Comet and Trident. Do these planes use Sids and Stars?

[Chris Trott]

One thing to note as well - even with RNAV, many pilots (real pilots) still hand fly DP's and STARs as long as the weather and workload permits. Southwest Airlines pilots I know typically fly by hand until they level off in cruise if they can and then are by hand from top of descent. As most SWA aircraft don't even have autothrottle, it's really "manual operation" with the FMS just providing the guidance bars for the Flight Director and Heads-up Guidance System.

In FS, I tend to crutch on the AP more than I ever would in the real world because I'm flying a 2 or 3 man aircraft by myself, but there are a few that I'll hand fly when it's nice out, especially the turboprops.

[Tonks]

Out of interest, the VC10 is flown in a very similar way to the Trident even today as it to cannot be programmed. Therefore, the instruments have to be read and interpreted by the pilots. On the modern jets the SID or STAR is selected from a list in the FMS and can be flown on the AP and the constraints imposed by the procedure including routes, levels and speeds will be followed. The beacons are still tuned and monitored by the pilots as a back up though.

RNAV procedures have no beacon backup, but can only be flown by RNAV AC and with crews that are qualified to do so....

Tonks

[Scorpius]

Sounds to me as if you are suffering from a bout of proper flying and navigation Tonks!