Balanced Approach
Once again a balanced approach is necessary. While it is important that pilots learn how to operate the systems in technologically advanced aircraft and develop the judgment to operate safely in the modern air traffic control system, it is also critical that every pilot develop that innate sense of what the airplane is doing, how much energy it has and what the pilot can or can't accomplish with that energy. Because the giant screens in front of the pilot in a TAA are such an eye magnet, perhaps the curriculum should start out with a few hours of flying something like a Piper Cub, so the pilot can learn that airplanes can fly without computers. Then periodically throughout the curriculum there could be an hour of performing maneuvers and just having fun in the Cub. When the computer gets confused or the screens go blank or the pilot has to do a low-altitude turn looking out the window, that pilot will be prepared to fly the airplane using basic attitude and power settings to stay under control and return safely to the ground.

Jay Hopkins