Got Autopilot?

The morning flight there was uneventful. Not so for the return that afternoon.

Frank Bowlin

Friday, October 04, 2024 at 05:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The author recently resumed flying their airplane after extensive engine overhauls, but without a functioning autopilot due to a separate repair that required a configuration unique to the aircraft.
A return flight from Denver encountered severe summer thunderstorms, significant turbulence, and constant ATC rerouting, making the hand-flying experience extremely challenging and exhausting.
This experience highlighted the critical importance of a working autopilot for managing high pilot workload in difficult weather conditions, leading the author to classify it as essential equipment.

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For those of you who might be following my tribulations with my airplane, I have an update. The quick backstory is that I needed overhauled engines and it took about six months to get the engines, then another couple months to install them. That’s all done now and I’m again flying the airplane, hoping to quickly rack up enough hours to complete the break in and return to my normal operations.

Meanwhile, I’d had a minor problem with my GFC 600 autopilot controller and it had to be sent back to Garmin for repair. That was completed, but on return the controller needed to be again configured for this installation. That had to wait until I could fly to the shop, and that had to wait for an opening in the shop’s schedule. So, for the moment, I have no working autopilot.