– How does the pilot make turns on commercial planes like Boeing or Airbus?

Question

I know that right after takeoff pilots switch on autopilot. I would like to know if the initial turns \[to place the plane on the route to its destination\] are made manually by the pilots or are made automatically by the plane’s own system. If that’s the case, before each flight do the pilots enter the route into the “computer” and the autopilot follows it until it’s time to land?

In: 0

Answer 1

For many commerical aircraft, the autopilot can either be instructed to follow a heading dialed in on a control panel, or follow a route set in a computer (LNAV aka lateral navigation mode on Boeing jets)