Originally Posted by
airplanecrazy
...Does pressing the GA button activate the autopilot if the autopilot is currently off, or would the autopilot also have to be turned on to actually command the aircraft?
The S76 is always flown with both AP's on. The AP's can be in stability augmentation mode or attitude retention mode. For the flight director to control the aircraft the AP's must be in attitude retention mode with the force trim ON. The S76 should be flown in attitude retention mode, and I would be very surprised if this aircraft was being flown in stability augmentation mode. Therefore, one button press on the flight director would have given safe control of the aircraft to George (assuming FD2 was the active flight director).