Thanks all for the posts.  According to NTSB, Wendell was on an IFR flight plan with an airplane that was NOT IFR equipped.  511WD was heavily and exceptionally outfitted on the NAV/AP side but questionable on basic primary instruments even for VFR sunny bunnies.

Yes, I agree that WORX or similar would have been beneficial. Yes, we can fly the entire flight plan and profile automatically today with only a few minutes on the stick for take-off and landing. Yes, it is generally safer, more accurate and greatly reduces pilot work load.  But there is a frightening trend to place too much reliance on these marvels.

None of this high-end IFR NAV/AP equipment is worth a lick when one has to resort to flying basic stick and rudder using primary flight instruments in severe IFR or equipment failure conditions. They are two different systems (integration arguments aside) because it isn’t about navigation; it’s primarily about flying the airplane.

90% of successful thunderstorm penetration and exit is in the hands of God.  The remaining 10% is the pilot’s basic flying skills to keep the wings level, stay at or below maneuvering speed and blue (or whatever) side up.  There is no seat of the pants flying here.  We only have a few seconds and primary flight instruments (in whatever form) to rely on to successfully accomplish our 10%.