IMC without an autopilot

The autopilot can be an important safety tool, but pilots should have a
thorough knowledge of how the autopilot works and what its limitations are.
'George' does a good job of flying the airplane in smooth air and frees you
up for other tasks, such as monitoring your route, talking on the radios,
eating a sandwich, etc. The flip side is that it is easy to relax a little
too much and stop paying attention to what is going on.

On Mon, 05 Apr 2004 00:36:01 GMT, Jon Kraus
wrote:

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?
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 fly instruments frequently in a PA28-180 equipped with a
wing-leveler. I hand-fly 90% of the time, but will use the
wing-leveler if I want to grab a chart or brief an approach, copy a
re-routing, etc.

If I had a more capable autopilot (especially altitude hold), I would
probably use it more often.

Single pilot IFR is serious stuff, and can be very demanding at times.
Knowing when and how to use an autopilot can reduce workload, which if
nothing else - makes for a more alert pilot when reaching the
destination.

-Nathan

Until the autopilot goes TU on you... If it is a conventional A/P, it may not
work if you lose instrument vacuum or your AI, for example. Real bad time to be
out of practice hand-flying without and autopilot to back you up.

IMHO, it is very very easy to become complacent with George to do your flying
when the chips are down. I think your chances of getting into an unusual
attitude are much higher with a system failure if you habitually use your
autopilot.

"O. Sami Saydjari" wrote:

Well, it would seem an interesting scientific question as to whether the
introduction of autopilot indeed led to fewer IMC accidents. It seems
that one could appeal to the accident data history and find out.

I feel safer knowing that I have an autopilot, but that does not mean
that I am. For example, I doubt that if I got the plane into a really
unusual attitude (flying manually), that I could just flip my autopilot
on and everything would be OK. On the other hand, one might
successfully argue that if I habitually use my autopilot, the chances of
getting into an unusal attitude are lower.

--
--Ray Andraka, P.E.
President, the Andraka Consulting Group, Inc.
401/884-7930 Fax 401/884-7950
email
http://www.andraka.com

"They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little
temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-Benjamin Franklin, 1759

"O. Sami Saydjari" wrote in message
...
Well, it would seem an interesting scientific question as to whether the
introduction of autopilot indeed led to fewer IMC accidents. It seems
that one could appeal to the accident data history and find out.

I feel safer knowing that I have an autopilot, but that does not mean
that I am. For example, I doubt that if I got the plane into a really
unusual attitude (flying manually), that I could just flip my autopilot
on and everything would be OK. On the other hand, one might
successfully argue that if I habitually use my autopilot, the chances of
getting into an unusal attitude are lower.

In short, I do not think that this question can be answered by appeal to
intuition; facts based on data would be good here.


How could one tell if a pilot was able to maintain control in IMC if he was
on autpilot and DIDN'T lose control.

Lose of control in IMC is still one of the biggest factors in crashes, but
I've never heard of it happening while the pilot was on the AP.



-Sami

Tom Sixkiller wrote:
"vincent p. norris" wrote in message
...

Just curious as to opinions about flying in IMC without an autopilot?

An autopilot is nice; but for years, in military and private a/c, we
didnt have them, and we got along just fine.


I daresay it's often that cavilier (macho) attitude that kills people. As
Sami suggests above, I'd do a bit of research on the historical accident
numbers.


And disorientation in IMC lead to a lot of people not "getting along
fine",
but rather splattering themselves over the landscape.

"Ray Andraka" wrote in message
...
Until the autopilot goes TU on you... If it is a conventional A/P, it may
not
work if you lose instrument vacuum or your AI, for example. Real bad time
to be
out of practice hand-flying without and autopilot to back you up.

And hand flying doesn;t help if a the wing falls off. I didn't see that
anyone was putting "100% of the time" reliaance on an AP.


IMHO, it is very very easy to become complacent with George to do your
flying
when the chips are down. I think your chances of getting into an unusual
attitude are much higher with a system failure if you habitually use your
autopilot.

And how about those who hand fly ALL THE TIME and still lose it in IMC?

I'd like to see a historical analysis. Even the Operating Handbooks from the
AP manufacturers recommed against using the AP as a crutch.

"vincent p. norris" wrote:

Just curious as to opinions about flying in IMC without an autopilot?

An autopilot is nice; but for years, in military and private a/c, we
didnt have them, and we got along just fine.

We didn't have single-pilot IFR trying to program and re-program a GPS box
during those years, either.

Jon,

Just curious as to opinions about flying in IMC without an autopilot?


One datapoint: In Germany, a two-axis autopilot is required by law for
single-pilot IFR.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

Vincent,

An autopilot is nice; but for years, in military and private a/c, we
didnt have them, and we got along just fine.


There are reasons the accident rates have been on the decline for
decades. Autopilots might be one.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

Last trip through the clouds was like being in a ping pong ball, I was going
through ORD airspace and spent a little under an hour flying by hand even
though I had the autopilot. I just wanted to get some good practice in with
no vis. I shot a VOR A approach into my home airfield and broke out about
1400 AGL landed fine put the airplane away and then was so tired I had my
spouse drive home where I then took a 2 hour nap. It was real work, next
time autopilot!

Scott

--
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MI-150972
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-------------------------------------
"Bob Gardner" wrote in message
news:A02cc.183588$_w.1847277@attbi_s53...
The autopilot can fly the airplane more smoothly than I can, so if I have
one, I use it. Hand-flying in the clouds for more than 30 minutes or so
takes a lot out of me, so if I am going to be solid for any length of time
I
want an autopilot.

Bob Gardner

"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?
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...

Jon Kraus
PP-ASEL
Student-IA

[repost as my original post never appeared - apologies if it does]

Jon Kraus ) wrote:

Just curious as to opinions about flying in IMC without an autopilot?

Richard Collins, a very experienced pilot, columnist for Flying Magazine,
and star of the Sporty's "Air Facts" video series, is a big advocate of
flying single-pilot IFR with a dual-axis AP.

His argument is that a pilot who turns over IMC flying to the AP will be
able to better understand the developing "big picture" (current location,
nearest airport, weather, approach needed, aircraft's health, etc.).
Doing so will make the flight inherently safer than a flight where a pilot
must hand-fly and juggle all of the extra tasks.

Having logged a bit of actual time, I subscribe to his viewpoint. However,
after experiencing an AP failure in IMC while flying to Boston last year, I
certainly see the need to remain proficient at hand-flying. Balancing
these competing goals (hand flying versus the safety of AP flying) is a
challenge.

--
Peter R.















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