Aero-Tips!

A good pilot is always learning -- how many times have you heard this old standard throughout your flying career? There is no truer statement in all of flying (well, with the possible exception of "there are no old, bold pilots.")

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Aero-Tips 09.10.06

Any more, most "serious" IFR airplanes have an autopilot. Move into the commercial/Part 135 realm and in most cases a functioning, three-axis autopilot is required for single-pilot operation. There's absolutely no question autopilots make instrument flying tremendously safer, by handling the basic chores of aircraft control when the pilot is busy with other things-like engine management, approach set-up, or dealing with distractions.

Many autopilots can "couple" to aircraft navigation systems to safely and precisely fly an instrument approach. More and more I hear IFR pilots (especially those with airline backgrounds) say that all IFR approaches should be flown by the autopilot, with the pilot monitoring the approach and seeing the "bigger picture". I agree that the pilot needs to be freed from a lot of mental effort in physically flying the aircraft. What I don't agree with is depending on the autopilot exclusively to fly all approaches.

I'm an advocate of hand-flying a good percentage of all actual approaches, so the pilot retains currency. During my tenure as a FlightSafety Bonanza/Baron instructor, by far the most common reason a pilot could not pass an Instrument Proficiency Check (IPC) was an inability to hand-fly an autopilot- or trim-failed approach to at least Instrument standards. I still see that tendency in the flight training I continue to provide. This seems to come mainly from an over-reliance on the autopilot -- the "gear up, autopilot on" method of flight. I've seen a very wide cross-section of IFR aviators training several hundred of them instructing over the last 18 years, from little total time to thousands of hours in the cockpit. A scary percentage came to me without the skills to survive should their autopilot have failed in low instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). In fact, the only pilot I trained in my four years at FlightSafety who could not complete even a VFR course in a Baron was at the time an active-duty Air Force pilot-so technique of flight, not just frequency or total of experience, is a vital component of safety.

I fear current trends of nearly all-time, autopilot-managed flight makes it less likely the pilot can survive an instrument, trim or autopilot failure.

I think the best recommendation is a balanced mix. I personally recommend a rotating regimen of coupled approaches, flight director (if equipped) approaches, and raw-data (no autopilot, no flight director) approaches. One-third of all "actual" approaches should be of each type, to retain skills required for all three, and the pilot should alternate frequently between techniques so he/she stays current in all. The less frequently the pilot flies in IMC (again, in my opinion), more this should be weighted toward raw-data and flight director approaches, with correspondingly higher personal weather minima. This is especially important in most personal aircraft that do not have a back-up autopilot or electric trim system, so the pilot isn't too dependent on a single piece of equipment that can (and historically does) fail. The goal is to provide an acceptable level of safety, so that the pilot is the redundant feature should he/she be flying an approach with the autopilot.

Aero-tip of the day: Never let the autopilot take you somewhere you could not comfortably hand-fly the airplane.

FMI: Aero-Tips