.I've yet to see an autopilot whose flight manual doesn't have a pretakeoff system check. I have, however, seen a lot of pilots who don't do it unless prompted by their instructor, and redtail's example is a good one on why those folks are being shortsighted. Choose wisely.
Why? Kennedy wasn't flying a Cirrus. It was a Piper, a Saratoga I think.
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Since we're speaking of the JFK Jr. accident. If I recall, the radar track seemed to indicate that he was in fact using the AP while in cruise until he got close to his destination. Do anyone know if that's correct
It was and I am not sure the connection either. As for the JFK Jr flight baring the conspiracy theories(which I did not realize existed til I went to confirm it was not a Cirrus) there was an article in AOPA Pilot I believe on the ten year anniversity of the flight that described the chain of events that led to the unfortunate outcome. They identified 10 huge issues if I remember correctly, and it was certainly interesting to read.
That is true. Unfortunately, when dealing with the rental fleet, I have found that the A/P (if installed) is the most commonly deferred maintenance item.
I do but whenever my AP has crapped out, and it does frequently enough(G1000, with garmin autopilot), it has always passed the ground test. So like every other friggin thing in my plane, passing the ground test does not protect against inflight gremlins.
I'm having trouble understanding why an instructor would not allow a primary trainee to learn to use the autopilot. Of course, I'll require that the trainee (instrument or primary) be able to do it all by hand first, but s/he's not getting my endorsement without knowing how to use all the equipment in the plane, at least to the level appropriate to the certificate/rating being pursued.
Its not anything I can even squawk because the autopilot works perfectly fine 99.9% of the time. I think there are a number of bugs in the programming of the G1000 that are not reproducible. For example I have had my HSI go out on me three times without warning and then come back on. I had the entire thing gone over by a number of G1000 gurus and nothing was found. With the autopilot the AHRS will crap out for about a second and then the autopilot will disconnect. The AHRS then comes back on and everything is fine. Again I have had the entire unit checked out and everything is fine. I have the engine data recording system and have noted the times when it occurs and no correlation with anything. It is at worse an annoyance and I am just prepared for it.
I barely used autopilot during PPL, though was familiar with its use. When I trained for IF I used it slightly more for familiarity sake, but actually did 98% of my training by hand, and when I went out for my "fun" flights without my instructor I familiarized myself with the autopilot. I did probably about 60% of my IF checkride with autopilot as requested by the DPE, and thankfully knew more about it than he did. I actually got into a "discussion" with him on the best way of doing something with it, and he did not like my way of doing it and asked me to do it "his way." I officially objected and did it his way which of course did not work, and then did it my way which worked quite well, and he was all happy. I personally prefer hand flying, and use my autopilot more as an adjuvant than anything else. It just seems to me too many people are content to let the autopilot do the flying, and for me it takes some of the fun and challenge out of flying. I like the feeling of accomplishment I get when I keep my altitude within 20 feet of assigned, my heading within 2 or 3 degrees, and my approaches on glide slope. I know my autopilot can do it better, but where's the fun in that. If I have some housework to do then I will often use the autopilot then as my attention may be away from my scan for a short time period.
No it occurs when the autopilot is off. The unit checks out perfectly fine according to the three or was it four avionics guys that have looked at it. However, regardless of where the issue is or is not the temporary loss of AHRS(lasting one to two seconds at most) causes the AP to disconnect. If the AP is not on, the loss is not even noticed except for the AHRS sign flashing on the screen. No advisory or warning otherwise. If the AP is on, it will beep and turn off. When AHRS resets push AP and all is well again. Modern electronics aren't they wonderful.
the hazardous condition I face is the boredome of cross country flight. the autopilot is the crutch I need to tackle this hazard.
