In article ,
"STICKMONKE" wrote:

I got my IFR rating 7 months ago. I use the KAP140 autopilot a lot. From
climb-out to MDA/DA. I find it really helps in my management of the plane
and the IFR flight. I am interested in comments regarding the pros and cons
of a heavy use/reliance on the autopilot.

The only real con of the autopilot is that it's too easy to become
dependent on it and let your hand-flying skills degrade to the point there
you're in trouble if George quits. Turn it off every once in a while and
hand-fly to stay in shape.

Don't just click on the A/P and zone out. Take advantage of the workload
reduction it gives you to stay further ahead of the airplane. Pull out
those approach charts earlier and brief the approaches you might end up
doing. Get on the radio and talk to Flight Watch to find out what the
weather is up ahead. Update your flight planning to make sure that
re-route ATC gave you didn't eat into your fuel budget too much.

And, above all, keep up your instrument scan! If George wigs out and puts
you into an unusual attitude, you've still got to recognize it and recover.