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Autopilot - how important is it to you?

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Dan wrote:

What is an autopilot good for?

To reduce pilot workload and to increase pilot capacity.

I flew several longer flights of 3-4 hours without one in my Mooney. Mooneys are stable and can be trimmed to be flown hands off. My personal preference in this case is that for a plane designed for travel, an AP is a very nice thing to have. Not because I don’t like to handfly, but because I personally like being able to do certain chores during curise without having to worry too much about track and altitude deviations.

Dan wrote:

Why are you flying?
Do you enjoy piloting, as in giving steering inputs and having an aircraft react to your commands?

Because I love to fly. And yes, absolutely, but particularly in the phases where it’s interesting to do so. I can do without steering inputs on a 2 hour straight and level leg.

LSZH(work) LSZF (GA base), Switzerland

I’m reminded of the Mooneys that had a full time wing leveler, deactivated to turn by pushing a button on the yoke. Some planes are made mostly for going in straight lines, others not so much.

Dan wrote:

The array is light, efficient, and affordable (well, the GNX375 is not really cheap, is it )

:) It is MUCH cheaper than GTN 750.

Dan wrote:

Let me ask the questions:
What is an autopilot good for?
Are you eagerly awaiting the arrival of a drone that will fly you around?
Why are you flying?
Do you enjoy piloting, as in giving steering inputs and having an aircraft react to your commands?

1. Good for reducing the workload and improving your mental capacity.
2. :) no
3. Not much. C172/PA28
4. I have nothing to compare it with as in “vs. autopilot” – all the planes I fly got no autopilot
Sometimes when I fly IFR in IMC (on R/V IAP) it would have helped as I’m doing many things at the same time. And if I were to fly faster aircraft, I’d be thinking really hard about an A/P. But at the moment as I’m preparing for my full IR training (UK IMC only at the moment), flying manual is definitely benefitial.

It is interesting that the professional pilots that fly CAT/business aviation prefer to fly things manually. And vice-versa. Hm.

And I also concur with what Mooney_Driver is saying.

EGTR, United Kingdom

I’m reminded of the Mooneys that had a full time wing leveler, deactivated to turn by pushing a button on the yoke

It’s “Mooney Positive Control” (PC Brittain Autopilot) takes sometime to get used to it I think Garmin brands it as LVL button in GFC series for 20k$, some even claim the button works on inverted 4G dives with Mig28

Last Edited by Ibra at 13 Sep 20:38
Paris/Essex, France/UK, United Kingdom

Silvaire wrote:

I’m reminded of the Mooneys that had a full time wing leveler, deactivated to turn by pushing a button on the yoke. Some planes are made mostly for going in straight lines, others not so much.

MIne had this when I got it. You can actually upgrade that (several come like this) to a one or two axis AP by Brittain. Not sure what the current situation on those things are, but up to when I threw it out (still available in my garage if someone needs servoes and there is a full B5 AP which I wanted to install but found I can’t) they were very responsive to requests and also quite cheap in comparison. They do have a website again, which basically consists of a contact form and a gallery.

The thing pretty much works so that you get a servo onto the ailerons which keeps the wings level at all time. If you want to do a turn, you have to use a disconnect valve (pneumatic) on the LH Yoke. There are dozens of ways of overriding this valve to deactivate the system which otherwise works totally on it’s own.

I know some folks who have Brittain APs and most of them are happy as long as they work. Many have in the mean time changed to newer systems however.

LSZH(work) LSZF (GA base), Switzerland

Recently ferried a plane without A/P. 2x 3hrs in one day. VFR. Not a problem, but not very comfortable either being stuck in bumpy air below airspace.

I’d say if the plane is primarily to get to places, an AP is a nice feature for increased comfort.
For single pilot IFR it offers increased safety.
For joyflights it’s not necessary.

An AP definitely decreases one’s manual flying skills.

always learning
LO__, Austria

Planes are not all alike, some can be held straight and level with arm resting on thigh, a little poke here and there with low control forces. An RV is like this. Others take physical effort to control in rough air, even if they might be very stable.

I took a short flight in a high powered Mooney today, with a friend, from Innsbruck to Zell am See and back. This plane is made for going places in straight lines, not for maneuvering and it has high control forces in every axis except yaw. Although we didn’t engage the autopilot for such a short flight, I can see how the pilot might default to using it for the kind of flying for which the plane is designed.

Last Edited by Silvaire at 14 Sep 19:29

I flew DA42 without AP 8 hours in one day, out of that 3 hours in IMC. I must admit that I was pretty exhausted at the end of the day.

LDZA LDVA, Croatia

arj1 said:
It is interesting that the professional pilots that fly CAT/business aviation prefer to fly things manually

Eh?…most CAT sop’s dictate use of a/p shortly after t/o to shortly before landing, and certainly made life easier on a busy day! Visual approaches excepted..

EGNS, Other

PeteD wrote:

arj1 said:
It is interesting that the professional pilots that fly CAT/business aviation prefer to fly things manually

Eh?…most CAT sop’s dictate use of a/p shortly after t/o to shortly before landing, and certainly made life easier on a busy day! Visual approaches excepted..

@PeteD, sorry for being unclear here – I meant outside their professional life, when they fly for pleasure.

EGTR, United Kingdom
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