George Doesn’t know

No, we’re not going to beat you up for relying on your GPS. Instead, our concern is overreliance on your autopilot. But not for reasons you might think.

Mark Kolber

Thursday, March 21, 2024 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Over-reliance on modern autopilots leads to a critical loss of pilot anticipation skills, causing errors like altitude deviations and missed approach actions, rather than a decline in basic instrument flying abilities.
To combat this, pilots should adopt "implementation intentions" or "self-talk," a technique of mentally rehearsing specific actions for upcoming flight phases and waypoints ("If/when this situation arises, I will take these actions").
This proactive mental preparation, covering lateral, vertical, aircraft configuration, and avionics, helps pilots stay ahead of the aircraft, reduces workload and errors, and develops anticipation into a consistent, unconscious habit for smoother, more proficient flying.

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Relax. This isn’t another “children of the magenta” rant. It’ll be something a little different. I absolutely love GPS, modern glass, and modern autopilots! Give me a modern autopilot capable of descending via a STAR that terminates at an approach transition, then flying the IAP to minimums, as well as the missed with me doing little more than hitting buttons, monitoring progress, and managing power, flaps and gear. Yeah baby!

But, as a CFII doing avionics transitions, IFR checkouts, IPCs, and recurrent IFR training, I’m seeing a consistent issue among pilots who “let George do it” too much. It’s so pervasive that I have been hearing from DPEs that they are getting instrument rating applicants who are already autopilot dependent and show the same symptoms.