Abstracted from Microsoft Flight Simulator:
What is an Autopilot?
An autopilot (from "automatic pilot"), is a device that can automatically control an aircraft's motion about one or more of its three axes (pitch, yaw, and roll), via input from a human pilot pushing buttons and turning knobs, or via navigational equipment sensing signals from navigation aids on the ground.
What Can an Autopilot Do?
In Flight Simulator, the Cessna aircraft and the Beechcraft Baron 58 are equipped with autopilots that can:
Hold the wings level so that the airplane does not turn.
Maintain the aircraft's current pitch attitude.
Maintain a selected heading.
Maintain a selected altitude.
Maintain a selected rate of climb or descent.
Follow a VOR radial.
Track a localizer or localizer back course.
Track the localizer and glide slope of an Instrument Landing System (ILS).
Track a GPS course.
The GPS does not provide vertical guidance to the autopilot.
Additionally, the Beechcraft King Air 350, Bombardier Learjet 45, and all of the Boeing jets in Flight Simulator are equipped with automatic flight control systems that include an autopilot, an autothrottle (jets only), and a flight director. These systems can:
Maintain a selected speed (indicated air speed or Mach number).
Eliminate unwanted aircraft yaw.
Help a pilot to manually fly the aircraft exactly as the autopilot would.
The DC–3 Autopilot
The autopilot on the Douglas DC–3 panel can:
Maintain the aircraft's current pitch attitude.
Maintain a selected heading.
This autopilot operates differently from the other autopilots in Flight Simulator. To learn more, see the Douglas DC–3 Flight Notes.
Some of the add-on aircraft and panels for Flight Simulator provide even more autopilot functionality, and model advanced features like:
Flight management computers (FMCs).
VNav (vertical navigation).
LNav (lateral navigation).
Flight Level Change.
Control Wheel Steering.
Autoland.
Why Would I Want to Use an Autopilot?
There are some pilots who view using an autopilot as a crutch (as in, "Real pilots don't need autopilots!"), but they're missing out, because used properly an autopilot can substantially reduce your workload…especially when flying under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR). You can let the autopilot handle some of the grunt work (like maintaining heading and altitude) while you concentrate on more safety-oriented concerns (like navigating, looking for traffic, and communicating).
Reducing your workload by using an autopilot will also help you feel less tired at the end of a long flight. There's nothing more dangerous during the approach and landing phases of a flight (especially a bumpy IFR flight in the clouds) than a pilot who's mentally and physically exhausted from simply flying the airplane.
The Two Most Important Rules
When two pilots (for example, a flight instructor and a student) are taking turns controlling an airplane, they make it very clear who has control at any given moment. When one pilot hands over control to the other, he says, "You have the airplane." As the second pilot takes control, he may respond, "I have the airplane." In this way, they avoid a dangerous situation where both pilots are controlling the airplane (or no pilots are controlling the airplane).
Using an autopilot is no different. The two most important rules to remember when using a two- or three-axis autopilot like the ones modeled in the Flight Simulator aircraft are:
When the autopilot is off, you control the airplane.
When the autopilot is on, the autopilot controls the airplane, and you monitor and control the autopilot.
Who is controlling the plane? both old fart and his son are. When one says ' I have the plane' but the other will says ' I have the plane'. No wonder LHL needs MM, SM, and many DPMs all controlling the same plane instead of using auto pilot.
What is an Autopilot?
An autopilot (from "automatic pilot"), is a device that can automatically control an aircraft's motion about one or more of its three axes (pitch, yaw, and roll), via input from a human pilot pushing buttons and turning knobs, or via navigational equipment sensing signals from navigation aids on the ground.
What Can an Autopilot Do?
In Flight Simulator, the Cessna aircraft and the Beechcraft Baron 58 are equipped with autopilots that can:
Hold the wings level so that the airplane does not turn.
Maintain the aircraft's current pitch attitude.
Maintain a selected heading.
Maintain a selected altitude.
Maintain a selected rate of climb or descent.
Follow a VOR radial.
Track a localizer or localizer back course.
Track the localizer and glide slope of an Instrument Landing System (ILS).
Track a GPS course.
The GPS does not provide vertical guidance to the autopilot.
Additionally, the Beechcraft King Air 350, Bombardier Learjet 45, and all of the Boeing jets in Flight Simulator are equipped with automatic flight control systems that include an autopilot, an autothrottle (jets only), and a flight director. These systems can:
Maintain a selected speed (indicated air speed or Mach number).
Eliminate unwanted aircraft yaw.
Help a pilot to manually fly the aircraft exactly as the autopilot would.
The DC–3 Autopilot
The autopilot on the Douglas DC–3 panel can:
Maintain the aircraft's current pitch attitude.
Maintain a selected heading.
This autopilot operates differently from the other autopilots in Flight Simulator. To learn more, see the Douglas DC–3 Flight Notes.
Some of the add-on aircraft and panels for Flight Simulator provide even more autopilot functionality, and model advanced features like:
Flight management computers (FMCs).
VNav (vertical navigation).
LNav (lateral navigation).
Flight Level Change.
Control Wheel Steering.
Autoland.
Why Would I Want to Use an Autopilot?
There are some pilots who view using an autopilot as a crutch (as in, "Real pilots don't need autopilots!"), but they're missing out, because used properly an autopilot can substantially reduce your workload…especially when flying under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR). You can let the autopilot handle some of the grunt work (like maintaining heading and altitude) while you concentrate on more safety-oriented concerns (like navigating, looking for traffic, and communicating).
Reducing your workload by using an autopilot will also help you feel less tired at the end of a long flight. There's nothing more dangerous during the approach and landing phases of a flight (especially a bumpy IFR flight in the clouds) than a pilot who's mentally and physically exhausted from simply flying the airplane.
The Two Most Important Rules
When two pilots (for example, a flight instructor and a student) are taking turns controlling an airplane, they make it very clear who has control at any given moment. When one pilot hands over control to the other, he says, "You have the airplane." As the second pilot takes control, he may respond, "I have the airplane." In this way, they avoid a dangerous situation where both pilots are controlling the airplane (or no pilots are controlling the airplane).
Using an autopilot is no different. The two most important rules to remember when using a two- or three-axis autopilot like the ones modeled in the Flight Simulator aircraft are:
When the autopilot is off, you control the airplane.
When the autopilot is on, the autopilot controls the airplane, and you monitor and control the autopilot.
Who is controlling the plane? both old fart and his son are. When one says ' I have the plane' but the other will says ' I have the plane'. No wonder LHL needs MM, SM, and many DPMs all controlling the same plane instead of using auto pilot.
