SkyHigh

New technologies come with problems in the beginning. Remember when the GPS and FMS first came on line? Give it a few years. Besides all that modern jets come with a lot of assistance in regards to emergencies that they did not have fifty years ago. Moving map alone is a huge help.

I agree with you. Expereinced pilots should be worth something but increasingly they are not. Modern planes have fewer problems and require less skill and experience than in the past. It is a fact. The accident rate is way down.

I understand the desire to delude ourselves into thinking something else but it does not help. Automation is not perfect but it is better than hands on flight. The airlines want uniformity of experience not a diverse group of lifelong aviation professionals because they are more interested in hiring company automatons than aviators.

Skyhigh

SkyHigh

I don't know what it is but I heard another news story on drones and their future in America. Police, Border patrol, traffic watch. They all want drones. They also mentioned using drones for areal firefighting, crop dusting and cattle herding. I hope they don't figure out how to use drones to deliver the mail.

Skyhigh

Elvis90

There will be a market for all those Remotely Piloted Aircraft operators that will be leaving the Air Force, outside of military needs.

KC10 FATboy

After reading this thread yesterday, I found this article today. Please read all the way to the bottom when they start discussing how many crews (pilots) these UAVs have.

Rare Glimpse Inside a Predator Drone Control Station - FoxNews.com

Remember back a few years when a solar flare caused communication links to go down, and in an instant, credit cards weren't working, the internet sucked, ATC radios sucked more than usual, HF radios unusable ... yada yada yada. Now imagine the same scenario where all of the airplanes are commanded by satellite or radio links. Scary thought.

These UAVs still have pilots; they're just removed from the cockpits. And that's why the military did this. You aren't risking an expensive to train pilot and human life when they get shot down. The vehicle is much cheaper since you don't have to have life support systems (pressurization, air conditioning, ejection seats ...). And as long as you don't kill anyone on the ground or cause any damage to property, nobody cares if these things crash. They're relatively cheap and we can build another one.

But there's much more to it than that. For OPSEC reasons, it's hard to have this conversation here. To get around that, just look at shipping and railroads. These systems are highly automated and yet, they still have pilots/engineers.

I watched a show on the French TGV train. The designer said that they very easily could have built the thing without an engineer, but then he said, nobody would ride it.

N9373M

Problem solved:

Grumble

They also have no idea the cost/infastructure that's required. The Predator isn't exactly an R/C airplane. For that matter, neither do you. You're trying to make an educated arguement against people that actually know the details of the equipment and how it works. Unless you work for General Atomics (which would make sense given your constant banter), just stop already.

Phuz

I dunno, i find it really damn easy to fly straight and level without the autopilot / autothrottle for 3-6 hours. It just isn't that hard.

So if the damn thing can trim itself, then I can focus on the more important things like route planning, radios, traffic, and USA Today.

SkyHigh

If you recall it was not I who made these declarations but Dr. Missy Cummings.

Skyhigh

Elvis90

If you recall I called Missy Cummings' motives and competency into question.

SkyHigh

It was someone else.

Skyhigh