Thank you for answering my question. I agree that in single pilot IFR auto pilot is really helpful. Keep up the good work!!!

When strangers say flying must be easy because it’s all computers gets me triggered 😂

Great video and I couldn’t agree with you more on the use of Autopilot.

I totally agree that AP helps greatly in single pilot operations. As someone who flies without AP I can assure you it can be a real struggle on windy, gusty days to set up, brief, and fly a good approach as well as exhausting to hold course and altitude over a couple hour flight. I look forward to the day (soon) we have AP available in the plane I fly!

Actually, I really like it when there's a bit of background engine noise.. Obviously not as loud as in the beginning of the video but just a bit so you feel more like you're actually in the plane with you. Atleast that's my opinion. Great video as always Stefan and thanks for sharing it!

A safer one in most circumstances. there are times when any pilot can get overwhelmed. An autopilot in those circumstances is a definite plus .

Stef: "I need weather radar", *cuts to exterior shot where it's CAVOK* 😂

I'm finishing up my CPL right now and 100% of my GA flying has been hand-flown. (I've also done a 30 day airliner course that did have AP, but that's another story.) I don't think most people realize how much "busywork" is involved in hand-flying. You're not gaining or even really maintaining any skills by flying straight and level for 3 hours, which is literally what I had to do on my long cross-country IFR flight for my IR rating. But you end up coming out of that flight tired, probably drenched in sweat (I'm in the southwest US) and trying to re-convince yourself you picked the right profession to train for. In fact, a lot of my stage checks have literally been making sure that I can do systems management while distracted by the busywork of just maintaining straight and level flight or a constant descent while remaining on course. Of course I can, but you're asking me to multitask (Google "can humans multitask?"), and you should not be asking a pilot to multitask like that if you want them or their passengers to keep living over the long term. The best any human can actually do is task-switching, which is not the same as multitasking. So having a system that can offload one of those tasks only increases safety. Which is one big reason why airline travel, which uses autopilot about 95% of the time, has become as safe as it is today. It's one thing if you're talking about aerobatics or combat flying, which are almost all about maneuvering, but those are just not the same skills used in point-to-point civilian flying that's mostly about systems management, airspace, procedures, weather, regulations and most importantly, safety. Autopilot just mitigates task saturation by taking over the *easiest* but most physically demanding and time-consuming parts of cross country flying. Saying pilots shouldn't use autopilot is like saying accountants shouldn't use computer spreadsheet programs but should do all the math by hand. There's just no reason for that, just like there's no reason for a pilot to need to hand-fly straight and level for 3 (or more) hours while trying to do other things necessary for safe flight.

@ 8:54: “...put me on the dashboard...” -Milkshake 😜 Great points for having, and managing an AutoPilot equipment option. 👍

Great stuff Stef...Auto Pilot is a great advantage when flying IFR but you are the one who has to enter all the data into the system...with way points etc and you are the one who has to make sure all is well with the NAV...the Flight Management System...fuel flow etc etc! I know on commercial flights most of the crew time prior to departure is entering the flight planned route...weight...fuel...etc etc into the Auto Pilot! Then determining V1...V2 and god forbid V3 !! At 8.52 it appears Milkshake can actually speak ! May be could handle ATC for you ? Smooth landing!! Singapore is next!

1. Engine sound is sweet music. 2. Autopilot is absolutely a great tool for IFR flying, so long as you practice hand flying enough so that you can take over if “George” has a problem. 3. Your correspondent can find the type of flying he or she craves. Flying offers many different avenues. 4. Well done. Again.

Found your channel recently and am loving the content and your down to earth, honest chat. Oh, love your plane too! Keep up the great vids 😊👍

autopilot is like that package of spices that people sometimes use while cooking you dont need to use it, but its efficient, saves you things to worry about and in the end doing it yourself wont always be the better option

A great video, and completely agree with your view on AP usage. Tootling around the skies at 1500' in a light sport aircraft, wouldn't even think about autopilot, but IFR in busy airspace, 100% it will make life easier and increase safety factors.

Honestly the raw visceral feel you get while flying without autopilot is something else, you feel so mush more attached to the aircraft

Absolutely agree! Flying a very similar aircraft in the UK with an instrument rating, one of the highest workload items is simply maintaining your heading and level without an autopilot. Having that assistance frees you up mentally so much that you are at least 80% more situationally aware. It's like using cruise control on the motorway - why would you bother making your life harder when you can allow the vehicle to help you out, and you can enjoy the journey? Great video boss :-)

good video and I use the auto pilot every time I fly even if vfr or ifr it makes flying a little easier and I can get some good photos as well of my flight here in san jose ca.

Cool beans. Learned to fly at Albury back in the 70's, so recognised the scenery nearby. Hope to go back in Microsoft Flight Sim 2020 in a Cirrus and other planes. Groundbound now in Tassie due to medical issues, except for FPV r/c model planes and drones, plus flight sims. Wonderful to see how gen aviation gear has progressed over the decades. Cheers.

I've got an unused instrument rating due to a personal minimum I developed during training. I decided I'd never attempt a single pilot IFR flight without an autopilot on board due to the high workload, after I encountered full spatial disorientation in IMC during final approach, thankfully with my instructor on board. Probably goes without saying that I agree that it is a huge safety benefit.

I really loved your explanation on autopilot and how it actually does help. I think it’s really cool that you can totally trust your aircraft and trust to enough to be able to focus on other things as well!

Im getting a autopilot installed in my plane next week. I was trying to find some videos on auto pilots to learn how they work with gps, etc. I have a piper cherokee and I bought the aero cruze 100. Good video. I must say since this video was posted prior to CV I was curious how your flying is going amend the lock downs that your country is having. From what I see on social media, its terrible. I am praying for the people in Australia. May God bless you

Stefan, thank you!

I love the Australian aviation great to have a channel for it.

Good video Stef, enjoyed it. And yes I agree with all of your sentiments around single pilots ops and autopilot/FD support. It just gives you that little bit of brain space to keep on top of the situational awareness skill set. Great work !

Incase you didn’t know, Sharp Airlines operate flight from Melbourne Tullamarine to Bankstown on Metro Liners. Great video as always Stef.

G’day Stefan.... your comments regarding auto pilot are very true , one thing that can also be considered is that if you don’t like auto pilot... don’t turn it on or fly less sophisticated aircraft .... I began flying in aircraft back in the day with only the most basic assistance of auto pilot like a heading hold or none at all and would be totally wrung out at the end of the flight from all of the mental gymnastics going on to get from A to B but now arrive at a destination relatively fresh and a whole lot safer... Still enjoying your content Stef ... stay safe in 2019 John

That’s where the sun went... it’s down your way! Nice video Stefan. 👍

Interesting to hear your views on the auto pilot Stef. Very different to the flying I do so hard for me to comment but what you said made sense and I can see the benefit especially IFR. My auto pilot is when I hand over controls to my passenger and my auto braking is when I ask them to apply hand brake as I have run out of hands! (I have independent brakes on the extreme of rudder movement and a combined hand brake which has to be applied cautiously as it is a taildragger! 😀)

Your trips are so inspiring - I could not wait to get my new plane. I just picked up my new Cirrus SR22T. Now I can fly around like you!

I agree with you completely I am 14 years old( I’m a boy but this is moms profile) I and just began learning how to fly last moth and my instructor just started teaching us how to use auto pilot and a takes a load of stress off of you while your flying it’s really helpful

6:37 I am shocked. How does milkshake feel. 😂👍

I agree 100% that using all the resources at your disposal makes for a safer flight - especially single pilot IFR.

Anybody who says they won't get into aviation because "it's all just autopilot now", I gladly invite to take a 200+ mile cross country flight without a single minute of autopilot use. Honestly, I think that's just a copout for people who are scared of flying since there's literally nothing stopping them from just only flying by hand anyways - there aren't any FARs, at least that I'm aware of, that state that you can't fly without an autopilot.

13:37 Looks like there's a light chop there m8

An AP does not erode skills or replace the pilot in any way. If you drive your car with cruise control on does that destroy your auto driving skills? No. This is a misconception even among pilots. The Cirrus has a very stiff side stick that would make a more dangerous flight if one flew long cruise by hand. The AP is also a great way to get thru Bravo and other busy airspaces where a lot of vectoring is necessary and you need to be as exact as you can on those headings.

i love looking at all my old stamping ground, thanks Stef.

Great vid and discussion as usual Stefan - you are sounding more and more like a wise old SIFR pilot each flight. Often pilots that are the most skilled in managing automation are also the most proficient in hand flying as well - because they apply the same attitude to improving their skills in both areas. Quality rather than quantity - handflying three approaches to minima with the hood on offers much more value than handflying S&L for two hours. If you’re looking for more SIFR info - anything by Richard Collins or John Eckalbar is highly recommended.

Great airmanship!

I use cruise control in my car. I trim my plane to fly straight and level, hands off, in cruise. Reduce my workload so I can concentrate on what matters. If I had an autopilot I'd use it too. Hand flying IFR is hard work.

Autopilot, makes single pilot IFR much easier, absolutely agree with you. Great video, Paul.

Autopilot,interesting question.Like the viewer i would always prefer to hand fly especially for skill retention but as you say it is hard work & a lot of mental concentration required.It is also very easy to infringe controlled airspace here in the south east of the uk as well as around the Manchester & liverpool class D.So i guess would tend to to agree that during long straight cruise it is a help. I guess as you say it takes the stress out of it.But definitely i try to hand fly VFR as much as i can in the terminal area.

AutoPilot is like a self drive car - or a Google car ;-) And I always think that because the part of any flight that requires most awareness and concentration is the landing phase... you do not want to be fatigued entering busy airspace where you are landing. There is no point holding the yoke/joystick to keep straight and level hey. And of course, if you want to - you still could. All the best Stefan. #crayonboxflyingadventures

Thanks for another great video, it was really interesting to hear you talking about the weather and the possible options, really enjoyed that!

Great vid, thanks for that. Piloting today is about management and be aware. Less pilots in the cabin, more attention and awareness is demanded. Technology brought safety, and this is what matters. :)

I really enjoy the piloting vlogs Stef! It would be cool to see a day or week in the life of KJN, like who else she goes flying with and where she goes!

Stefan, Hand flown or auto flown it looks like an awful lot of FUN!:) Cheers, Rik Spector

Love the sound of the takeoff. I had a chuckle at 8:53 🐮

Awesome video.

cool video Stef , I,m renting the SR20 G6 now , and will always use the autopilot !!! , hope to be uploading a video soon . happy new year .

Yep, good call not delaying. Those thunderstorms hit us hard in Canberra on the Friday - I was wondering if you got out of YSBK in time.

Absolutely cracking good video, Stef! +1 on your opinion on autopilot usage. You really shouldn't be flying IFR without one. You worried about your stick-skills? Go out and do an hour of touch-and-goes on a day with a crosswind; you'll get current in no time ;) Oh, and about those gauge fluctuations? We never noticed how much those values varied back when all we had was analog needles. Nor did we care. Certain things (e.g. RPM, MP) shouldn't display tenths of a unit. Half a unit would be okay. Tenths is too fine and makes the digital display jumpy and distracting.

Yes, with Autopilot taking care of certain aspects of the flight you can concentrate on other flight requirements as mentioned. Hope to see you back at Bankstown soon mate, thanks

...top Instructor you had mate.

Great flight as always, have you xref'd to BOM Weather Radar ? Just curious as to the usefulness. Cheers.

Hi Stef, actually liked the engine sound on take off. Again great video mate

Do the skies always look that beautiful that high up? I'm still training in a little 172 for my PPL

Please talk about how the Aussie IFR system works...Your controlled vs uncontrolled airspace I find especially interesting.

Great Vid, thanks.. Hope to see you at Osh

We didn't do you any favours on departure from Syd, weather-wise but nice to see the rest of the flight was more or less in VFR conditions 👌 Re Autopliots...couldn't agree with you more. Whatever tech can give us to help get us safely from point A to point B is welcome; and as you rightly point out "Otto" is simply doing the heavy lifting but he's also always being monitored by the PIC.

Another great video. Thanks mate

1. Do you know what's going on at Moorabbin with those mounds of dirt out on the field ? 2. What's your take on groups like The Moorabbin airport group who want to restrict operations or close airfields altogether? And ... 3. Can you do a pushover so we can see milkshake experience zero G 👍🏻😎👍🏻

Even Jewel pilot IFR is quite a heavy workload so I agree with your use of autopilot

Wouldnt say it makes you lazy as such. Just you totally lose currency with hand flying ability.....yet so much safer monitoring the aircraft. Such a balance game

idn't A/P just a form of cruise control? I"m a driving instructor and use cruise control so I don't have to stess about speed cameras. It frees me up from concentrating on my speedo. A/P must free you up from focusing on an instrument that causes stress and fatigue. so as you say when used properly makes you a safer pilot

Good one Stef

besides the fact that stick flying is quite draining (mentally & physically) you don't want to arrive at your destination under IFR (and potentially at night) exhausted and making rubbish decisions. I think being in Australia, where our major cities are 2+ hrs flight time in a Cirrus... most private pilots in Australia are likely to have a much slower plane.

Love your work Stefan!

Autopilot equals better safety. A great answer!

Flying a high performance aircraft single pilot IFR with no autopilot is a challenge but do able, but you can see when aircraft become more complex and performance goes up why you need it to aid you so you can keep your SA.

Interesting question I have normally flown with aircraft with auto-pilots and recently flying single pilot for SBSU to YMRY about 4 hrs hand flying is a long day of focusing on instruments weather etc etc I find am pretty spent by landing. Younger pilots seem to think it is all OK? I flown since 1985 with quite a few hrs behind and it is not a aircraft as such but not a pilot issues, if after many hrs will one still aware enough to really be on the ball to handle an emergency procedure?? if needed. I fully believe as you have said in a modern setup aircraft single pilot it is the greatest accessory that can be fitted to an aircraft, it is really your co-pilot helping you stay well ahead of the aircraft.

Well, I should hopefully be taking my first flight before signing up for pilot training next week, so I'm looking forward to hearing that loud engine noise!

Stefan I would enjoy a video on what I would expect to do in my exam flight for my PPL thanks

Great kiss landing 👍🏼

Butter Landing💋

autopilot doesn't make you lazy, in my opinion it allows you focus on other systems around your aircraft like you said, its a handy tool that help alleviate the stress of piloting single pilot. But if there was 2 pilots flying there would be less of a need for autopilot, and as steveo1kinevo says hands on flying is more enjoyable.... anyways great video as always Stef.

Sir i have a question. Do phenom 300 also comes with autopilot?

Hello Stefan. Will you be flying KJN to Adelaide soon or any aircraft?

Hi Stefan, love love your channel---A while i asked & you said you might do a video about you buying your own Cirrus, if its for you or not applicable to your situation using it & leasing it to a school or something to offset the costs etc. Are you still considering that video? The ins & outs of owning. Thanx. P.S, is it safe for Milk Shake to be sitting on the dash?

Oh my, can’t believe you stated that Milkshake was pretty useless! Actually she has a built in GPS receiver! Wondering if you actually give your safety emergency procedures to Milkshake in case KJN needs to be straight and level.

So stef I have a question when you are just starting out to be a pilot or you want to be what should I look out for for a good flight school to go to it would be nice if you could give me any tips or any suggestions

I like the loud engine sound, more immersive, felt like I was there! 😀

Hey stef will you be at Avalon airshow this year

When you fly do you mainly fly IFR when possible in preference to VFR. Which do you prefer and why. Also what is the flight time from Bankstown to Moorabbin?

Stephen any excitement flying over the clouds.? recreationally with a restricid pilot certificate

Very nice video!

Yet another great video. If I may, what do you use to get the weather on your iPad?

Pilots these days, do very little manual flying. They are more system managers and are there to take over if something goes wrong

Stef, ditto your summary on the benefits of Autopilot for single pilot IFR. I’ve just done an 11 hr round trip in our SR22 G5 from Essendon to Southport ( Qld) and back. Had to deal with multiple weather systems incl thunderstorms enroute. AP was worth every cent. Also, even though our Garmin Perspective equipped G5 can receive XM Weather the service provider doesn’t cover AUSTRALIA so I had to rely on the AVPLAN / Windy route weather overlay but the intermittent 3G data reception made it unreliable. I am Interested in your experience on this solution or if you know of an alternative “in cockpit” weather solution for Australia?

Anyone who flies a Cirrus but bemoans autopilot should have their CAPS disabled while flying IFR, and asked how safe they feel. Maybe then they'll understand. Autopilot is first and foremost about safety margin.

Yep I like the auto pilot on my LSA. ..esp in marginal weather.

Stefan what’s the flight time? Loved this!

Hi Stephan, would you normally verbalise your checks if you weren’t doing a video or just do it in your head?

If any one can help? Can you use autopilot as a new pilot? do you need your instrumental endorsement? Or can you use it as soon as you get your PPL?

mate i like you videos how long is the flight from bansktown to melbourne in kjn

GO TO SELETAR FLYING CLUB PLZ I wanna see u fly the Cessna

Can you crack a window open up 10k feet?

Your missing a cover for the parachute pull.

Hey Stefan, As a young person looking to get into aviation in his future years, I was looking to obtain some theory books, simply to start learning some of the basic content, and keep me busy. However, I found myself overwhelmed when I did I quick google search for "au ppl theory books". Any recomendations on which books to use? Many thanks in advance.

How come you don’t fly the Garmin equiped Cirrus?

Stefan, You don't use EFB like OzRunways? Do these make you a lazy pilot?