Is Autopilot more advanced than cruise control, or pretty much identical?
My dad’s an air traffic controller, and my grandpa is a pilot, and this is what i gather from them. In your car, when you set cruise control, it keeps the speed constant. You must still steer, pay attention, etc. In a plane, when autopilot is on, you’ve set a course (usually approved by an air traffic controller), and the autopilot carries out that course. It keeps the speed constant like a cruise control, but can also change altitude for you, or directions (for example, very few long flights are straight lines; it’s much faster to go in a curve, up over the north pole, for example). Like with cruise control, this does not mean the pilot and copilot can take a nap or have a coctail. If there are winds or bad weather, they take control back and navigate around it. Similarly, if there is another plane in the area, or air traffic control needs to clear an area for whatever reason, the pilot must do that. So yes, it’s different, but they’re not just hanging out up there. Funny story. My gr
