[ZapBrannigan]

As i've gotten older i've changed my position on this. I used to disengage the autopilot and autothrottles on the 737 below 10,000. Now the 737-300/400 isn't exactly a "big" airplane, but it flew nicely -- well, as nicely as a dump-truck with artificial feel can fly. The DC9 handflew beautifully and didn't need any fancy hydraulics or artificial feel. (except for rudder)

Now, that being said, as I've gotten older i've come to realize that the automation flies the airplane a heck of a lot better than I can. And since i'm not paid to get my jollies by moving the controls, but rather as the manager of a complex machine and crew, I tend to let the automation do its job a lot more than some of my peers.