Knowledge HUB-Q. How does the autopilot system work?

A. An autopilot is used to maintain the altitude of an air craft in flight with respect to the surface of the earth. This allows the pilot to fly the aircraft hands-free. The autopilot has gyroscopes, which is used to maintain a fixed direction in inertial space. The autopilot receives inputs from the three control surfaces. All these inputs are ‘stored’ at the time the autopilot system was engaged, and any deviation from the set datum is immediately sensed by the gyroscopes. These gyroscopes provide an error signal to the motor of the concerned movable control surface. Thus, the altitude of the aircraft is maintained.