"Jon Kraus" wrote in message
...
Just curious as to opinions about flying in IMC without an autopilot?
Does an autopilot make flying in the clouds safer or is it just a crutch
for the lazy?

It can be a crutch...but most likely it can save your life. It can also
allow a pilot to keep their eyes outside the cockpit a lot more.

OTOH, don't the airlines fly something like 98% of a flight on autpilot?
From rotation to final?

For myself being new to IFR flying I feel safer knowing that if needed I
could turn the autopilot on. Maybe it is a false sense of security...

I always through an automatic transmission was a crutch (or should I say
"clutch) for those too lazy to drive stickshift.