[Not A Snowbird]

“Airplanes are becoming far too complex to fly. Pilots are no longer needed, but rather computer scientists from MIT. I see it all the time in many products. Always seeking to go one unnecessary step further, when often old and simpler is far better.

My husband is a pilot. He often says that with all the automation pilots have forgotten how to actually fly the plane.

[rx]

with all the automation pilots have forgotten how to actually fly the plane

I agree that that's true in many cases, but by no means in a majority of cases.

I am a flight instructor that occasionally is asked to give a required biennial flight review to airline pilots. In some small minority of those cases, those pilots can be overwhelmed by the workload that faces them in the general aviation craft they've been willing to rent for their review ride with me.

It may not mean they're similarly substandard in their usual front office, but it does mean they've over-estimated their skill at basic flying skills in a craft they don't regularly fly.

[wjcsux]

I learned how to fly in the early 70’s. Another thing that amazes me is that many pilots today have difficulty with basic navigation skills.

[firebrand]

Back in 1985 a novel called White Noise pointed out that if we were to try to explain how anything worked to someone from another planet, we wouldn't be able to do it.

Like a car. "Look, gronktoid, it's simple . . . um . . . you just look under this hood . . . er . . ."

If I remember correctly, a kid is explaining that to his father.