Yeah, in the real world; I'm fairly certain the early autopilot systems were invented shortly before WWI and as such were probably relatively simple electro-mechanical (if not purely mechanical) in nature right up until the 50's or 60's. So 'thopters having simple (by post-microprocessor era standards) APs seems plausible enough. Of course the religious and social mores of the time would probably mean that they wouldn't actually call it an "autopilot" lest it alluded to the vulgar thinking machines, and instead just refer to it as a "vector lock" or some-such; just another human operated mechanism along side the airbreaks, take-off jet throttle, and the radio system.
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