Yeah, when I was at school (a very long time ago) we were told not to wear lycra shorts under our skirts in summer. No justification was given.

That was a decision which provided the impetus for enough kids and parents to get together and force a change to allow girls to wear trousers and shorts, but it took ages.

I interpreted it as the takeoff and landing were to be handled by the pilot, but everything else would be autopilot - as larger planes are capable of doing

Because the point of the conversation was that a human was ko longer needed

No more than you did. And you moved the goalposts a couple of times there.

I’m still certain that that plane doesn’t have an autopilot … even one taken from a tractor.

I really don’t care, I was just saying what crossed my mind

Large aircraft can perform complex routes by autopilot.

What you’re saying is that the plane is still being piloted by a human. Not autopilot, and certainly not autopilot guided by AI.

Drones can do that stuff, though.

In this case, we’re talking about flying preset routes at low altitude over a city … not trim control

Because Cesnas are very lightweight, low powered, and cheap.

And I was thinking of the sort of modern autopilot that could actually navigate flying a complex pattern over a city in order to best show off the banner.

Having said that, I bet there’s some law against using autopilot at such low altitudes.

I really didn’t think Cesnas were as modern or complex as to have that sort of arrangement … I can’t think how it would make economic sense.

That being said, we live in an age of long range drones being based on light aircraft, so maybe they can be retrofitted these days?

Cesnas don’t have the fully hydraulic avionics needed for autopilot, no?