AN A300 FO DEPARTING BWI WHILE HAND-FLYING THE ACFT; DEVIATE FROM ASSIGNED ALT; WHEN CONFRONTED WITH TASK OVERLOAD.

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DURING CLBOUT FROM BALTIMORE WASHINGTON INTL; ZDC GAVE US A VECTOR OF 220 DEGS. WE WERE CLBING TO AN ALT OF 17000 FT; AND ACCELERATING TO 320 KIAS. SINCE I AM AN INEXPERIENCED FO; I WAS HAND-FLYING THE ACFT. AT APPROX 16500 FT; ZDC CLRED US DIRECT TO LINDEN VOR; A HEADING OF APPROX 270 DEGS. I BEGAN THE R TURN WHILE THE CAPT MADE THE CHANGES TO THE FMC TO GIVE US A DIRECT COURSE TO LINDEN VOR. AS I APCHED 17000 FT; I LEVELED THE ACFT; BUT EVIDENTLY DID NOT ALLOW FOR THE EFFECTS OF THE ACFT ACCELERATION TO 320 KIAS. I RETURNED TO MY VISUAL SCAN IN THE DIRECTION OF THE TURN. SINCE WE ARE NOT EQUIPPED WITH TCASII; I MIGHT HAVE DEVOTED TOO MUCH ATTN TO CLRING VISUALLY. IN ADDITION; COMPANY POLICY REQUIRES THAT THE PF VERIFY ALL CHANGES MADE TO THE FMC. I THEREFORE DEVOTED SOME TIME TO LOOKING ACROSS THE COCKPIT TO THE CAPT'S FMC TO VERIFY THE DIRECT ROUTING ENTERED INTO THE FMC. THE RESULT WAS THAT I DID NOT RECHK MY ATTITUDE INDICATOR UNTIL I HEARD OUR AURAL ALT ALERTING SYS SIGNAL THAT I HAD CLBED 200 FT ABOVE MY LEVEL OF ALT. WHILE I TOOK IMMEDIATE STEPS TO RETURN THE ACFT TO 17000 FT; I HAD BALLOONED TO 17400 FT BEFORE THE DSCNT BEGAN. AT APPROX 17300 FT; ZDC REITERATED THAT WE WERE TO MAINTAIN 17000 FT. THE CAPT APOLOGIZED FOR THE ALTDEV; AND THE REST OF THE FLT WAS WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. I BELIEVE THERE WERE 3 THINGS THAT LED TO THIS ALT INCURSION: 1) MY INEXPERIENCE AS AN FO AND IN HAND-FLYING HVY ACFT HAS LED ME TO PRACTICE HAND-FLYING TO THE MAX EXTENT POSSIBLE. OBVIOUSLY; THIS MEANS THAT I DO NOT USE THE AUTOPLT; WHICH WOULD HAVE PROBABLY PREVENTED THIS ALTDEV. AS A RESULT OF HAND-FLYING; I CREATED A SIT WHERE THERE WAS A POTENTIAL FOR TASK OVERLOAD/MIS-PRIORITIZATION OF TASKS. 2) MY ATTEMPT TO ACCOMPLISH MULTIPLE TASKS -- TURN; LEVELOFF; ACCELERATE; CLR; AND VERIFY FMC INFO -- LED TO A BRIEF MOMENT WHERE I MIS-PRIORITIZED THE TASKS TO BE ACCOMPLISHED. 3) MY FAILURE TO ACCOUNT FOR THE ACCELERATION EFFECTS ON LEVEL FLT ACCOUNTED FOR THE CLB AFTER INITIATING LEVELING OFF; AND A SLOW INST XCHK -- DUE TO ACCOMPLISHING OTHER TASKS -- CAUSED ME NOT TO PICK UP THE ALTDEV SOONER. WHILE IT WOULD BE EASY TO SAY THAT THE KEY TO SOLVING ALTDEV PROBS IS TO ALWAYS USE THE AUTOPLT; THAT FURTHER REMOVES THE PFS FROM AN ACTIVE ROLE IN FLYING THE ACFT. THERE WILL BE TIME WHEN THE AUTOPLT FAILS; AND HAND-FLYING WILL BE REQUIRED. SO; I BELIEVE I NEED TO BECOME MORE COMFORTABLE WITH HAND-FLYING THE ACFT. HOWEVER; I MUST ENSURE; THAT I FOLLOW THE BASICS OF FLYING: AVIATE; NAV; THEN COMMUNICATE. HAD I SIMPLY ENSURED A LEVEL TURN UNTIL PROCEEDING DIRECTLY TO LINDEN VOR; THEN VERIFIED THE FMC INFO; THE INCIDENT PROBABLY WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED. I AM TRULY SORRY FOR THE ALTDEV; BUT I WAS HONESTLY TRYING TO IMPROVE MY PLT'S SKILLS BY HAND-FLYING THE ACFT. I SIMPLY MIS-PRIORITIZED TASKS. IN THE FUTURE; I WILL ENSURE THE PNF IS PROVIDING ACTIVE OVERSIGHT BY ASKING HIM TO CLOSELY WATCH ME WHEN HAND-FLYING THE ACFT. AND; WHEN THERE ARE TOO MANY TASKS TO SAFELY ACCOMPLISH; I WILL USE THE AUTOPLT. I AM DETERMINED NOT TO LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN.