http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/12/21/x-plane-10-helps-actual-planes-to-land/

Pretty cool. I need to update from xplane 9.

Just RTFM before installing, or you'll have a very different experience, like Mr. Chaffin of R.C.S. Panels had:

XPlane 10 warning... But then you might probably want to use it to update XPlane 9, like you wrote?


That sure is cool new tech though!

OMFG, in each situation FLY THE AIRPLANE.

No gadget ever absolves a pilot of his primary duty of FLYING THE AIRCRAFT.

Autopilots are not excuses.

If you're hung over you shouldn't be there in the first place.
If you think you smell smoke pressing the electronic gizmo button may not be the best thing - in fact you should TURN OFF THE ELECTRONICS in the event of smoke.
If the passenger is puking take their hat off their head and shove it over their face. No hat? Pull their shirt over their head.
If you think you're having a heart attack, get on the radio and land NOW.

"Oh, help me, I can't handle the stress of a passenger puking and would really rather not be flying right now!"

Suck it up, Buttercup, and welcome to being a pilot. You know, the part where YOU are supposed to train for bad things happening.

Buy a ticket on Delta if you can't handle the responsibilities of being PIC.

Are we really sure the little red button will do the right thing all of the time? Really?

OTOH, RoF helped me with wheel landings in a Champ...

I think that any aid that can help a pilot who finds themselves in a bad situation can only be a good thing. I think the way the idea has been pitched though is incredibly dumb. The emphasis should be made on how this could assist the pilot (or especially a non-pilot passenger) in such a scenario. Comments like do not help in selling this (IMHO quite useful) idea. Most modern light aircraft are now equipped with an autopilot that will at least hold a heading and altitude, so the 'I don't want to concentrate on flying the airplane at this precise moment' issue is already covered (obviously that isn't any help in an engine failure situation if you forgot to bring along a spare ).
Yes, I have to admit that I am a multi-engine snob these days.

The problem is that the examples cited are precisely when one needs to be concentrated on flying! Engine and electrical problems are not the time to "push the little red button" and throw one's hands in the air, trusting on an autopilot to save one's life.

"But, sir, I pressed the automagical button!" will not be looked on kindly as a defense at an NTSB/FAA board meeting. Or during a Civil trial.

We already have too many pilots that fly the panel and not the aircraft.

I had a "I'd rather not be flying right now" moment a few weeks ago in the Champ. Winds were 6 knots down the runway, CAVU starting out. The expected front was to be two hours out; no problem, I'm only doing some tooling around for an hour!

It was way early, and suddenly it's 12 knots gusting to 16 on a crosswind, with loads of turbulence. Would anyone really think pushing an "auto land" button would be a good idea if they didn't want a plane rolled up into a little ball under those circumstances?

Nope, one tightens up the headset and puts her down, adjusting for conditions as they go. It wasn't my prettiest wheel landing, but nothing got bent....

I still think that any system that can save lives is something that should be looked into. Also, another thing to consider in an emergency is that there is a lot to think about. It is quite surprising how much of your mental capacity is taken up by just flying the airplane. Getting task saturated can rapidly reduce your situational awareness and that can make all the difference between a successful landing, or a far worse outcome.

Regarding an advancing front (I hope you don't think this is bad form for me to post this here but it may be useful to others too) , one trick I found useful when flying in the local area, is to head out towards the direction of the approaching weather (putting yourself between the wx and the airport).. If the conditions start getting bad earlier than expected, you can retreat back towards the airport and land before the weather gets there (assuming you are able to fly faster than the weather is advancing . Again, I'm not trying to be a jerk so I hope I haven't come across in a condescending manner.

Paul, I think you'd look at something like that as just one more tool in your pilot bag. Which is what it should be.

What makes me crazy is when stuff like this is sold as some sort of deux ex machina of flying. Ain't no such thing. There is no magic red button to push to rescue you as PIC no matter what, as you would agree.

When automated systems get oversold all sorts of dumb stuff happens - we have too many pilots flying into IMC conditions when neither their aircraft or themselves are trained for it (or close to current) as it is. Tell them that if it gets too rough they can push a button and it will make all the right decisions for them and land in an emergency and it gets even worse.

We had a guy visit our (non-towered) airport and was continuously asking where people were at and saying he couldn't see me in the pattern. Daytime VFR, CAVU, and he can't see a bright yellow Champ? On the ground he told us to have our equipment checked as I wasn't showing up in his airplane location doodad screen.

No transponder in the Champ, sport - why don't you pick your eyes up four inches over the damned dashboard and look out the original glass panels - the ones called windows?