"Jim Baker" wrote...

Unless the PF is disoriented, transferring control to the PNF at the last
second may be even a riskier proposition.

I agree about recommending it to a novice John, but in a well trained
cockpit, the transfer is not difficult. We did it both ways in the B-52
and
B-1B and it worked out if you knew who you were flying with and had
confidence in him (her). In those aircraft, there was nothing lower than
a
DH of 200' authorized. I imagine you go much lower than that in the 74.

The "well trained cockpit" is the key here. If you fly as a dedicated crew
all the time, you can work out those things. For pilots who switch partners
virtually every leg, it's a much bigger problem.

I remember back in my Navy instructor days that we'd have to do all the
landings in the TA-4 during students' back-seat instrument flights. After a
while, I'd come to expect almost ANYTHING in the way of trim when I took it
at minimums (usually severe VMC in the front, though). The fact that I was
the Instrument Stan guy who "touched" virtually every student with problems
made it even more interesting... I got used to regular crews (B/Ns) in the
A-6, but landing from the right seat was not an approved procedure (though
occasionally practiced on big runways as a 'combat contingency').

Cat I minima still include 200' DH in the 744. Any Cat II or III landing is
Autoland. After a 12- or 14-hour overnight flight from LAX to Seoul,
though, I'm usually tempted to let Otto land if I don't see the runway at
400'. Our FHB gives us that latitude (brief the options on final), and it's
much preferable to a last-second change of control -- which is used almost
exclusively as a Captain's last-resort option when an FO is about to
ham-hand it.