Flying a 172 with Autopilot?

I trust, and use the autopilots in the later 172's (R and SP). It's a real
work-saver, and as such contributes to the safety and comfort of the flight.
The recent 182's have the same setup. You can do some basic tests before
takeoff, to make sure it's doing more or less what it's supposed to.

I recently rented an older 172, with a Nav-o-Matic relic. I've never flown
with one of those things, so I left it alone. For all I know, it's just as
reliable.

G Faris

I recently rented an older 172, with a Nav-o-Matic relic. I've never flown
with one of those things, so I left it alone. For all I know, it's just as
reliable.

"Nav-O-Matic"??

Was there a coin slot, or had it been upgraded to accept dollar bills?

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On Mon, 04 Jul 2005 21:49:46 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

I recently rented an older 172, with a Nav-o-Matic relic. I've never flown
with one of those things, so I left it alone. For all I know, it's just as
reliable.

"Nav-O-Matic"??

Was there a coin slot, or had it been upgraded to accept dollar bills?

Nav-O-Matic seems to be different than the Tactair we have int he
club's '61 172. The Tactair is a wing-leveler that also tracks the
DG. It is all-pneumatic -- everything, including the servo motors,
runs off the vacuum system. Heading input comes from a special DG
with two knobs and two old-style rings, one above the other. You set
one ring like an ordinary DG and you set the other for desired
heading. Then the AP tries to make them match.

It's good for folding charts. After a while, it tends to hunt. There
are a couple of screws for adjusting damping factor, but on our
installation, one is only a rumor in the owners manual. If it exists,
it is behind so many other things in back of the panel, nobody can
locate it.

It's like the fellow said about women preachers. . . .

Don

"Jay Honeck" wrote:

"Nav-O-Matic"??

Was there a coin slot, or had it been upgraded to accept dollar bills?

It was good for making avionics guys' boat payments, perhaps that's
where it got its name.

--
Dan
C172RG at BFM

Jay,


"Nav-O-Matic"??

Was there a coin slot, or had it been upgraded to accept dollar bills?

Was the Tricycle gear on a Cessna not called "Land-O-Matic"? For some folks
I know they should upgrade it to accept only LARGE bills..... ;-)

Best regards

Kai

On Mon, 04 Jul 2005 21:08:10 +0200, Greg Farris
wrote:

You can do some basic tests before
takeoff, to make sure it's doing more or less what it's supposed to.

According to the flight supplement, you're required to do the basic
tests before takeoff if you're going to use it during the flight

Personally I try and use the airline philosophy: use all the
automation you have for as much of the time as you can. The FITS
training I got with the new 172 encouraged this as well. They even do
some demos on how to fly partial-panel with the AP in roll mode and
shoot a non-precision approach. So, all my cross countries are
autopilot (dual axis w/ preselect) on at 800' AGL and back off
entering the pattern (VMC) or at the FAF (IMC or VMC straight-in). I
hand fly some local flights every couple of weeks for proficiency
(keep myself able to hand fly to the instrument rating standards,
practice some maneuvers and approaches, etc).