Old, but interesting topic

Bertie the Bunyip wrote:
Why not?

It autotunes the frequency and selects the inbound course of the
approach you have selected, it does about 20 miles out.

You can override it anytime, you check it during your approach
briefing.
It does not follow it unless you arm the approach on the panel.


I don't see any problem with it, as with anything on the aircraft you
have the ultimate control, I let the autopilot fly the aircraft most
of
the time, but I always monitor what it does.

Well, you have to.. obviously. They do strange things from time to
time..

Didn't mean to suggest you didn't. But the way you said it sounded like
you would let it nav onto the ils and fly it off it's own bat not using
the ILS at all, just it's own input like an LNAV non precision.
We don't even allow LNAV intercepts of ILS's. We always intercept from
heading select, though we do allow a glidepath intercept from vnav from
below. I wouldn't trust the fjukkwit to do that, though. I wouldn't let
him use a toaster, in fact.



Bertie

Well I agree not to trust it blindly, computers are computers.

True that most of the time you intercept using heading mode, most of the
time you are on radar vectors.

But when you are not on vectors and you are using the nav fuction to
follow the STAR, you can leave the panel on NAV, the FMS will autotune
the ILS frequency, set the imbound track, as the LOC comes alive the
flght director will switch to "green data" intercept the LOC and the
Glide path using the navaid. All that can be done on autopilot.
As I said, all the time the pilot will monitor it, and of course manual
intervention is still needed to configure the aircraft and ultimately to
land it.