On Aug 4, 9:48*pm, "Stephen!" wrote:
a wrote in news:d20d09bc-73c8-44dd-9654-
:

moreover' is, I want hands on near minima, don't want to mess with the
a/p if I have to fly a miss, and don't want to transition from a/p to
manual when I decide conditions are not right for a landing.

* The FBO from where I got my Instrument Ticket (in a '72 C-182RG) has a
new batch of DA-40's with the G1000 and a coupled autopilot. *This thing
will not only take you down to minimums hands-off, all it takes to do the
missed all the way to and including the hold is pressing a single "GA"
button.

* That might be a lot of fun to play with and very handy at the end of a
long and rough flight, but I think it would get rather boring and quite
possibly lead to losing the "edge" you need when all the fancy gizmos
quit working.

--
RCOS #7
IBA# 11465http://imagesdesavions.com

There is always the small likelihood of Murphy's Law making its
presence known, but for me at least hands on has more to do with the
aesthetics of flying and the intellectual and visceral pleasures it
brings. Some of us are privileged enough to know the sensations.
George, a few messages ago, talked about no outside reference over
unforgiving land masses, he's been there, and perhaps like me feels a
little sympathetic for those who would like to have been, but
can't.

My concern, and I expect it's true for many who find it convenient to
use SEL for transportation, has little to do with the workload --
aviators know training and experience make that almost trivial -- but
rather being aware and sensitive to the limited options I have if the
IO 360 dragging me around decides to irreversibly quit if visibility
is restricted all the way to the surface. "Glide, breathe, wait"
sucks as a checklist. Never the less, if the forecast for my
destination is good and I have a golden alternate, there are no pilot
reports of icing at reasonable altitudes, and there are no
thunderstorms around, I will not deprive myself the pleasure of
hearing departure control say "Radar contact, climb to . . ."