Yes.
But now I am curious why you think such use was prohibited?
Yes.
But now I am curious why you think such use was prohibited?
I can only guess a primary instructor who said "Oh, I don't let my students use the autopilot" or something similar.
CFI' also want students and low time pilots to get the feel of flying the plane. Just from a fun standpoint, is it not fun to fly the plane? I can understand on very long flights, just like you would use cruise control on a car, but anything under one hour, why bother.
Can? Depends on whether s/he's been shown how to do it. May? Yes, absolutely -- no regs on point.Silly newbie question, but can a VFR PPL use autopilot?
mine is not working, and I miss it!
Then auto pilot is just the passenger sitting in the right seat!...just like if the dishwasher is broken, you just have her....
...I'll stop now.
I have hand flown from Boston to Fla VFR. Was no fun but great practice. Pilots should be familiar with the autopilot if available. It can help get them out of trouble. Won't fly an IFR flight without an A/P available.
This has not been my experience. If anything I see the auto pilot gets guys deeper into trouble.
No, just curious as to safety for a VFR PPL and autopilot.
I'm really just reading and watching (learning), currently not training.
Thanks for your quick responses.
I would love to start training again, but really have no mission beyond wanting to fly. If/when my work becomes US based, that will change.
Suffice it to say, I'm enjoying learning from the ground at this time.
Thanks
Jay
It goes both ways, but what I think he is referring to are accidents where a non-IR rated got into IMC and lost control of the airplane when there was a fully working A/P installed.
I have hand flown from Boston to Fla VFR. Was no fun but great practice. Pilots should be familiar with the autopilot if available. It can help get them out of trouble. Won't fly an IFR flight without an A/P available.
I know that's very aircraft-specific, but generally speaking, I enjoy knowing precisely what's going on with the airplane by having hand on stick, and haven't found it to be exhausting, even flying 6-7 hours in a day.
+1
During my last career I'd regularly fly 4...5...6 hour XC flights. Most of them VMC but occasionally in the muck. No auto pilot, just trimmed the plane and flew it. Always found it enjoyable, rarely exhausting.
same for me. i enjoy hand flying. the longest trip i did was from new york to north carolina and with a nicely trimmed out plane, it wasn't difficult or exhausting for me. even shooting the approach with 700ish ft ceilings was no problem+1
During my last career I'd regularly fly 4...5...6 hour XC flights. Most of them VMC but occasionally in the muck. No auto pilot, just trimmed the plane and flew it. Always found it enjoyable, rarely exhausting.
I'm the opposite....flew NJ to TX to GA to NJ all without a/p, mostly on an IFR clearance. Have been NJ to FL and back 3 times this year, haven't engaged it yet.
I'm not sure if it's because I have 3 axis trim, but I enjoy getting it all dialed in and holding it. If nothing else, the change in CG from burning fuel in the header tank keeps you constantly aware of the fuel state (the engine only runs off an 11 gallon header tank, you have to xfer fuel via pumps from the left and right tanks to the header). If I had the AP on for long stretches, I would no longer feel those changes in required back pressure.
I know that's very aircraft-specific, but generally speaking, I enjoy knowing precisely what's going on with the airplane by having hand on stick, and haven't found it to be exhausting, even flying 6-7 hours in a day.
AP is in the MEL. I don't like flying with one inop, but I'm not going to go so far as to say I'd refuse the flight.
I used to fly an Archer with an autopilot. Big orange button on top of the yoke with its sole function was to cancel A/P. I recall a couple of times having to battle with the A/P because it didn't take the cancel well. Fortunately, the off button worked.