As Seggy will tell you, it helps put hair on your chest.WHy is it that the 1900 does not have an autopilot? All of the King Airs I've been in have one on the pedestal, or if a new one, on the glareshield.
But there must be a logical answer. Heck even the Baron in your pic has one, and it doesn't carry a dozen people.
I'd have to say the simple answer is that they can be operated without them pretty easily and it reduces maintenance cost. Some of AMF's have autopilots and some of them don't. It's the same way with their 99's.But there must be a logical answer. Heck even the Baron in your pic has one, and it doesn't carry a dozen people.
My friend had a Be55 with some ancient autopilot... when you clicked on or off the altitude hold the airplane lurched like you just hit clear air turb!I actually enjoy hand flying the Baron over using the autopilot. In all seriousness, I'm not sure of the exact answer but I think it has to do with weight.
My friend had a Be55 with some ancient autopilot... when you clicked on or off the altitude hold the airplane lurched like you just hit clear air turb!
And the STec in the SR20s is not much better with heading mode... just oscillates back and forth.
Were you guys a B190/A? At least then you could count down the DME.I flew the 1900 and it was a very stable aircraft. Most of the block times were around an hour so it probably wouldn't have decreased workload that much.
At Skyway, it was a VOR to VOR airplane so there was really not much else to tinker with.
Actually, we had TCAS so it was a different designation I think, but for the most part, /A.
One of the AMF pilots told me that they own the STC for the autopilot in the B99, since it never had one from the factory.
The aircraft was certified under Part 23 (commuter category) standards. Does not require things like autopilot, flight control disconnects, or the same electrical bus separations you are required to have on a Part 25 aircraft. You can always add it on but it costs $$$WHy is it that the 1900 does not have an autopilot? All of the King Airs I've been in have one on the pedestal, or if a new one, on the glareshield.
I've got hundreds of hours in Barons with no DME or autopilots!!!That's cool. Aside from the Barons, which are /G, I'm still flying some planes that are /U. That can get interesting.............