AUTOPILOT PROS & CONS

"Peter" wrote:

CON: Autopilots can fail. If you exclusively rely on the autopilot to fly
the plane, you quickly become the passenger, not the pilot. You need to
stay attentive and proficient enough that if the autopilot fails, you don't
kill yourself.

How true. My KFC225 has failed about a dozen times in 4 years, most of
them without any indication.

My buddy has a KFC225 with a similarly dismal history. The avionics shop
tells him this is not unusual for that model. Not usual!!!

My S-Tec 50, a 2-axis, rate-based unit, has operated with only one glitch-- a
bad switch--in 700+ hours since installation. It's a much simpler piece of
gear, not as precise or as smooth in turbulence as the KFC225, but I'll take
reliability over capability every time.

--
Dan
C-172RG at BFM