page_title: Autopilot
section_title: Control Wheel Steering
hierarchical_section_title: Autopilot / Modern autopilots / Control Wheel Steering
caption_attribution_description: English: Garmin servomotor for autopilot applications at EBACE 2019, Palexpo, Switzerland
context_page_description: An autopilot is a system used to control the trajectory of an aircraft, marine craft or spacecraft without requiring constant manual control by a human operator. Autopilot does not replace human operators. Instead, autopilot assists the operator's control of the vehicle, allowing the operator to focus on broader aspects of operations.
  When present, autopilot is often used in conjunction with an autothrottle, a system for controlling the power delivered by the engines.
  An autopilot system is sometimes colloquially referred to as "George". The etymology of the nickname is unclear: some claim it is a reference to inventor George De Beeson, who patented an autopilot in the 1930s, while others claim that Royal Air Force pilots coined the term during World War II to symbolize that their aircraft technically belonged to King George VI.
context_section_description: An option midway between fully automated flight and manual flying is Control Wheel Steering (CWS). Although it is becoming less used as a stand-alone option in modern airliners, CWS is still a function on many aircraft today. Generally, an autopilot that is CWS equipped has three positions: off, CWS, and CMD. In CMD (Command) mode the autopilot has full control of the aircraft, and receives its input from either the heading/altitude setting, radio and navaids, or the FMS (Flight Management System). In CWS mode, the pilot controls the autopilot through inputs on the yoke or the stick. These inputs are translated to a specific heading and attitude, which the autopilot will then hold until instructed to do otherwise. This provides stability in pitch and roll. Some aircraft employ a form of CWS even in manual mode, such as the MD-11 which uses a constant CWS in roll. In many ways, a modern Airbus fly-by-wire aircraft in Normal Law is always in CWS mode. The major difference is that in this system the limitations of the aircraft are guarded by the flight computer, and the pilot cannot steer the aircraft past these limits.
caption: Servomotor for Autopilot applications
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