Thank you all. I had no idea. This makes more sense. I haven’t figured it out on the Longitude yet, but we may be getting there on the 787 dreamliner. I’m able to take off normally through a normal ascent pattern, and then set VS to hold altitude, and then set “LNAV” to steer the plane - that is what is needed for the long haul flights, and I just set the throttle wherever I want.
Just started a long haul on 787 that seems so far so good.