I've never had the luxury of flying a plane with an autopilot. My old Mooney has a 'wing leveler', which has never worked. On my recent flight from Atlanta to San Antonio, about 13 hours round trip, I sure thought a lot about how I'd have an autopilot in my RV. I find the info on the various manufacturer's web sites helpful, but I still have questions about what these things can do, particularly when it comes to instrument flying (the ink on my instrument ticket is still wet). So, I thought I'd throw out some general questions as to how these are used...I'm not looking for answers on what the best manufacturer is, mainly how an autopilot can help reduce fatigue and make for a safer flight, so, if you will indulge me:
1. I've heard that you should turn them off in turbulence and hand fly. True or False? Seems to me that the processor can react much faster to upsets than I could. I would also think that the servos would have some sort of clutch that would prevent control surface damage?
2. How well does the altitude hold function work when you are flying in & out of clouds? I find that hand flying it takes some work to stay where you're supposed to.
3. How are these things typically used when flying approaches? I assume (?) you could use it to track a localizer in to the runway. What do you do when it is time to descend? If you push the stick forward to start down at the FAF, will the device disengage, leaving you in 'manual pilot' mode for the rest of the approach? If so, is that really an issue?
4. Same question as above, but for a precision approach like an ILS, can a 2 axis device keep you on the glideslope or is that just fantasy on my part?
I'd also be interested to learn how most of you use them to make your flight safer/more enjoyable. Others out there with similar questions, please chime in, I'd like to learn as much as I can from those who know about these things, to help frame my future purchase of an autopilot.
1. I've heard that you should turn them off in turbulence and hand fly. True or False? Seems to me that the processor can react much faster to upsets than I could. I would also think that the servos would have some sort of clutch that would prevent control surface damage?
2. How well does the altitude hold function work when you are flying in & out of clouds? I find that hand flying it takes some work to stay where you're supposed to.
3. How are these things typically used when flying approaches? I assume (?) you could use it to track a localizer in to the runway. What do you do when it is time to descend? If you push the stick forward to start down at the FAF, will the device disengage, leaving you in 'manual pilot' mode for the rest of the approach? If so, is that really an issue?
4. Same question as above, but for a precision approach like an ILS, can a 2 axis device keep you on the glideslope or is that just fantasy on my part?
I'd also be interested to learn how most of you use them to make your flight safer/more enjoyable. Others out there with similar questions, please chime in, I'd like to learn as much as I can from those who know about these things, to help frame my future purchase of an autopilot.