Auto Pilot Usage

Boris Badenov said:
Oh, that's one that doesn't even really bother me that much. It doesn't seem to me that simple computers are any less reliable than, say, hydraulic systems. Noone bats an eyelash at hydraulics.

That said, when I see a fuse laying around, I light it. Because that's how I roll!
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Slide rules versus calculators. Each camp thumbs their nose at the other, but at the end of the day, both have been superseded by technology.
 
Derg said:
Slide rules versus calculators. Each camp thumbs their nose at the other, but at the end of the day, both have been superseded by technology.
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I was giving a guy a recurrent checkride last month and he pulled out a well-worn E6B in the middle of it. Not even kidding.

Same guy could time crossing radials and do the mental math to tell you your speed, but had no idea how to set up the GPS for vectors to final.

Edit to add: I do very little autopilot flying but most of my flying is giving checkrides, so I tske what I can get. When I flew 121 I usually hand flew to level off and kicked it off around 10k on the way down unless I was inbound to EWR, then I'd kick it off over Teterboro or GRITY.
 
JeppUpdater said:
I was giving a guy a recurrent checkride last month and he pulled out a well-worn E6B in the middle of it. Not even kidding.

Same guy could time crossing radials and do the mental math to tell you your speed, but had no idea how to set up the GPS for vectors to final.
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FWIW, I actually do find myself wanting a whiz wheel on occasion. It might not be the most technically advanced or accurate gadget in the world, but it's a handy gadget, and I can figure up things fairly quickly (and somewhat more accurately than trying to make my stupid pilot brain do it in a hurry) with them. The latest was "I wonder if the box is lying about our true airspeed," for instance.
 
JeppUpdater said:
I was giving a guy a recurrent checkride last month and he pulled out a well-worn E6B in the middle of it. Not even kidding.

Same guy could time crossing radials and do the mental math to tell you your speed, but had no idea how to set up the GPS for vectors to final.
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That's kind of awesome in it's own way, was he some super old codger that'd been flying the four-course range? "GPS? Hell, I'm doing VOR-VOR area navigation in me head right now - OF course I can accept direct." How does he file, /B - for Badass?
 
ppragman said:
That's kind of awesome in it's own way, was he some super old codger that'd been flying the four-course range? "GPS? Hell, I'm doing VOR-VOR area navigation in me head right now - OF course I can accept direct." How does he file, /B - for Badass?
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He's a contract pilot now and was a check airman before I was born.

The best part was he can still do the mental gymnastics to figure those things out, but he now understands the GPS a lot better, so he'll continue to be the guy we send people to for IOE in that part of the country.
 
Autothrust Blue said:
FWIW, I actually do find myself wanting a whiz wheel on occasion. It might not be the most technically advanced or accurate gadget in the world, but it's a handy gadget, and I can figure up things fairly quickly (and somewhat more accurately than trying to make my stupid pilot brain do it in a hurry) with them. The latest was "I wonder if the box is lying about our true airspeed," for instance.
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I have an e6b app for that on my smart phone and no one thinks to not invite me to the bar on a overnight. Which is exactly what that wizz wheel will do


After all embrace the technology and automation. Right ATN?!
 
T/O w/FSII said:
I have an e6b app for that on my smart phone and no one thinks to not invite me to the bar on a overnight. Which is exactly what that wizz wheel will do


After all embrace the technology and automation. Right ATN?!
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Blah blah blah.

It's my grand-dad's whiz wheel. Cool factor five.
 
I have yet to fly anything that has an autopilot that is trust worthy or worth using. There is a slight excitement to fly the CRJ, for the mere fact of having the option of an autopilot.
 
Erik10 said:
I have yet to fly anything that has an autopilot that is trust worthy or worth using. There is a slight excitement to fly the CRJ, for the mere fact of having the option of an autopilot.
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They're fine, but they're also "GIGO" machines.

Garbage in, garbage out.

Most modern autopilots you'll run into in the first tier of the airline biz will do exactly what you tell it to do. Which is bizarre when people roll into a 4000 fpm descent on the mad dog, the speed accelerates and they'll bitch about how much a POS the automation is.

You said you wanted 4000 fpm. It's giving it to you without respect to anything else and will try to maintain airspeed if it can, but remember, you said you commanded unrealistic performance.
 
I have limited experience, but a unique job...Sometimes I have paying passengers or the family that pays my mortgage in the back. George is on and I'm a systems manager. Poised to tackle any problem that might insidiously creep up. Like a rising oil temp...Other times, I am instructing in the same plane and will hand fly it all the time. I fly contract with a guy that is hand flying below 10 every time. When it's my leg, I do the same because that is the way he operates the aircraft.
It seems like a lot of pages about separating the fly poop from the pepper...I think the first two pages had some of the best answers, and the OP was just looking for input for a term paper (or something). So, that's why I included my .02 cents. :-)
Cheers!!
 
bucksmith said:
Could I get a pronuciation please? I'd like to use that...:)
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An early 80s word, just from when PCs were starting to become popular. It is pronounced "Guy-go".

Useless fact: When I was in elementary school in the early 80s, my class did a play called "The GIGO Effect"!

I even remember the chorus to the title song we had to learn and sing...

"Garbage in, garbage out
That's what memory's all about
There's no doubt
That if you put garbage in
Then you'll get garbage out."

Wow, talk about a seriously wasted brain cell that recalled that little gem from about 1983.

1_f4f5115fb0b3ef64fa6e90bc52e7f03e.jpg
 
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Hacker15e said:
An early 80s word, just from when PCs were starting to become popular. It is pronounced "Guy-go".

Useless fact: When I was in elementary school in the early 80s, my class did a play called "The GIGO Effect"!

I even remember the chorus to the title song we had to learn and sing...

"Garbage in, garbage out
That's what memory's all about
There's no doubt
That if you put garbage in
Then you'll get garbage out."

Wow, talk about a seriously wasted brain cell that recalled that little gem from about 1983.

1_f4f5115fb0b3ef64fa6e90bc52e7f03e.jpg
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I love when that happens...Everything we have ever known is still up there, it's just a matter of access. Glad I could help and thanks for the answer!
 
Thanks everyone for your replies! Im actually putting everyone's responses into a excel spreadsheet to see what the averages are
 
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