Originally Posted by
GoHomeLeg
Do you know how long it takes to develop/certify a "regular" jet? Have you considered the business model of most cargo carriers? Are you even a pilot?
Most passenger jets take years (many as much as 10 years) to develop and certify. A UAS will take much longer. Thinking that something could potentially be flying in 15 years is, to put it nicely, generously optimistic.
Cargo carriers, with some exception, typically use retrofitted passenger aircraft to haul boxes around. To assume a cargo carrier is willing to invest in a brand new, unknown, unproven product with huge liability issues is not very realistic.
Everyone love to cite the fact that X% of crashes are due to pilot error. But any pilot can tell you (if you aren't one) that pilots are continuously preventing automation from crashing. How many times have you asked the autopilot what it's doing and overridden it? How is making the system more complicate (unmanned) suddenly going to make it safer? How can unmanned tech match the current safety rate in the industry? Accidents are very, very, very rare.
You got me, I'm not a pilot, I am paid 101$ an hour to pour coffee, fill out log books, do walk arounds, and maybe get to land once a month, while getting to see the entire world.
Actually, I am a cargo pilot, I stand to lose my career should they decide to automate things. I doubt my employer will, as of this month still have at least one flight engineer on the payroll.
So when did you formulate the assenine idea that I am for unmanned cargo aircraft? I simply pointed out that the technology exists, we can do it now. Only peoples opinions and fears are holding it back. It's not like we are trying to design a warp drive.
Updating the regulations, rules, public opinion, etc... That's all trivial crap, from an engineering point of view, it's reality, today.