How long before pilots are extinct?
03-31-2017, 07:10 AM
#73
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Joined APC: Jul 2016
Posts: 463
Originally Posted by tomgoodman
Some pilots who have become disgruntled with their own aviation career suddenly realize that the whole profession is doomed. It must be like the apple that bonked Isaac Newton on the head. 
03-31-2017, 07:46 AM
#74
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04-01-2017, 12:30 AM
#75
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Joined APC: Feb 2007
Posts: 461
Originally Posted by Flyguy4723
Great article, pretty much sums up my opinion.
Good find.
04-01-2017, 10:40 AM
#76
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Joined APC: Jun 2012
Posts: 6,026
From the same previously-cited Plane & Pilot article comes the following quote:
This is grossly misleading and wildly inaccurate, at best.
While I disagree that "most flights are flown 98 or 99 percent by the autopilot," the statement that the autopilot is flying the airplane is deceptive. The pilot is flying the airplane. He is doing so through the flight control system in use, which happens at that time to be the autopilot.
If I fly a direct-cablel or direct-pushrod flight control system, I am moving the flight control surfaces by a series of linked mechanical movements along belcranks, pulleys, rods, etc. If I move a mechanical cockpit control which moves a cable which moves a proportioning or sequencing valve which ports hydraulic fluid to an actuator which moves a pushrod and belcrank which moves the flight control, I am still directing the action of the airplane, controlling its movements, etc.
If I engage an autopilot and use a manual pitch trim wheel to send an electronic signal to move the actuators for the flight controls, I am simply using a different control path to make the airplane do what I want it to do. If I engage increasing levels of computer use or input, I am doing no less than flying the airplane, but through other paths, filters, or means to refine my control. Many aircraft have changes in control inputs that occur with aircraft configuration, speed, etc. One may transition from outboard ailerons to inboard, with the outer locked out. Different path, different flight controls, and the pilot is still in command of the aircraft regardless of whether he's moving the surface by hand or through other mechanical, electrical, or computer means.
This is not at all the same as artificial intelligence or autonomous operation of the aircraft. Not remotely so.
“Most flights are flown 98 or 99 percent by the autopilot,” says Stephen Rice, an associate professor of Human Factors at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. “A study showed that Boeing and Airbus pilots only manually flew the plane for three to six minutes per flight.”
While I disagree that "most flights are flown 98 or 99 percent by the autopilot," the statement that the autopilot is flying the airplane is deceptive. The pilot is flying the airplane. He is doing so through the flight control system in use, which happens at that time to be the autopilot.
If I fly a direct-cablel or direct-pushrod flight control system, I am moving the flight control surfaces by a series of linked mechanical movements along belcranks, pulleys, rods, etc. If I move a mechanical cockpit control which moves a cable which moves a proportioning or sequencing valve which ports hydraulic fluid to an actuator which moves a pushrod and belcrank which moves the flight control, I am still directing the action of the airplane, controlling its movements, etc.
If I engage an autopilot and use a manual pitch trim wheel to send an electronic signal to move the actuators for the flight controls, I am simply using a different control path to make the airplane do what I want it to do. If I engage increasing levels of computer use or input, I am doing no less than flying the airplane, but through other paths, filters, or means to refine my control. Many aircraft have changes in control inputs that occur with aircraft configuration, speed, etc. One may transition from outboard ailerons to inboard, with the outer locked out. Different path, different flight controls, and the pilot is still in command of the aircraft regardless of whether he's moving the surface by hand or through other mechanical, electrical, or computer means.
This is not at all the same as artificial intelligence or autonomous operation of the aircraft. Not remotely so.
04-01-2017, 12:26 PM
#77
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Joined APC: Jan 2015
Posts: 516
Don't worry about pilots being replaced, do worry about modern airplanes making pilots much less important and valuable. Some day reality TV will pull back the curtain by placing a random street person in a cockpit and show the world that anyone can do the job. While they're at it, they will show how the aircraft is impossible to crash no matter what the pilot does. In 30 minutes, piloting will become nothing more than a basic middle class job.
04-01-2017, 01:37 PM
#78
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Thread Starter
Joined APC: Jan 2016
Posts: 149
Originally Posted by kevbo
Don't worry about pilots being replaced, do worry about modern airplanes making pilots much less important and valuable. Some day reality TV will pull back the curtain by placing a random street person in a cockpit and show the world that anyone can do the job. While they're at it, they will show how the aircraft is impossible to crash no matter what the pilot does. In 30 minutes, piloting will become nothing more than a basic middle class job.
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