F-16 Autopilot Use

[Flaco]

For those in the know....

I noticed that the F-16 has a very simplified autopilot. When is the autopilot used? The only time I could think of is on a long cross-country, but even then, wouldn't it be impossible to use the autopilot in formation?

Fill me in.

Thanks,

Flaco

 

[Toro]

Can't answer specifically for the viper, but I can tell you that the Strike Eagle's is pretty simple as well - just push a button, it turns on, and you're hands free. It's got a couple different modes - you can have it hold altitude, or you can type what altitude you want it at, and it will fly to that altitude and level off. As far as using it in formation, it's not impossible and it can come in quite handy for tactical (about a mile wide spacing) formation. Get yourself level with your flight lead, smack it on, then just make tiny heading corrections to maintain your spacing.

The E model also has terrain following radar that will keep it at a specified AGL altiude. When coupled with the autopilot in nav mode, the jet will fly itself low level. When it reaches a designated turn point, it will turn to the next point and maintain altitude. The only thing the pilot has to do is tweak the throttles to maintain airspeed.

 

[Rush Limbaugh]

The Viper's autopilot is probably very similar to what Toro described in the Strike Eagle but you can't type in an altitude. It will do the TFR thing too but it isn't used anymore.

An autopilot in a fighter just isn't too useful unless you are using the TFR. I would use it frequently at night, especially back in the days before NVG's. We would fly trail formations with altitude separation between each airplane. I'd select altitude hold and bank attitude hold. The autopilot is different than most other airplanes in that it won't click off when the pilot makes control inputs. It stays on and tries to fight you unless you have it in attitude hold because it will just keep the jet where you left it unless you commanded an attitude outside the autopilot limits. By setting it up the way I did, I could do the contract turns without worrying a lot about altitude and then I didn't have to waste time getting back to my altitude once rolled out because the autopilot would be seeking the exact altitude it had when you turned it on. Once we started flying with NVG's, I used both bank and pitch attitude hold for a while until I got used to wearing the NVG's.

Cross countries are the time to use the autopilot. A wingman can get his 6-9 thousand feet line abreast and tell the autopilot to go to the selected INS steerpoint and he will maintain a pretty good position until the steerpoint gets around 60-70 miles away and then he can turn the heading bug on. Of course as the flight lead, I turned it on shortly after takeoff and turned it off in the letdown. It is much easier for the wingman to maintain his position on a boring cross country when the flight lead uses the autopilot.

The stinkbug is a whole different story...