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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) Daha Fazlası...
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Technolgy is wonderful and I started making the technolgy transition from a 707 into a 752, the 707 being nothing but steam guages and then going to all glass. The Auto pilot was the biggest thing we had that made life halfway simple. That said, I have lost one at various times for whatever reason, in a variety of conditions and even on the 752, had a whole panel go dark on final for the house. I was lucky on that deal as I was over the marker, already cleared and lined up,and it was daylight/VFR. The whole point is this; all the technology is wonderful and is a pilot's best friend or worst nightmare. You had better know how to FLY THE PLANE.
Preach on Preacherman!!!
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.
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