Gord Beaman wrote:
They didn't need to pay any attention to all the 'housekeeping
chores' inherent in the operation of four highly tuned and
critical piston engines and aircraft systems. They'd just say
"Engineer maintain 180 knots" (or whatever) then forget about the
a/c and concentrate on what was going on outside... worked good.

I have over 6,000 hours logged on them and I've never seen either
pilot touch the throttles. The left seat did reverse the engines
with the reversing throttles on the landing roll though.

That makes sense. About the only time I can see a pilot moving the
throttles in that kind of cockpit, other than a very urgent
emergency, is on the runway when timing is important.

It's nice when a crew can work like what you describe- everyone doing
there jobs and doing them well.