Even for us steam gauge pilots, we shouldn't get too overly dependent on our ipads and EFBs. I am still inexperienced and low time, but I'm making a promise to myself to back up my electronic flight plan by creating one by hand. And not simply copying the values to a sheet of paper, but manually doing the calculations. Not only will it help keep that skill solid, but working the plan ahead of time keeps the details fresh in mind. It's helpful to reduce the startle factor for when your device fails.
Worst place ever to use the auto pilot is in the VFR traffic pattern, remember Denver Centennial (APA) mid air (May of 21?}. The Cirrus overshot the turn to final for 17R and chopped a Metroliner almost in two. Pretty sure it was the Cirrus’s fault and that he was flying the pattern using the auto pilot. Luckily no fatalities. Living proof that that sometimes you’re better off lucky than good.
Great Video!I had a boss in the spray business that was a CFII. He loved to see the jet jocks try to fly a Super Cub! He got rid trying to reteach them what the hell their feet are for! The lose the dexterity required to hand fly the plane! Sooner or later it will bite their asses!
Seems to be the way things are headed....look at these new planes with "Autoland" ...another step to becoming a passenger in your own plane...It's insidious and there are other larger societal implications....
I'd say 80% of hand flying skill is on instrument scanning (the T pattern) at least it's the one that get lost the fastest. The skill on your "hand" actually keeps quite well once you have learned it with abinitial . Good news is, if you really try, you can practice this skill even with AP engaged in full CMD and LNAV/VNAV, but the bad news is not every one can keep on that edge even with HDG/ALT mode, and even if you fly every approach by hand but just hand tracking F/D bar (most of the airliner flight is like that then), you'll loss it. Kinda feel this problem have been largely sorted out (I won't say solved, far from it) by airline industry, but GA pilot seems are now on starting to get the same issue, and actually we now see the alarming trend on automobile drivers with their fancy automation driver assistance...
Too many Autopilot Failure, then Pilot Failure accidents lately. The Nelons Christian Music Group killed last week on a multi million dollar PC12 due pilot could not fly well without AUTOPILOT..
A worrisome trend toward automation encouraged by an industry that is aiming for single-pilot operations as a way of further saving on wages, it seems.
As a non pilot I don't understand why hand piloting the airplane according to your instrumentation and intentions plus ATC instructions is less intuitive than engaging the automation. That really perplexes me. How does the automation get to override in the mind of the pilot his/hers own wetware calculator. Now that I think about it a bit more, is the pilot perhaps in some way thinking that they are reducing their responsibility by engaging the automation?
Automation is tool that can reduce the workload for the pilot, much like cruse control in your car. Used properly it can be a great help. But it can also also lead to take saturation in fast changing situations.
@@KerryDMcCauley Yes I appreciate that when used properly it can help reduce workload and fatigue build up. But that isn't why I asked the question. I asked why it becomes less intuitive, I asked this because it is a very strange response in a pressure or emergency situation to resort to automation / technology INSTEAD of manual control. Your intuition should be going to the base values/skills, not to the high order technology.
@@KerryDMcCauley Hi Kerry. This is how I would describe. People who flying piston single and piston multi should hand flying atleast 80%. I had experience with G1000 on DA 42-62, very nice aircrafts auto pilot working very nice. But I prefer my old Chieftan with long range fuel tanks and seven hours hand flying. People forgetting so pitch + power = performance. Most a new pilots newer read a stick&rudder book. I'm highly suggesting read that book before they get in to the plane.
@@transporterdispatch231 100%. All pilots need to hand fly often to keep their skills sharp. But it's tempting to use the autopilot and just sit back and enjoy the flight.
I appreciate this - I'm a noob who hasn't touched an AP yet, but I'm moving towards getting instrument. Glad to hear the comment that yes, having an AP with wing leveling is a sensible backup such as if you're getting disoriented. (It's not stated so plainly very often, so I was concerned I was missing something.) The message I'm getting is that it's critical to be proficient and competent hand flying first and foremost, and build AP competence on top of/after that. Which, when I write it out, seems pretty obvious even if it isn't widely practiced. At early PPL level, "fly the plane first" is strongly emphasized so it's a matter of not losing that attitude as I move up through more complex systems.
In my past experience, in Part 121 ops if the autopilot was inop, that aircraft was not taken offline. (It was usually fixed that night.) The aircraft was swapped for a shorter sector that avoided ORD, JFK and similar airports. The IAD to ORF route for the CRJ200 was often used for aircraft with inop autopilots or lavs. Inop autopilots was not very common, but it does sometimes happen..
I like the auto pilot and think its important to know how to use it. I had to learn how to use the auto pilot myself after getting my instrument back in April and wish I had a instructor go through the AP in the aircraft I rented (I asked and they just told me how to turn the AP master on/off and that was it on the check out flight) I think there's also a little bit of a trend not to train in actual IMC conditions particularly in the US. In Australia where I have done a bulk of my training including instrument we did it all in a lot of conditions. Never to minimums but definitely some approaches in actual conditions. When I get over to the US and I get up with a CFII they are much more hesitant to even go near a puff a cloud.
I love my Mooney’s old autopilot, I call it “Otto”. Otto is a 1986 2-axis gizmo, but he isn’t very smart. Otto flies for me a lot on cross-country flights, and occasionally I let Otto fly part of an approach, especially in busy airspace where ATC is giving us new instructions as they juggle other traffic, and I’m busy getting out new approach plates and briefing them on the fly, that sort of thing. But Otto has tried to kill me a couple of times. Once when I hit a huge downdraft at 12,000 MSL, and Otto pitched the nose up so hard he nearly caused a stall, for example. I have developed a hair trigger for that red disconnect button on the left yoke handle, accordingly. Any time the airplane seems to be doing something I don’t expect. I put Otto to sleep, glue my eyes to my instruments, and hand fly the airplane. The aviation safety literatures and videos are full of examples of people who were too dependent on their automation. Not just the autopilot, either. What if your GPS quits and you can’t fly the RNAV approach? How current are you on ILS approaches? I know of at least one fatal crash caused by the pilot not being able to fly an available ILS approach!
So true. Especially many of those training now with all glass, auto pilots, and iPads. I’ve ferried 7 Cessna trainers LA to Miami. Hand flying all the way. Keeps you alert and aware.
We have to remind ourselves that part 121 use automation a huge amount and their safety record second to none. So question has to be how to use the automation and match their safety record. Clearly scenario training has to feature. So like almost everything in life - Balance is the key. We just can't ignore the fact that automation does add safety if used correctly Trust But Verify!
When I got my driving license, I never used cruise control in my vehicle because I wanted to learn to maintain constant speed on the highway, which was something I struggled with while learning. Best decision of my driving life, I bet I would still struggle with it today had I not done that.
@@KerryDMcCauley every time I read an accident report about a rich guy spinning out in a jet or a turboprop it's always the same - he's been flying it on autopilot for a decade, and then the autopilot clicked off for undetermined reason, and the dude lasted 10 seconds, having spent them trying to reengage the autopilot. Every single time.
You’re so right. I flew with a guy who used AP to descent and enter the traffic pattern at a towered field. Used the heading bug base to final with parallel runway traffic!! I was legitimately scared for my life. Told him never to do that again and he wasn’t trying to hear it 🤣
Excellent video and very true Kerry! With the addition of glass cockpits coming to GA aircraft and even older airplanes like my 1973 Cessna 172 Skyhawk now being equipped with an all glass cockpit and Garmin auto pilot/radio systems automation is really taking over, especially in general aviation in the last 20 years. I remember I had never seen a "glass cockpit" until I was about seven years old now at nearly 21 years old they have become the hot new thing! Every new airplane features them, younger pilots don't know how to read the traditional steam gauges and a lot of people rely on the auto pilot, especially young pilots... I really try my best to not only use the tools available to me by the new Glass cockpits for the improvement and safety for things such as the radio, maps, and traffic systems, but I also try to stay proficient with flying and knowing how to read the steam gauges just as well as the computer system. Although, I will say I really do enjoy certain features of the computer cockpit better such as the artificial horizon, attitude, roll, altitude, and speed, being all integrated into one nice easy to read screen. I just always try to remember, especially when flying newer planes with glass cockpits or even older planes with steam gauges to try and stay proficient with both types because you never know someday what might happen and I try not to become complacent or reliant on the computers and the artificial horizon screens especially when I'm flying VFR I try to be scanning the instruments briefly while still keeping my eyes outside when possible. Great insights & Great video my friend! You and your books and stories about what can happen and go wrong are one of the reasons I try to stay proficient and you make me want to be a safer, better pilot and I thank you for that! 😎 I'll see you soon, OSH 24 here it comes! ✈ Caleb -Caleb's Aviation
Good point of view, Kerry. After flying 400 hours IMC in the Huey with no autopilot, I very much came to appreciate the other pilot. Vertigo won't take a good hand flyer out, but having to fly a helicopter for two hours IMC alone could certainly make you puke. I experienced the problem you mention from the other side. I did not feel safe enough as a CFII having to ask the student to get me through a computer problem I was not familiar enough with. All the option things that happen with this computer I am currently typing on when I touch the wrong place make me not confident in the automation in airplanes today, except with a competent young man like yourself. So I gave up the CFII. To make the automation safe, we have to have confidence in it. To make the fluid tactical situation safe, as you say, we also need to have confidence in our hand flying. Good briefing. Just now editing and correcting this post, I hit something that knocked it off this screen. Got back without having to rewrite this time, but am not always that lucky. No way for an old guy to fly. Good briefing. Thanks.
As a fellow Huey crewmember (Crew chief) I saw some new pilots struggle in IMC conditions. Hand flying takes constant practice and having a co-pilot makes things so much safer. Good for you knowing that your knowledge of newer autopilot systems was not up to speed. Being a 62 year old pilot, it took me a long time to get comfortable in the glass cockpit area.
Even for us steam gauge pilots, we shouldn't get too overly dependent on our ipads and EFBs.
I am still inexperienced and low time, but I'm making a promise to myself to back up my electronic flight plan by creating one by hand. And not simply copying the values to a sheet of paper, but manually doing the calculations. Not only will it help keep that skill solid, but working the plan ahead of time keeps the details fresh in mind. It's helpful to reduce the startle factor for when your device fails.
Good plan.
Worst place ever to use the auto pilot is in the VFR traffic pattern, remember Denver Centennial (APA) mid air (May of 21?}. The Cirrus overshot the turn to final for 17R and chopped a Metroliner almost in two. Pretty sure it was the Cirrus’s fault and that he was flying the pattern using the auto pilot. Luckily no fatalities. Living proof that that sometimes you’re better off lucky than good.
Using the autopilot in the pattern is madness! You definitely need to get back into being one with the airplane before landing.
OLD SCHOOL ,DOMESTIC is always a good time. Keeps ya sharp. Good Vid.
Great Video!I had a boss in the spray business that was a CFII. He loved to see the jet jocks try to fly a Super Cub! He got rid trying to reteach them what the hell their feet are for! The lose the dexterity required to hand fly the plane! Sooner or later it will bite their asses!
You're so right. Everyone needs to stay proficient with their stick and rudder skills.
Seems to be the way things are headed....look at these new planes with "Autoland" ...another step to becoming a passenger in your own plane...It's insidious and there are other larger societal implications....
Electronics and tech is great......until it's not! If you do not maintain your skills it can bite you.
You are correct
I'd say 80% of hand flying skill is on instrument scanning (the T pattern) at least it's the one that get lost the fastest. The skill on your "hand" actually keeps quite well once you have learned it with abinitial .
Good news is, if you really try, you can practice this skill even with AP engaged in full CMD and LNAV/VNAV, but the bad news is not every one can keep on that edge even with HDG/ALT mode, and even if you fly every approach by hand but just hand tracking F/D bar (most of the airliner flight is like that then), you'll loss it.
Kinda feel this problem have been largely sorted out (I won't say solved, far from it) by airline industry, but GA pilot seems are now on starting to get the same issue, and actually we now see the alarming trend on automobile drivers with their fancy automation driver assistance...
The problem is that so many GA pilots never get a solid base of hand flying skills to fall back on.
Spot on Kerry. I think we have to be proficient at both AP and stick and rudder. It is like having to train 2 pilots in one body. Guilty myself!
I'm sure we all are. Doesn't mean we can't do better, myself included.
Too many people are dependent on their iPads. They've lost their ability to think critically.
Just follow the magenta line!
Too many Autopilot Failure, then Pilot Failure accidents lately. The Nelons Christian Music Group killed last week on a multi million dollar PC12 due pilot could not fly well without AUTOPILOT..
That was exactly what I was talking about!
A worrisome trend toward automation encouraged by an industry that is aiming for single-pilot operations as a way of further saving on wages, it seems.
Sorry that should have read He got Rich trying to reteach them.
As a non pilot I don't understand why hand piloting the airplane according to your instrumentation and intentions plus ATC instructions is less intuitive than engaging the automation. That really perplexes me. How does the automation get to override in the mind of the pilot his/hers own wetware calculator. Now that I think about it a bit more, is the pilot perhaps in some way thinking that they are reducing their responsibility by engaging the automation?
Automation is tool that can reduce the workload for the pilot, much like cruse control in your car. Used properly it can be a great help. But it can also also lead to take saturation in fast changing situations.
@@KerryDMcCauley Yes I appreciate that when used properly it can help reduce workload and fatigue build up. But that isn't why I asked the question. I asked why it becomes less intuitive, I asked this because it is a very strange response in a pressure or emergency situation to resort to automation / technology INSTEAD of manual control. Your intuition should be going to the base values/skills, not to the high order technology.
Yes this is 100% true. Hand flying only.
I don't say to never use the autopilot, just stay current hand flying.
@@KerryDMcCauley
Hi Kerry. This is how I would describe. People who flying piston single and piston multi should hand flying atleast 80%. I had experience with G1000 on DA 42-62, very nice aircrafts auto pilot working very nice. But I prefer my old Chieftan with long range fuel tanks and seven hours hand flying. People forgetting so pitch + power = performance. Most a new pilots newer read a stick&rudder book. I'm highly suggesting read that book before they get in to the plane.
@@transporterdispatch231 100%. All pilots need to hand fly often to keep their skills sharp. But it's tempting to use the autopilot and just sit back and enjoy the flight.
I appreciate this - I'm a noob who hasn't touched an AP yet, but I'm moving towards getting instrument. Glad to hear the comment that yes, having an AP with wing leveling is a sensible backup such as if you're getting disoriented. (It's not stated so plainly very often, so I was concerned I was missing something.) The message I'm getting is that it's critical to be proficient and competent hand flying first and foremost, and build AP competence on top of/after that. Which, when I write it out, seems pretty obvious even if it isn't widely practiced. At early PPL level, "fly the plane first" is strongly emphasized so it's a matter of not losing that attitude as I move up through more complex systems.
I call technology dependent pilots -- video gamers. Outcome is well, we all know.
In my past experience, in Part 121 ops if the autopilot was inop, that aircraft was not taken offline. (It was usually fixed that night.) The aircraft was swapped for a shorter sector that avoided ORD, JFK and similar airports. The IAD to ORF route for the CRJ200 was often used for aircraft with inop autopilots or lavs. Inop autopilots was not very common, but it does sometimes happen..
Several years ago an American Airlines captain made a presentation called children of the magenta line about this topic
Captain Warren Vandenberg, a fantastic video!
That's rich, coming from a captain that is not allowed to hand fly the 737, but must use the flight director
@@mauriceevans6546 Not sure who you're referring to.
@KerryDMcCauley American airlines captain
@@mauriceevans6546 Got it.
I like the auto pilot and think its important to know how to use it. I had to learn how to use the auto pilot myself after getting my instrument back in April and wish I had a instructor go through the AP in the aircraft I rented (I asked and they just told me how to turn the AP master on/off and that was it on the check out flight)
I think there's also a little bit of a trend not to train in actual IMC conditions particularly in the US. In Australia where I have done a bulk of my training including instrument we did it all in a lot of conditions. Never to minimums but definitely some approaches in actual conditions. When I get over to the US and I get up with a CFII they are much more hesitant to even go near a puff a cloud.
You're right, I think it's important to get as much actual instrument time as possible before getting your ticket.
Thanks Kerry . . . .
No problem, hope it helps someone.
@@KerryDMcCauley Your help is beyond measure . . . Your efforts "are" making a difference . . . We appreciate it . . . Bob
@@bobclarie Thanks Bob, I just hope pilots find my advise valuable.
In my training, autopilot is asking the CFI nicely to take the controls while you do something lmao
Steam gauges and hand flying ftw 🙌
That's the best way to learn.
I love my Mooney’s old autopilot, I call it “Otto”. Otto is a 1986 2-axis gizmo, but he isn’t very smart. Otto flies for me a lot on cross-country flights, and occasionally I let Otto fly part of an approach, especially in busy airspace where ATC is giving us new instructions as they juggle other traffic, and I’m busy getting out new approach plates and briefing them on the fly, that sort of thing.
But Otto has tried to kill me a couple of times. Once when I hit a huge downdraft at 12,000 MSL, and Otto pitched the nose up so hard he nearly caused a stall, for example. I have developed a hair trigger for that red disconnect button on the left yoke handle, accordingly. Any time the airplane seems to be doing something I don’t expect. I put Otto to sleep, glue my eyes to my instruments, and hand fly the airplane.
The aviation safety literatures and videos are full of examples of people who were too dependent on their automation. Not just the autopilot, either. What if your GPS quits and you can’t fly the RNAV approach? How current are you on ILS approaches? I know of at least one fatal crash caused by the pilot not being able to fly an available ILS approach!
The autopilot in my Queen Air is from 1960, works great but I can't use it for GPS approaches. I don't mind a bit.
@@KerryDMcCauley right! As you say, hand flying approaches is fun and I’m too greedy to let Otto have any.
Bit of a false start there in the beginning? ;-)
A bit. :)
So true. Especially many of those training now with all glass, auto pilots, and iPads. I’ve ferried 7 Cessna trainers LA to Miami. Hand flying all the way. Keeps you alert and aware.
Harder to fall asleep hand flying. Harder,not impossible!
Children of the Magenta
That's an excellent video!
We have to remind ourselves that part 121 use automation a huge amount and their safety record second to none. So question has to be how to use the automation and match their safety record. Clearly scenario training has to feature. So like almost everything in life - Balance is the key. We just can't ignore the fact that automation does add safety if used correctly Trust But Verify!
When used properly, automation is a fantastic tool.
👍✅ Agree 100% Kerry.
Great video Kerry thanks - applies all the way up the heavies in different ways I think. I agree with all.
Glad you enjoyed it
When I got my driving license, I never used cruise control in my vehicle because I wanted to learn to maintain constant speed on the highway, which was something I struggled with while learning. Best decision of my driving life, I bet I would still struggle with it today had I not done that.
It's the same with new pilots.
@@KerryDMcCauley every time I read an accident report about a rich guy spinning out in a jet or a turboprop it's always the same - he's been flying it on autopilot for a decade, and then the autopilot clicked off for undetermined reason, and the dude lasted 10 seconds, having spent them trying to reengage the autopilot. Every single time.
You’re so right. I flew with a guy who used AP to descent and enter the traffic pattern at a towered field. Used the heading bug base to final with parallel runway traffic!! I was legitimately scared for my life. Told him never to do that again and he wasn’t trying to hear it 🤣
I once flew with an airline pilot who tried to fly formation in a Phenom 100 jet with a helicopter for a video shoot. It didn't work out that well.
@@KerryDMcCauleyThat was a great story I read in one of your books. I’ve read both of your “flying adventure” books to my son who loved them.
Great info thanks Kerry
Any time!
Thanks!
You bet!
Excellent video and very true Kerry! With the addition of glass cockpits coming to GA aircraft and even older airplanes like my 1973 Cessna 172 Skyhawk now being equipped with an all glass cockpit and Garmin auto pilot/radio systems automation is really taking over, especially in general aviation in the last 20 years. I remember I had never seen a "glass cockpit" until I was about seven years old now at nearly 21 years old they have become the hot new thing! Every new airplane features them, younger pilots don't know how to read the traditional steam gauges and a lot of people rely on the auto pilot, especially young pilots... I really try my best to not only use the tools available to me by the new Glass cockpits for the improvement and safety for things such as the radio, maps, and traffic systems, but I also try to stay proficient with flying and knowing how to read the steam gauges just as well as the computer system. Although, I will say I really do enjoy certain features of the computer cockpit better such as the artificial horizon, attitude, roll, altitude, and speed, being all integrated into one nice easy to read screen. I just always try to remember, especially when flying newer planes with glass cockpits or even older planes with steam gauges to try and stay proficient with both types because you never know someday what might happen and I try not to become complacent or reliant on the computers and the artificial horizon screens especially when I'm flying VFR I try to be scanning the instruments briefly while still keeping my eyes outside when possible.
Great insights & Great video my friend! You and your books and stories about what can happen and go wrong are one of the reasons I try to stay proficient and you make me want to be a safer, better pilot and I thank you for that! 😎
I'll see you soon, OSH 24 here it comes! ✈
Caleb
-Caleb's Aviation
So glad you liked the video. I do like the new glass cockpits but still love the steam gauges in my Queen Air. See you at Oshkosh!
@@KerryDMcCauley I still sit on the fence... See you there!
Good point of view, Kerry. After flying 400 hours IMC in the Huey with no autopilot, I very much came to appreciate the other pilot. Vertigo won't take a good hand flyer out, but having to fly a helicopter for two hours IMC alone could certainly make you puke. I experienced the problem you mention from the other side. I did not feel safe enough as a CFII having to ask the student to get me through a computer problem I was not familiar enough with. All the option things that happen with this computer I am currently typing on when I touch the wrong place make me not confident in the automation in airplanes today, except with a competent young man like yourself. So I gave up the CFII. To make the automation safe, we have to have confidence in it. To make the fluid tactical situation safe, as you say, we also need to have confidence in our hand flying. Good briefing. Just now editing and correcting this post, I hit something that knocked it off this screen. Got back without having to rewrite this time, but am not always that lucky. No way for an old guy to fly. Good briefing. Thanks.
As a fellow Huey crewmember (Crew chief) I saw some new pilots struggle in IMC conditions. Hand flying takes constant practice and having a co-pilot makes things so much safer. Good for you knowing that your knowledge of newer autopilot systems was not up to speed. Being a 62 year old pilot, it took me a long time to get comfortable in the glass cockpit area.