Float Pilot wrote:Yes, non-conformist thinking is not their forte.
Indeed. Airline pilots showing any traits of individuality are drawn and quartered as a message to the rest of the line. Funnily enough, and perhaps JJ's point, this is the exact sort of pedantic discussion you might hear at a flag airline's training meeting.
With the exception of CRM, which is now assessable (WTF?), a check ride (sim evaluation) can be scored simply by the numbers; ie, within 10kias of selected speed, 300' of altitude, acceptable localizer and glideslope tracking, never below Vref, etc... As said before, pass/fail. Anything else is simply a debrief point.
FWIW, the hands thing comes down to personal preference and common sense. Your hands need to be on the controls required at the time. If you have the taps set for a constant power, both hands on the wheel. If you are actively adjusting your power then, unless you are flying by some sort of telekinesis, you will need a hand on whatever makes the noise. Trying to land my current type with only one hand on the wheel (full idle about half a second before touchdown) with the ridiculous weather we had over here the first two months of the year would not have ended well.
Cheers
Buter
edit - just watched the little clip. The captain isn't securing the thrust levers, he's got his hand there because AF must have a 'captain only' stop call after 80kias. Apologies if I'm just pointing out the obvious. (This made sense before JJ edited his post!)
