Autopilot in IMC
I do very little IMC flight limiting it pretty much to the odd climb and descent to let me fly on top if conditions are favourable to that. I certainly don't go off with any intention of flying for long periods in the soup, or requiring an instrument procedure to land. I do go off and practice this stuff from time to time with an instructor to make sure I know what I'm doing, but the reality is that where possible I prefer to fly with a view out of the front window.
I'm in two minds however as to whether I should stick the aircraft on autopilot (I've only got a roll axis autopilot) on those occasions where I am going to go into cloud.
On the one hand, if you always stick on the autopilot it does make life a lot easier and mindful of the fact that killer number one seems to be loss of control in IMC, having the autopilot keep things straight is an attractive option. On the other hand.... if you don't fly it by hand from time to time then your proficiency should you need it sometime will inevitably suffer.
It seems in some way to come down to the question of whether you prefer to take the risk that your competence will let you down in IMC or whether you take the risk that the autopilot is going to let you down in IMC.
What do others think and do? I've not bothered with the autopilot up to now because I have been taking the view that I ought to use every moment when the view disappears to practice a bit more, but I'm slowly coming to the view that I should make more use of the autopilot when in real IMC and simply do more simulated practice with an instructor to keep proficient.