Plain English Meaning

Things a pilot does correctly without having to stop and think about them, because they have been practiced enough times to become second nature.

Full Definition

In aviation instruction, automatic responses are learned skills and reactions that a pilot performs without conscious thought, having been practiced and reinforced to the point that they occur reliably and quickly. They are the goal of repeated, correct practice during training, particularly for time-critical procedures such as emergency actions and basic aircraft control.

Context Anchor

Seen in aviation instructor discussions about how learners react, build habits, and perform tasks during training.

Derivation

‘Automatic’ comes from the Greek ‘automatos,’ meaning ‘acting of itself.’ In flying, an automatic is one that ‘acts of itself’ — ’s hands and feet do the thing before the conscious mind has finished thinking about it.