Autopilots
Hello,
The other day I was watching the AirForce One on TV and that set me thinking about the autopilots in the modern day airplanes. What I believed was that the primary function of the autopilot is to relieve the pilot of 'flying the airplane' once they had attained their cruising altitude. And maybe some other nice-to-have functions. What I found intriguing was that, in the movie, the President turns a knob somewhere on the flight panel to change heading to 230 or something...... without having to touch the flight controls, so what I'd like to know is if this is the autopilot flying the aircraft for you? Basically, I'd like to know if the autopilot can be used to fly the airplane for you.... without having to manipulate the flight controls and just key-in the required parameters. Is that right?
Superliner.