Autopilot Basics

As you enter a bank, the attitude indicator shows it immediately, but it takes a moment for a turn to show on the turn gyro. Try it. You dont even have to look at the instruments. Sharply roll into, say, about a 30-degree bank. Your nose is most likely still pointing in the same direction it was before the roll. Then, the plane starts to turn. This is why its more difficult to maintain a heading on instruments without an attitude gyro, just using the turn gyro.

Editorial Staff

Wednesday, July 11, 2018 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Autopilots have evolved significantly from basic wing levelers to sophisticated systems, becoming a near necessity for serious instrument flight by controlling various axes (roll, pitch, yaw).
They operate using either simpler rate-based gyros or more precise attitude-based gyros, influencing their responsiveness and accuracy in different aircraft.
Autopilots offer diverse lateral modes (e.g., Heading, NAV, GPS Steering) for course tracking and vertical modes (e.g., Altitude Hold, Glideslope) for altitude and climb/descent management.
Proper autopilot use requires understanding its specific functionalities, including how it interprets commands, handles navigation source changes, corrects for wind, and utilizes a flight director to show intended actions.

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Finding an autopilot in a piston GA airplane 50 years ago was rare. Now, while not (yet?) ubiquitous, autopilots are a near necessity for serious instrument flight. Thus, we’re seeing autopilots in more and more of our aircraft, allowing us to focus our attention at higher levels of thinking. But, just like our magic wonder boxes, proper autopilot use requires some understanding of what’s happening behind the scenes.

What is Autopilot?

The things we call autopilots range from devices that will simply keep the wings level all the way to something that’ll follow your navigator for the entire flight, even to the point of keeping you away from the edges of the aeronautical envelope—or, if you get too close to those edges, return you to a safe attitude at the press of a button.