Wally said: "Also a constant knowledge of situational awareness whilst in IMC. I'd bet a LOT of IFR drivers just sit back watch the auto's fly the plane in solid IMC esspecially now with hyper accurate GPS gear with only a basic understanding of knowing exactly where they are in relation to terrain"
I fly SEIFR a bit and my fellow pilots think I'm a bit OCD when I've got the autopilot tracking the GPS signal (from the terrain-enabled TSO146a GPS) on top of 8/8 or at night and I'm also marking times off on 10 nm markers on the appropriate VTC/VNC/WAC, with a backup GPSIII Pilot on the yoke. My reasoning is that when/if the donk fails (or the vacuum or the electrics) I will know EXACTLY where I am in relation to terrain (and alternates) without the GPS and can start DR etc with the minimum of sweat and panic to add to dealing with the sitation...... and it gives me something to do while listening to the MP3's....
(And yeah, I've got the backup hand held VHF/VOR patched into an extra antenna and mobile phone into the intercom and more LED torches than I like to admit.....). The only hard bit then is flying an AH failure if it occurs....