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.
The term autopilot comes from aviation, where the only kind of problem resolution an autopilot does is turning itself off.
Other than that, it just flies from checkpoint to checkpoint.
If only we could implement similar testing protocols to the aviation version to validate it’s safety!
A full NTSB investigation for every single crash? I’m all for it!
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.
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).
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Hard to say, it might depend on the plane model. I’ve heard that Boeing 777s autopilots are really snarky.