Don’t Just Press Buttons: Modern Autopilot Habits That Matter
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During my first checkouts in airplanes with autopilots, the autopilot was usually treated as a footnote at the end of the flight; a sort of “bonus” item to play around with in cruise and figure out how it works. That’s a terrible strategy for a modern autopilot.
Today’s systems can dramatically lighten your workload. They manage lateral and vertical guidance in almost any phase of flight, fly approaches and missed approaches, and can even prevent (and recover from) a flight upset. They can also become an unpredictable distraction at exactly the wrong moment.
You can’t gain the benefits and avoid the pitfalls by simply knowing what button to press. You must understand how the autopilot thinks, verify it’s doing what you want, anticipate what it will do next, and, most importantly, recognize when it’s not doing what you want and correct it.
Here are six habits you can adopt to reap the full benefits of a modern autopilot.
Use the Autopilot as a Crewmember
The engaged autopilot can be thought of as the Pilot Flying, and you are the Pilot Monitoring.
Crew operations designate a Pilot Flying (PF), whose main job is simply controlling the airplane, and a Pilot Monitoring (PM), who handles everything else—navigation, communication, checklists, ATC, and so on. In your case, the engaged autopilot can be thought of as the Pilot Flying, and you are the Pilot Monitoring.
There’s one important catch: Your PF (the autopilot) is like a trainee who flies really well but doesn’t think for itself. It will never question a bad command. Instead, it will follow the bad instructions with impressive precision.
Avoid this by always following up your button push with a check of the status strip, sometimes called “the scoreboard.” On a Garmin PFD, this is the display at the top center of the PFD showing engaged modes in green and armed modes in white. Other systems have different conventions, but the key habit is universal: Command a mode, then verify it.
When you have strong mode awareness, you don’t need to micromanage your autopilot’s every control movement. In fact, doing that can cancel much of the workload benefit. But you must always know what’s active, what’s armed, and what will happen next.
Don’t just monitor the autopilot—anticipate it.
The most effective way to use automation is to know what it should do next before it does it.
Select the Right Modes for Climbs Versus Descents
For most climbs, indicated airspeed (IAS) mode or flight level change (FLC) is the best choice.
For most climbs, indicated airspeed (IAS) mode or flight level change (FLC) is the best choice. That’s because as the airplane climbs and horsepower decreases, the autopilot protects airspeed. If necessary, it will sacrifice climb rate in order to always maintain the safe flying speed you command. Vertical speed (VS) mode, by contrast, will continue to pitch up to try to maintain climb rate even as airspeed deteriorates. If you ask for 700 feet per minute and you’re only doing 500 fpm, the airplane will pitch up—even if it has insufficient power to ever reach 700 fpm. Depending on your system, the result could be a stall, underspeed protection kicking in, or an automatic autopilot disconnect. Not good.
That doesn’t mean VS mode is forbidden in climbs. For a short climb of 500 or 1000 feet, it may be the simplest tool.
For descents, VS mode works best, so long as you are fine controlling your airspeed with power adjustments. That caveat hints at a few situations where IAS could be better in descent. In turbulence, IAS mode can target an appropriate turbulence speed and keep you comfortably below maneuvering speed. And if you have gear or flaps extended and want to be sure you don’t accidentally overspeed them in a descent, IAS mode can do that.
Some autopilots don’t offer both IAS and VS modes. The larger principle is understanding what each mode you do have protects for and what you’re responsible for managing, and planning accordingly.
Follow an Order of Operations
For climbs and descents, the standard order is to first tell the autopilot where to go and then how to get there.
For climbs and descents, the standard order is to first tell the autopilot where to go and then how to get there. To climb from 4000 to 8000 feet, first set 8000 in the altitude preselect (where to go), then engage IAS mode and set the appropriate climb speed (how to get there). Of course, you still must manually set climb power and configuration. The same applies to descent. Set the target altitude first, and then command the descent (and adjust power and configuration as necessary).
This order guarantees that every climb or descent has an endpoint. If you set a climb or descent before selecting an altitude, you’ve temporarily created a situation where the plane will climb or descend indefinitely. Any distraction before you finish the task by setting the altitude could leave the target at “indefinitely.” In a descent, “indefinitely” means “into the ground.”
The principle extends to lateral modes too. If ATC clears you direct to a waypoint, first activate direct-to on the navigator, and then engage NAV mode. Tell it where to go, then how to get there.
Know Your NAV Modes
NAV modes often won’t capture unless you’re already close to the course.
Most modern, integrated autopilots make lateral navigation simple. On a Garmin GFC, the single NAV button can intelligently follow GPS, a VOR radial, a localizer, or even a back course. When you press the NAV button, the autopilot’s brain knows the appropriate tracking logic from context, and annunciates what it’s actually following.
Older systems aren’t always that smart and may have different modes for different sources, and may simply chase needle deflection without any awareness of what the GPS is doing. On these older systems, GPS Roll Steering (GPSS) can bridge the gap between old and new tech by sending GPS guidance in the form of heading commands that are followed in HDG mode. The details vary, so know what your installation actually does.
Remember, NAV modes often won’t capture unless you’re already close to the course. Garmin autopilots will capture NAV courses when the CDI is within half-scale deflection. Otherwise, they’ll simply arm the mode. That leaves you responsible for getting close enough to the course that it will capture.
Press APR Only When Appropriate
APR also arms approach vertical guidance.
On modern Garmin autopilots, the APR button is straightforward. Laterally, it does the same thing that NAV does, arming or capturing whatever navigation source is chosen. The difference is APR also arms approach vertical guidance. That’s for both approved vertical guidance, like an LPV glidepath or ILS glideslope, and advisory “+V” vertical guidance on other RNAV approaches.
That makes for a simple habit: Press APR when you’re cleared for the approach. That way, when the approach guidance eventually appears and centers, the autopilot will capture it. On the other hand, if ATC tells you only to “join the localizer,” you haven’t necessarily been cleared to descend on the approach, so you don’t want to follow vertical guidance. In that case, use NAV to capture the localizer, but don’t press APR until you’re actually cleared for the approach.
It’s also important to understand what APR does not do. It doesn’t load or activate the approach or do anything with the GPS. And it doesn’t follow non-approach VNAV guidance—that’s a whole other topic.
Older autopilots may use APR differently, so understand the logic in your airplane rather than assuming old patterns will transfer.
The other thing APR does not do on most autopilots is capture a preselected altitude. It’s up to you to discontinue the descent at DA, or go visual and continue for landing.
Know How and When to Turn it Off
Every autopilot user should know every way to disconnect it, not just the AP button on the yoke or controller. On typical installations this usually includes moving the electric trim and pulling the autopilot circuit breaker.
The disconnect switch often also interrupts the electric trim when pressed and held, which is crucially important in a trim runaway. The aircraft-specific AFM Supplement for your installation contains abnormal and emergency procedures like this that you should add to your checklist. It also contains regulatory limitations that are just as binding as those in your POH. For example, a Garmin GFC autopilot typically must be disengaged until 800 AGL in most situations. The exception is that they can be used until 200 AGL on approaches. GFC installations usually have airspeed limits, a fuel imbalance limit, and a requirement to operate from the left seat.
Autopilot procedures, avionics interactions, and specific buttons change from airplane to airplane—but the habits don’t. An autopilot isn’t merely a “bonus item.” It’s a tool that demands the right mindset from the pilot. Learn your system and establish a mindset to match. The right autopilot habits will lower your workload and allow you to pay more attention to the things that really matter.
Editor’s Note: This article is adapted from material in PilotWorkshops’ new Garmin GFC Autopilots: Next Level online course, taught by Ryan Koch. The 140-minute course takes these concepts further with progressively complex flights covering everything from autopilot fundamentals to departures, approaches, VNAV, missed approaches, holds, and non-RNAV procedures.
Learn more about the course and try the free demo at Sportys.com.
Ryan was the driving force behind the development of several PilotWorkshops online courses, including Instrument Rating Accelerator, IFR: The Missing Lessons, Garmin GTN: Next Level, Advanced IFR and Garmin GFC Autopilots: Next Level. Ryan is also a contributing expert for PilotWorkshops’ IFR Mastery series and is a regular participant in the Instructor’s Roundtable. He teaches ground schools, runs ATC communications courses for both IFR and VFR pilots, and has developed curriculum for a variety of IFR proficiency programs, and a simulator-centered high school aviation program.
- Don’t Just Press Buttons: Modern Autopilot Habits That Matter - September 11, 2026
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