Why do both pilots put their hands on the throttle?

Because one pilot is watching out the windows, and one is watching the engine instruments. The pilot watching the instruments is fine tuning the throttles as the plane accelerates and the other has their hand on the throttle in order to chop them if he has to abort the take off.

Why do pilots touch and go?

Airplanes perform touch and go operations simply as a means to practice landing and associated takeoff in a minimum amount of time. The alternative would be to come to a full stop, taxi back to the start of the runway, and perform the next takeoff.

Why do pilots want to hand-fly?

“We all want to hand-fly, because it’s a lot more fun,” said a pilot from a major carrier in an email. For the critical phases of flight — taxi, take off and landing — control is firmly in the hands of one of the two pilots in the cockpit, with the other handling communications.

Why do pilots pass the hands-up signal?

An “Ordie” or Red Shirt, will pass the hands-up signal to ensure that during this dangerous evolution that both pilots arms are visible. Many pilots like to put their hands in a “cocked gun” shape (found in many cruise videos), but that is not required.

Is flying a hands-on Operation?

Contrary to what people are led to believe, flying remains very hands-on operation, with tremendous amounts of input from the crew. Our hands might not be steering the airplane directly, as would have been the case in the 1930s, but almost everything the airplane does is commanded, one way or the other, by the pilots.

Why do aircraft have Autopilot Off on landing?

The autopilot can do things like maintain a certain speed or a certain altitude, taking the pilots’ minds off of managing those tasks and freeing them to focus on the more important issue at hand — for example avoiding storms. Autopilot Off On Landing? “On the approach it’s the same logic,” the major-carrier pilot said.