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Making the Transition to IFR
During my two-week course, however, not one instructor uttered one word about autopilot use, and that deprived me of a crucial piece of the IFR safety puzzle. Read more at http://www.flyingmag.com/training/instrument-flight-rules/making-transition-ifr?page=0,2#LDExPDAIZ5gsIVr0.99 (www.flyingmag.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
I thought y'all would get a kick out of this story. I agree with all of you, seems like the author has it bass ackwards.
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Somebody must have taught him Phil as the whole story centers around automation and not having to do it him self. He dates himself though, age wise, by saying it's the best thing to come out in the last 10-15 years.LOL
you need to learn to fly the airplane first before you get the luxury of autopilot. An instructor teaching an instrument student would be doing then a disservice if he had them use the autopilot. What if the autopilot failed?
What if the pilot fails? The autopilot is a usefull tool to help you stay ahead of the airplane especially in single pilot IMC. Although I've never had to perform an emergency disengagment it's only one convenient button push away. You are correct that you need to learn to fly the airplane but they should then teach you how to correctly operate ALL the available equipment. Part of my factory training when buying an aircraft included uncoupled and coupled IFR approaches. I found it very useful.
Nobody is saying it's not a good thing but it seems to me in the story he puts way too much emphasis on it's use and not enough on what to do without it. Nothing macho about it. You just need to make sure you know what to do without it.