G550Guy

And you somehow think this makes them more intelligent??? I fail to see your point.

The most intelligent men/women on earth broke the sound barrier, created a hi bypass engine, went to the moon and back.... all with a slide ruler. Not one of them had an iPad.

These “super smart snowflakes” haven’t shown me much to be honest... unless you count the graphics on an Xbox.



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JackStraw

How can you fail to see my point? I’ll dumb it down for you. They’re stupid (like you said). So, boarding a pilotlesss airplane with a face-full of smartphone would be a no-brainer for them.

You actually contradicted yourself. Nice post.

CactusCrew

Whatever happens in the future of "unmanned" commercial aviation, rest assured, UPS will not lead the way. They will boldly follow, where others have ventured successfully.

Think of the logistics of unmanned flight into different countries and airspace. Then think of the ineptitude of this company to procure simple items.

Someday airliners may be unmanned. That's probably when UPS will be parking its MD-11 fleet and will be able to procure some high time B777s with lousy seats.

esa17

Yeah, because amazon purchases are a lot more logistically tricky than multi-spectral optics, MPRs, or encrypted sensors. The time I spent working with DARPA on this exact thing just must have been wasted time.

The days of the cargo pilot are numbered.

tomgoodman

That number is probably large, because cargo haulers (unlike DOD), have to make a profit. Show Fred how much he will save and how soon; only then will he reach for his checkbook.

Anderson

What about the days of the passenger pilot? Honest question.



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SaltyDog

And that is a true statement. The end of the world is nigh is also true, but when is nigh?
The discussion is when. Many in this thread opine a significant time for all to occur so in their careers of even younger pilots, not an immediate threat.

Many, myself included, also have researched/worked with/collaborated with folks who are AI engineers, EE's, Test pilots, aero engineers, security experts (physical security to electronic security), scientists, politicians, FAA officials, etc. Like many things, even with same experience, training, background, we find wide ranging conclusions as to timeline. Certainly a march is on for this vision.

Legal and economic realities often take precedence over technology.

Military has many advantages that abates the economic issues as well as some of the more common business legal and logistic realities.
If one equates an equal landscape (military=business), then haven't talked to corporate legal and business leaders.
Fun to speculate though

vprof

I don't think people realize that unpiloted aircraft still have pilots somewhere at the controls. If UPS wants to pay me to login and fly there MD-11 to CGN from my couch, count me in

esa17

I believe we will see single pilot 121 operations within 25 years. The data links won’t require intense bandwidth since they will only transmit telemetry and not ultra high-res video. Instead of a co-pilot you’ll see a dispatcher working 5 workstations acting as an SIC in the event of necessary intervention or sharing the workload during an IFE. Under normal operations the pilot will be heavily assisted by the robust autopilot systems that are so prevalent in UASs.

The augmented systems will allow hyper accurate flow-control during all phases of flight increasing safety, efficiency and reducing costs. The pilot will still be in charge but the GCS will time the flight plan to the second.

Once private space flight drops the bottom out of SATCOM prices you’ll see the augmented flight deck take off, so to speak.

Next, someone will say: “What about when the autopilot fails?” Well, what happens now? The only time I had a near miss with a manned aircraft it was because the manned aircraft was someplace he wasn’t supposed to be.

And as far as the logistics between countries...Do you not realize we are already doing that? I used to love the looks of 121 pilots when my large UAV taxied by them at an international airport.

TiredSoul

Yes...and we still need to call on VHF 15-20 min before a FIR crossing and ATC controllers sound like they’re outside under a tarp in a rain shower talking into a zinc bucket.
And frequency changes every 3 min in Europe.