0 a device that keeps aircraft, spacecraft, and ships moving in a particular direction without human involvement:
1 equipment on an aircraft or ship to make it continue to travel in the correct direction by itself without needing a person to control it:
2 happening automatically or doing something automatically, without having to think about what you are doing:
The digital auto-pilot and closed loop guidance scheme ensure the required attitude manoeuvre and guide injection of the spacecraft to the specified orbit.
To make use of the long endurance an auto-pilot was fitted, for comfort the cockpit was 48incm 0 in width.
Flight and navigation is independent of user-input, and is controlled by an on-board auto-pilot with the help of anti-collision sensors.
However, the nightmare scenario of floating in mid-ocean while watching one's boat sail away under auto-pilot makes many single-handers very cautious.
The installation of autopilots in aircraft with more than twenty seats is generally made mandatory by international aviation regulations.
Although autopilots handle new or dangerous situations inflexibly, they generally fly an aircraft with lower fuel consumption than a human pilot.
Multi-person flight and cabin crews, autopilots, in-flight meals, newspaper service and other comforts further increased the availability and convenience of non-flight related activities for flight crews during flight time.
Autopilots have evolved significantly over time, from early autopilots that merely held an attitude to modern autopilots capable of performing automated landings under the supervision of a pilot.
