Mxsmanic wrote in
:

You never know when having something to fly the plane for you for a
few minutes (or longer) might come in handy. Additionally, on trips
of any length, I'm pretty sure I'd get very tired of holding the
controls all the time.

It's *usually* not that bad. In good weather, with fairly stable air,
it's less effort than driving a car for hours on end - much less. And
frankly, the little extra work of controlling the yoke helps keep you
awake on long flights. [The danger is not so much actually falling
asleep, as getting into the flight equivalent of "highway hypnosis."]

For IFR flights, especially alone, an autopilot would be invaluable.
It would also be extremely useful in congested airspace when there are
many other things to do besides flying the plane.

Very true. While the pilot should ALWAYS be able to complete the flight
flying manually, a working autopilot on a single-pilot IFR flight can be
a BIG work saver. There is a lot of other things to do in the cockpit:
Charts to find and unfold/fold, approach plates to brief, fixes and
routing changes to study, radios and instruments to adjust,... and of
course on long flights, lunch!

An autopilot, even a simple wing leveler or another set of hands to find
or hold stuff for you, can really make life better.

Mooney aircraft seem to be unusual in many respects. Their Web site
makes them look like they build racing aircraft.

Traditionally they built fast aircraft for the power. Not the fastest
airplanes in the air, but certainly the fastest on the fuel flow. Now
days they have gotten a bit away from that and are pushing higher
powered turbocharged models. They are still among the most efficient
production aircraft.

Their full-time wing-leveler autopilot (standard equipment) was, for
years, touted as a significant safety feature.

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James M. Knox
TriSoft ph 512-385-0316
1300 Koenig Lane West fax 512-371-5716
Suite 200
Austin, Tx 78756
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