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#1
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IMC without an autopilot
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 |
#2
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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 |
#3
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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 -- ------------------------------------------------------------------ Scott F. Migaldi, K9PO MI-150972 PP-ASEL-IA Are you a PADI Instructor or DM? Then join the PADI Instructor Yahoo Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PADI-Instructors/join ----------------------------------- Catch the wave! www.hamwave.com **"A long time ago being crazy meant something, nowadays everyone is crazy" -- Charles Manson** ------------------------------------- "Bob Gardner" wrote in message news:A02cc.183588$_w.1847277@attbi_s53... The autopilot can fly the airplane more smoothly than I can, so if I have one, I use it. Hand-flying in the clouds for more than 30 minutes or so takes a lot out of me, so if I am going to be solid for any length of time I want an autopilot. Bob Gardner "Jon Kraus" wrote in message ... Just curious as to opinions about flying in IMC without an autopilot? Does an autopilot make flying in the clouds safer or is it just a crutch for the lazy? For myself being new to IFR flying I feel safer knowing that if needed I could turn the autopilot on. Maybe it is a false sense of security... Jon Kraus PP-ASEL Student-IA |
#4
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Fatigue is a sneaky killer, because you do not realize how severely your
mental processes and physical reactions have been affected. I'll take safety over macho any day in the week. Bob "SFM" wrote in message ... Last trip through the clouds was like being in a ping pong ball, I was going through ORD airspace and spent a little under an hour flying by hand even though I had the autopilot. I just wanted to get some good practice in with no vis. I shot a VOR A approach into my home airfield and broke out about 1400 AGL landed fine put the airplane away and then was so tired I had my spouse drive home where I then took a 2 hour nap. It was real work, next time autopilot! Scott -- ------------------------------------------------------------------ Scott F. Migaldi, K9PO MI-150972 PP-ASEL-IA Are you a PADI Instructor or DM? Then join the PADI Instructor Yahoo Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PADI-Instructors/join ----------------------------------- Catch the wave! www.hamwave.com **"A long time ago being crazy meant something, nowadays everyone is crazy" -- Charles Manson** ------------------------------------- "Bob Gardner" wrote in message news:A02cc.183588$_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 |
#5
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In following this thread, I can't agree with the idea that prudent use of an
Autopilot can contribute to loss of proficency. I use the AP purhaps 80% of the time - flying level on a heading. There's not much proficency to gain or lose during this time. I would think that we all hand fly the takeoff and landing. Here's where the practice is useful and needed. Chuck |
#6
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PaulaJay1 wrote:
In following this thread, I can't agree with the idea that prudent use of an Autopilot can contribute to loss of proficency. I use the AP purhaps 80% of the time - flying level on a heading. There's not much proficency to gain or lose during this time. I would think that we all hand fly the takeoff and landing. Here's where the practice is useful and needed. Chuck I disagree. Flying straight and level, and checking the weather, and programming the GPS, etc., requires a fair bit of skill. After five years of flying IFR with no AP, I literally got to the point where flying the airplane was a completely subconcious activity that I literally didn't even think about anymore. I could easily do several other tasks and keep the airplane on the straight and narrow. I agree with the others that an AP can probably reduce fatigue on a long trip in the clouds, but I only had a handful of these in 300 or so hours of instrument flying. However, once I got sufficiently proficient that flying the airplane was essentially automatic, I found I didn't get all that fatigued even on 4 hour flights in the soup. Yes, I had a couple of those. Once I flew my niece to college in Ohio from PA. There was about an 800' ceiling over the entire northeast. I was in the soup from shortly after takeoff until touchdown in Dayton. Took about 3 hours against a strong headwind. I then turned right around and flew home in the same soup. I was a little tired by then, but more from the noise and sitting in one place too long, than from flying in IMC. I got tired on VFR fights of that lenght! Matt |
#7
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In article ,
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... Jon Kraus PP-ASEL Student-IA It's a useful tool if you use it wisely. It's a crutch if you let it be. |
#8
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In article ,
Jon Kraus wrote: 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... It's easier, but it's worth practicing with one. If you've never used a wing leveller and tried to control pitch yourself it's a very odd feeling. -- Ben Jackson http://www.ben.com/ |
#9
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My instrument instructor flew full-time as a King Air single pilot. He made
sure I knew I had to practice to keep non-autopilot skills up to par, but for real-life IFR single-pilot flying he always said "make liberal use of the autopilot". I fully agree. If it's visual weather you have to look for traffic as well as fly your courses and approaches and the autopilot lets you do that; if it's IMC the autopilot frees brain cells for important stuff like situational awareness and unusual ATC calls, etc. "Ben Jackson" wrote in message news:et2cc.183846$_w.1849839@attbi_s53... In article , Jon Kraus wrote: 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... It's easier, but it's worth practicing with one. If you've never used a wing leveller and tried to control pitch yourself it's a very odd feeling. -- Ben Jackson http://www.ben.com/ |
#10
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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. vince norris |
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