Scudrunners

[url=https://www.aerotime.aero/en/civil/2024 ... france-447]https://www.aerotime.aero/en/civil/2024 ... france-447[/url]

Read this article and well read for yourself, one of the comments below it made a good suggestion. Should our logbooks have a new Column AP on /off time

No. 


Its assumed as a big fancy jet pilot, the autopilot is on most of the time.
(I'm really going to sound like an Airbus pilot....)
Managing the autopilot is half the battle, to being 5 minutes ahead of it.  Both the E170 and A320 really wanted to fuck with you, just to make sure you're awake. It does things all the time that you don't expect (notice I said expect, not program). Occasionally it'll just simply quit a complex mode, take the ball and go home, leaving you with a $40 million s-Tec wing leveler.


Even though us AP commandos, command the autopilot, it takes judgement and system knowledge.
AF 447: if they were able to apply a little bit of system knowledge, they'd most likely survive the high alt stall.


Depending on a few factors, I often hover better than the fancy helicopter's "flight director" (it's not an autopilot!!!!, yeah okay sir...)


So in short, I assume if you fly a certain type of aircraft, in a regime of flight, I expect you to be in the autopilot.