Question for commercial Airline pilots?...?

Question

I know on landing most pilots dis-engage the autopilot and hand fly the aircraft mainly to keep up their flying skills?...But,...If you left the autopilot "on"...could you still overide the system with 'manual' inputs or would you have to fight it?...

Answer 1

Depends on the system, some -- as already discussed, disengage at a certain force; others don't.  The airliner I fly, the autopilot is clamped on and it would be almost impossible to generate enough force to move the yoke in spite of the autopilot.

Autoland actually has to be accomplished every so often for currency of the ship's system and our currency to (believe it or not, there is a currency requirement to sit there and watch the airplane do everthing, just like there is an inspection cycle on the crash axe).

Most guys fly depending on the day and feeling at the time.  I've hand flown entire trips from gate to gate and other times, autopilot on once the gear is up and let it autoland.

Answer 2

I haven't flown any big jets but on smaller planes the autopilot can be overridden by manual inputs.  It is not easy but it is doable.

All autopilots have a disconnect switch conveniently placed on the control yoke so it is very easy to disengage should the need arise.  There is also something called 'control wheel steering' on some planes which senses inputs from the yoke and uses the autopilot servos to implement them.  The switch for CWS is also usually on the yoke.

Answer 3

Some modern airliners do have an "auto land" feature, and the pilots must be specially certified to use it. Most airliners do not have auto land capability, so the autopilot must be disengaged below 200' and this is a checklist item on most large airplanes. While pilots do occasionally "hand fly" approaches to keep their skill levels up, it's the portion from intercepting the glideslope down to 200' where one gets the most benefit from hand flying for practice. At the 200' "decision height", if you are not already in a position from which a normal landing can be made, you have to abort the approach anyway (there are exceptions).  Hand flying from 200 feet to the runway is analagous to making a 6" putt on a golf course. You'd have to be totally incompetent to s***w it up.

Answer 4

At the US Airways Express company I work for, we can use the autopilot down to 400 feet on a non precision approach (no vertical guidance) and down to 100 feet on a precision approach (electronic glidepath) , CRJ must be landed by hand.  Autopilot is pretty hard to override but with MANY ways to disconnect it super easy to just turn off.

Answer 5

Yes.

If you grab the yoke and force it, there is a sensor that will automatically disconnect the A/P if a certain threshold is exceeded.  In my plane it is about 30 pounds of force.

The autopilot actually moves the yoke, so pushing it or forcing it will still move the flight controls just as if the A/P were not engaged.  If it failed to disconnect, we would be able to control the aircraft, it would simply take a little more muscle.

Answer 6

On advanced commercial aircraft such as the 747-400 the airplane can be flown on approach to land and land automatically via sophisticated autopilot systems, not normally done. The newer Boeing 777-300ER has a glass cockpit and the satellite nav system combined with GPS that can bring the airplane within 50 feet of the gate. This has been done routinely in test flights.......

Answer 7

Disengaging the automatic pilot for the roundout and landing doesn't do much for flying skills.  If a pilot disengages the aurtomatic pilot that late in the flight it is for safety.  

Pilot trust in automatic pilots isn't 100%.  Sometimes it is easier and safer to fly than to monitor.

With enough control pressure--like 60 pounds--the automatic pilot should disengage.  

Your pressure and the disengagement  doesn't damage the automatic pilot; it's a design feature.  

Until it disengages your pressure isn't  controlling the plane at all.

Answer 8

Yes, but it might damage the autopilot.  After a certain amount of force is applied, it usually shuts off.  Also, you wouldn't want to do this, as you are basically fighting the autopilot.  If it wants to turn left and you try to turn right, it will want to turn left even more.  The autopilot is following the electronic guidance, and it thinks and reacts much faster than a human pilot.  Sometimes this causes it to jerk and give an uncomfortable ride, another reason to shut it off and hand fly the aircraft.

Answer 9

Ops specs at one of my employers allowed for coupled autopilot down to 80 feet above ground on precision approaches, higher on non-precision, visuals. Part 91, 135 jet.