IMC without an autopilot

"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.

wrote:

"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.


Have we forgot aviate then navigate?


Matt

"Matthew S. Whiting" wrote:


Have we forgot aviate then navigate?


That's true, we haven't. So, if you can aviate and program a GPS box
single-pilot IFR without an autopilot, sooner or later you will have more balls
than you can juggle.

Not so in the "old days" of tuning a VOR and selecting a course.

wrote:

"Matthew S. Whiting" wrote:


Have we forgot aviate then navigate?



That's true, we haven't. So, if you can aviate and program a GPS box
single-pilot IFR without an autopilot, sooner or later you will have more balls
than you can juggle.

That is certainly possible, but it never happened to me in 6 years of
instrument flying in the northeast which has both traffic and weather.
The way to stay good at juggling is to juggle a lot. I just don't think
an autopilot contributes to proficiency and I'd really hate to be in a
situation where I NEEDED the autopilot in order to keep all the balls in
the air. If you get really busy, it isn't that hard to program most GPS
units one waypoint at a time much like a VOR. I like to have the full
route programmed, but that isn't essential to do if you are in a high
workload regime.


Not so in the "old days" of tuning a VOR and selecting a course.

I tuned the VORs even when using the GPS. Nice to have a couple of
information sources when in the clouds.


Matt

"Matthew S. Whiting" wrote:

wrote:

"Matthew S. Whiting" wrote:


Have we forgot aviate then navigate?



That's true, we haven't. So, if you can aviate and program a GPS box
single-pilot IFR without an autopilot, sooner or later you will have more balls
than you can juggle.

That is certainly possible, but it never happened to me in 6 years of
instrument flying in the northeast which has both traffic and weather.
The way to stay good at juggling is to juggle a lot. I just don't think
an autopilot contributes to proficiency and I'd really hate to be in a
situation where I NEEDED the autopilot in order to keep all the balls in
the air.

The autopilot is a part of single-pilot CRM. It frees the pilot to work at a better
level of mental proficiency. If you're talking about manually flying the airplane
for attitude instrument control, that can and should be practice when the weather is
decent. Presuming the autopilot is properly maintained, the chances of it failing
are no greater than losing some other critical component of the system. That is what
being proficient in abnormal or emergency procedures is all about.

So, if you can aviate and program a GPS box
single-pilot IFR without an autopilot, sooner or later you will have more balls
than you can juggle.

Not so in the "old days" of tuning a VOR and selecting a course.


Hmm. Do "we" really think that setting up and interpreting a VOR (or ADF) is
easier than handling a moving map display? I STRONGLY disagree. A GPS requires
much fewer mental balls to juggle than two VORs and an ADF.

It's just newer technology, that's all.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)