I just put an STEC 20 in my Six last year. Prior to that I put in about 100 hours in actual with no
AP. The Six is wonderfully stable, and I never had any real problems copying clearances, folding
charts etc. Trick is to limit looks away from the panel to very short intervals, no more than a
second or two, and when you look back look for bank info before anything else. Having the AP is
certainly a workload reducer, I can actually fish something out of my flight bag on the middle seat
while in IMC now, and it takes less total time to brief an approach now. Still, I mostly hand fly
and use George to fill in while I handle other tasks.

Nathan Young wrote:

David Megginson wrote in message ...
Peter R. writes:

Interesting you mention this point. I am in the process of watching
a few of the Richard Collins Sporty's aviation DVDs. In the IFR
Tips and Techniques DVD, he offers a PoV that suggest a pilot hand
flying in IMC does not necessarily have the big picture view that a
pilot who uses an AP might.

I haven't heard that before. Is it because hand flying doesn't leave
you as much time to look at charts, etc., and interpret secondary
information?

Collins is a big supporter of APs, and I'm with him. I have a
wing-leveler in my PA28-180. It is a huge help when copying clearance
amendments, studying an approach plate, or eating lunch. I definitely
agree with RC's point that the AP frees up mental bandwidth to process
other things like the big picture.

A lot of people get uptight about APs - but when used properly (ie not
a crutch) they can be a huge asset to single-pilot flying,
particularly IFR.

-Nathan

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