"Snowbird" wrote:
If you take two pilots of equal, exquisite skill, both fully
capable of plane control at a near automatic level, which
is going to have a better grasp of the "big picture" when
something significant changes enroute? The guy who had
to handfly the whole time, or the guy who was able to turn
the plane over to "George" for a few while he
processed the changes?

I'll bet money on the latter, every time. And that's the
point of this "value the autopilot" mantra.

Yep.

Michael has a real knack for making me feel like a wuss every time he
posts one of his autopilot rants, but I still use mine practically the
whole time I'm flying IFR. There is sometimes a slim margin in
single-pilot IFR flying between having the situation under control and
falling behind. Using the autopilot can widen that margin, IMO. Can I
fly in the terminal area without it? Of course. Do I think that's smart?
No.
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM