There is a vociferous group of idiots who label themselves “real pilots” who amuse themselves and no-one else by trying to persuade anyone who will listen that “real flying” doesn’t include the use of autopilots (or nose-wheels, GPS, instruments, hard runways and a host of other stuff.)
Because they are loud in club bars, and generally have the demeanour of bullies, their opinions seep into real flying and influences pilots, instructors examiners etc.
I wonder how many deaths they are responsible for?
“The pilot either has to be very good at hand flying in IMC…lose control”
Yes agree no one is very good at doing that by hand for long while doing other stuff (asuming you weakup at 6am, fly at 7pm for 3h in darkness with no cockpit ressources or ergonomics), I don’t think currency or practice does help that much for not getting bored/tired?
Personally, I am always less sharpe on my return legs, so I ensure to have an easy one and leave “the challenge” to the outbound legs
As Timothy mentioned lot of the blame goes to mis-conceptions on “real flying skills” and bullshit one would hear in clubhouses…
Is it possible for boots to deploy ‘asymmetrically’ and what would the consequences be ?
A bit of yaw / lot of yaw / roll / spin ?
There is a vociferous group of idiots who label themselves “real pilots”…
Indeed. When EuroGA was started in Oct 2012, I did wonder how long it will be before the obvious specimens (all the past UK forum residents will know the names) will appear, but they never did. Well, they knew their life expectancy would be short unless they changed their ways…
Is it possible for boots to deploy ‘asymmetrically’
Yes, though I believe it is rare because the same air pump (on SEPs, a traditional vacuum pump with a “re-purposed” exhaust port, AFAIK) is used for the whole system, and a split in one place (the most common failure in rubber boots) will reduce overall pressure.
and what would the consequences be ? A bit of yaw / lot of yaw / roll / spin ?
A sudden wing drop, probably. You might also see yaw because an iced up wing is draggy.
De-iced props vibrate very noticeably if one blade is not working (TKS or heated).
What about a vacuum pump failure? Do the BK autopilots continue to follow the AI regardless?
The AP will disconnect when pitch or roll exceed certain parameters. But if the AI itself is misreading and showing a 10 deg roll when the actual roll is 60 deg, the AP will follow it happily 
lionel wrote:
Why? AFAIK an AP is not an airworthiness requirement.
In theory an AP could be an airworthiness requirement in the type certificate. No idea if that’s the case for the PA46.
Peter wrote:
Piston engine failure stats don’t really support the idea that SEPs are unsuitable for night flying (over water or over land; not a lot of difference).
Are we sure of that?
I’ve never put a landplane down on open sea in pitch darkness, so I can’t say for sure that it’s quite as easy as it is in daylight, or on land.
Once we’re safely down, land is generally warmer and much easier to walk on. I no longer work as a diver but can still swim OK; even so, my lungs, iPhone and PLB work better on land than under water. In case of injury, SAR is closer, quicker and easier on land.
I’m inclined to agree with Timothy that SEP night flight over a rough dark ocean is a risk not to be disregarded.
For SEP flying, I don’t think it is land versus sea, the easy questions are can you pull a sucessful landing? Can you survive 1 day after landing your by your own means?
The opposite apply to lot of places in land as well, the rules does not say much neither on flying over hardcore terrain or remote places but it is better if this risk is left to pilots to judge, yes in a SEP it is a relevant tail risk that cannot be disregarded or mitigated: one should not just confuse the probablity of an event with its magnitude…
Jacko wrote:
Are we sure of that?I’ve never put a landplane down on open sea in pitch darkness, so I can’t say for sure that it’s quite as easy as it is in daylight, or on land.
Once we’re safely down, land is generally warmer and much easier to walk on. I no longer work as a diver but can still swim OK; even so, my lungs, iPhone and PLB work better on land than under water. In case of injury, SAR is closer, quicker and easier on land.
I’m inclined to agree with Timothy that SEP night flight over a rough dark ocean is a risk not to be disregarded.
I certainly always was comfortable flying my Mirage across the Channel in winter at night but I was flying it at FL250. I think you are more at risk than in a twin or turbine but for private flights I accepted that risk. I am not sure that means they should be used for commercial ops however. And flying it at 5000ft erodes the significant safety margin I built in and exposes you to the risk of ditching for a far longer time.
