• Captain Aggravated
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    39 months ago

    Depends on the autopilot. There are some that are as rudimentary as a “wing leveler.” They only have control of the ailerons and can level the wings and maybe make turns. Other systems have control of all three major control axes and are integrated with the navigation systems so they can do things like climb to an altitude and level off, turn to a heading, or even fly holds and approaches.

    They do require training on the part of the pilot to use in flight.

    • @anlumo
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      59 months ago

      Yeah, but even the best ones would happily crash into a mountain if the pilots don’t set their altimeters properly (and ignore the terrain warnings).

      • @Everythingispenguins
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        29 months ago

        Are you sure that it is happy? Maybe the autopilot is really sad about its inability to not fly into a mountain.

        • @anlumo
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          39 months ago

          Hard to say, it might depend on the plane model. I’ve heard that Boeing 777s autopilots are really snarky.