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Originally Posted by m21sniper
For instance, women make for lousy middle linebackers. See? 
I understand your defensiveness though, I hold no grudges Captain. |
Not true.. my ex girl friend... wait... uhh... nevermind.. dammit
Just make sure to call me out when I post on the next m14 thread.
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If anyone here can provide me with good reason(s) to the contrary, I'd love to hear them. I'm not saying it's impossible they exist, but I'm skeptical. My initial reaction to seeing this is that it was irresponsible to be using the autopilot as a crutch in the way they seemed to be doing.
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In turb the autopilot can do a way better job then me at keeping peoples lunches inside them. The aircraft I fly even has a mode for it... to reduce the gain(how aggressive it is at responding). Some new aircraft actually use the control surfaces to effectively damp out and reduce the gust loads.
In most transport category aircraft the controls are hydraulic and what you feel is created by a "pitch feel computer" or "artificial feel unit" so you cant feel ice very well.
Its a safety tool 99% of the time.. infact were not allowed to hand fly over 28,000ft in most of the airspace. Yes. hand flying might have produced secondary clues.. like control pressure of an out of trim condition... might have saved the day here. But think: how many times has automation saved the day by keeping both pilots in the loop for decision making and double checking? you will never know.