Know when to use that expensive magic in your panel. Sometimes, it’s just easier and simpler to hand-fly the airplane.

By Frank Bowlin

It happens all the time. We invest in all this fancy hardware and top it off with that new autopilot that does everything for us except close the flightplan. We like using that stuff because it’s easy, precise and, well, kind of cool. However, reliance on the automation can go too far and actually cause the very trouble we’re trying to avoid.

A good coupled autopilot is a wonderful thing. It frees us from much of the mind-numbing concentration of keeping the airplane right side up to allow us to focus on bigger things like setting up for the approach or even just relaxing a bit at cruise. Add a GPS…