How do airplane pilots drive the plane for long period of times? Ex: 9 hours.
In: 15
As others have said automation takes the pain out of it. 3rd and 4th pilots help on the very long-range stuff but it’s totally legal to do a 12 hour flight with 2 crew.
A word on the autopilot as it’s so often misunderstood by people: it isn’t magic. The pilots are always flying the aircraft in one way or another. Even in the cruise across an ocean the AFDS (Autopilot Flight Director System) has no idea what to do unless programmed, monitored, and corrected by a human. Aside from that, it often fails in one way or another and is limited in the conditions in which in is permitted to be used.
I have only once had to do a longish flight with no autopilot (flight without autothrust is more common) and it was a genuine pain verging on being unsafe. The level of concentration required to maintain level for a 6 hour cruise is quite high.
Latest Answers