seen weak 50 year old pilots with thousands of hours of flight time get pencil whipped through training, so it's not just the 200 hour wonders that you need to worry about.

It's those weak pilots that rely on automation too much. I don't think encouraging them to hand fly more often is gonna help much if they freeze up when something unexpected happens. We just need to kill the "good old boy" system of checkrides, or the "I'm sure they'll do better once they get online" mentality.

 

[frqntflyr]

I tend to agree with the article as well. It is way too easy to fall into the automation complacency trap. Not just with hand flying, but with the math as well. I find myself guilty of the latter more than anything. Thankfully the automation on our 737s is so uncomfortable at times that I hand fly through transition speed on climb almost every leg. Then the handful of MDW departures keep me engaged with level offs, turns, and speed changes. Lastly I am fortunate to still enjoy flying enough to want to hand fly. Not sure how much longer that will last!

I will probably make some enemies with the next opinion, but the pilot factories that tend to be in warm climates are creating airline pilots who have never even seen snow, and have one season each under their belt. The largest aircraft flown being a seneca. Foreign carriers send guys off to these schools and then they are flying in the right seat of an airbus full of automation with 300 hrs. That's nuts IMHO.

I am also a huge believer in aerobatic instruction. Not necessarily to teach 8 point rolls or tumbles, but once you are comfortable being upside down it never leaves you. When you hit wake that is strong enough to leave you past 90 degrees this training will most certainly help the outcome. We had a dual spindle failure at very low altitude that was handled successfully because of the pilot's aerobatic skills, of course that is just my opinion.

Lastly, I think that our PCs and PTs do not focus near enough on real world "loft" type scenarios. We need more practice doing RAs, and instrument failures such as iced (or taped) over pitot/static, automation failures, windshear, etc. We all know the progression of these training sims so well that we are ready for the next failure. Mix it up. If pilots cannot handle this stuff then they shouldn't be flying paying passengers. Period.

 

[Dumb Pilot]

The days when pilots learned how to fly in a/c's that required skill are long gone, the new generation of pilots think that partial glass is "old school" these individuals are not forgetting to fly they never did learn in the first place, this new generation thinks that the right seat of an RJ is the first stage of their careers and having barely ATP minimums is the right time to go to the left seat, entitled little prima donnas that think that because they can strike the next key in the FMS faster than the next page is displayed on the CDU that equates to having aviator skills. uke:

 

[Bambam]

As a bus Capt, I can tell you that the overuse of automation is an inticing elixur. We have people who are afraid to turn off the automation at my company because they have never done it. God forbid if some day the automation fails and they have to fly an ILS to cat I mins.

Flying is a perishable skill that you must practice to be good at. If you haven't done a raw data ILS in a while, try one with no flight directors and no auto anything. It may surprise you how much you have come to rely on the "magic" to get you where you are supposed to be.

Fly safe

Bambam

 

[IBNAV8R]

Seems like we've recently had this debate. There are those who firmly believe that it is less safe to hand fly and, that it is unprofessional to "practice" with paying passengers on board.

I suggest this: If you cannot fly the airplane as smoothly and safely as the autopilot, you have no business in the front office. No - I'm by no means a super-pilot, I just practice.

I guess I'll choose being "unprofessional" than being dead when the SHTF. Oh, and I'm willing to bet my passengers will appreciate that too.

 

[waveflyer]

IB- +100%

EatinRamen- I also agree that nothing replaces talent. But you know the difference between Allen Iverson and Michael Jordan besides the 6 championships- one didn't practice.
We all need practice. I'd rather have an average pilot who practices and keeps his discipline than a great talent who doesn't keep that talent up to speed.
The autopilot doesn't need practice- we do. And I'd say that mentality of trying to have no weaknesses is the defining factor in "great pilot"
I will say that there are also a whole lot of pilots who need to study and practice the automation- who click it off BECAUSE it overwhelms them- I'd say that's just as bad.

 

[labbats]

EatinRamen- I also agree that nothing replaces talent. But you know the difference between Allen Iverson and Michael Jordan besides the 6 championships- one didn't practice.

We talkin' bout practice!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGDBR2L5kzI