Pilots That Can't Fly Without An Autopilot

[Colonel]

Dan Gryder is a nutbar, but sometimes you find truths in the strangest places:



This guy tried to fly a real ILS (night, wx) and died because he couldn't fly without an autopilot. Just like the guy from Rockcliffe who tried to fly the ILS 7 at Ottawa one night, I think it was in a C177?

And you might say, well, maybe private pilots should stick to fair weather flying. And you'd be right. But let's look at this one:



That guy died trying to land a Bonanza on a sunny day on a long, wide paved runway without much wind:

i watched this accident from the front of my hangar and agree 100%. we did not see the bounce but saw the nose pitch up and heard the power applied and watched it stall spin and go straight into the ground under what sounded like full power. it had time for almost 1/2 turn in the spin and that thing bounced off the ground and ended up facing the runway very near the 1000' markers. i tried to think of everything to take the blame off this pilot but you are absolutely correct in your assessment.

For decades, people have been telling me that my fixation with the fundamentals -
stick and rudder flying, systems knowledge - is stupid, and I accept that.

But why are people still dying, year after year?

I'm really old-fashioned. Almost everyone I flew with is dead now, but I'm not,
and it's not because of my charming personality which airframes appreciate.

Free advice: always be at least one "what if" question away from death.

What if the autopilot fails? Well, I can fly an ILS better than it can. Needles
in the donut until the tires hit the pavement.

[Nark]

Dan Gryder is the kind of guy who asks, “can I get you a beer?” and expects you to pay for it. Not because I know him to be cheap, but because he is an arrogant ass, who assumes everything.

[Colonel]

It’s probably for the best if Dan and I never meet.

I don’t have a problem with him - you should meet some of the weirdos I have worked with as an engineer - but I suspect he might really have a problem with me.

Gurus often sense that I don’t worship them, and that can greatly offend and anger them. I guess they need to be worshipped or something.

I know an ex-USAF pilot like that. Ace of the base. I flew his airplane better than he did. Really angered him. Then he found out I had more time on type and many more landings than he did. Oops. I rather liked him, but he sure had a problem with me. Sorry if I hurt your feelings, dude - I’ve spent half a century flying piston/prop the very best I can, and maybe I’ve learned a few things along the way.

I have painfully learned that you do not fuck with someone’s prized self-image. I have the advantage of having two careers so I don’t have one. See, I work with engineers and they might say, Jesus he’s a shitty coder but maybe he’s an ok pilot. And the pilots I know say, Jesus he’s a shitty stick but maybe he’s an ok engineer.

[Colonel]

Back on topic. Quite a few years ago, a senior TC Inspector smiled and said
that my obsession with excellence at stick & rudder (basic) flying - which I
worked very hard at personally, and tried to instill in my student and instructor
candidates - was "old-fashioned". Pilots these days, he told me, didn't need to
know that stuff - they were now just "systems managers" in the parlance of
the day.

Ok, I will drink that Kool-aid. Pilots these days, even if they are weak at stick
and rudder flying, ought to be aces at systems knowledge. Right? Like auto-pilots?

[JW Scud]

It’s probably for the best if Dan and I never meet.

I don’t have a problem with him - you should meet some of the weirdos I have worked with as an engineer - but I suspect he might really have a problem with me.

Gurus often sense that I don’t worship them, and that can greatly offend and anger them. I guess they need to be worshipped or something.

I know an ex-USAF pilot like that. Ace of the base. I flew his airplane better than he did. Really angered him. Then he found out I had more time on type and many more landings than he did. Oops. I rather liked him, but he sure had a problem with me. Sorry if I hurt your feelings, dude - I’ve spent half a century flying piston/prop the very best I can, and maybe I’ve learned a few things along the way.

I have painfully learned that you do not fuck with someone’s prized self-image. I have the advantage of having two careers so I don’t have one. See, I work with engineers and they might say, Jesus he’s a shitty coder but maybe he’s an ok pilot. And the pilots I know say, Jesus he’s a shitty stick but maybe he’s an ok engineer.

Ok, based on your flying experience and out-surviving your fellow aerobatic guys, I’ll give you a spot in the top percentile of pilots. I have enough experience to figure that out and get some good info sometimes with entertainment value.

But the tough one is this: I have no way of judging the software stuff. Where would you rank yourself among your peers? Honest answer question only.

And are you on a parallel software forum, badmouthing incompetent FCC inspectors as well.

[Colonel]

Honesty? Geez ….

Welk ok. Let’s look at one of my patents.

http://google.com/patents/US7840682?cl=zh-CN

A patent is similar to a PhD in that it must be original but additionally it must have commercial value. Ask Peter (S-1T pilot) he’s got a gazillion patents and is qualified to evaluate me as both a pilot and engineer.

If you have ever used the internet, you have used my software- it’s in the core routers. At least it used to be - I think Tony Li was in there. Funny story about how he resigned from cisco.

Last time I checked my software is used in over 100 million cars.

Likely you use my software every day of your life - Billions of people do. I hope it’s ok. Been programming in C/asm for 40 years now, or as my son says, I have six months experience, 80 times over!!

Not sure what else to tell you. Google keeps trying to hire me, I tell them they can’t afford me. Really.

[JW Scud]

Honesty? Geez ….

Welk ok. Let’s look at one of my patents.

http://google.com/patents/US7840682?cl=zh-CN

A patent is similar to a PhD in that it must be original but additionally it must have commercial value. Ask Peter (S-1T pilot) he’s got a gazillion patents and is qualified to evaluate me as both a pilot and engineer.

If you have ever used the internet, you have used my software- it’s in the core routers. At least it used to be - I think Tony Li was in there. Funny story about how he resigned from cisco.

Last time I checked my software is used in over 100 million cars.

Likely you use my software every day of your life - Billions of people do. I hope it’s ok. Been programming in C/asm for 40 years now, or as my son says, I have six months experience, 80 times over!!

100 million cars?, BlackBerry stuff?

I’m impressed but is that a standout among engineers in Silicon Valley of just standard stuff. I am honestly a bit curious about that totally different, mysterious world.

[Squaretail]

But why are people still dying, year after year?

Because people's perceived right to fly over-rides their perception of how much responsibility they bear to fly well.

What if the autopilot fails? Well, I can fly an ILS better than it can. Needles
in the donut until the tires hit the pavement.

Most of the time its not the failure of the autopilot, but rather that the pilot doesn't understand its methods or limitations. Lots of times a "failed" autopilot is doing exactly what the pilot asked it to do.

[Colonel]

I’m a 20th century pilot.

That means when things get fucked up, instead of pushing more buttons, I turn all that shit off and fly the airplane.

But I understand that’s not a choice for some people.

[Squaretail]

I think the same way. Past the FAF inbound, ain't the place to be trouble shooting what went wrong with Otto. Especially if Otto wants to make a fight of it. I was told this wasn't correct thinking by an examiner on a PPC ride once. Probably the most important thing to know when using the autopilot is to make sure the disconnects all work. Planes are a real bitch to fly when they don't. Know where the CB for it is.

But that said, its not to disparage using the autopilot, if you do a lot of single-pilot IFR I think you'd be an idiot to do it without one. But you should be able to do it without one.