Elvis,

Good post. I'll tell you what the FAA is most worried about. When I toured the General Atomics plant outside of San Diego, the project with the most effort, was trying to get the FAA to understand "sense and avoid" was just as safe, if not safer than "see and avoid" for aircraft avoidance in the congested airspace we work in today.

For obvious reasons, nobody wants to be aboard that one manned asset and see an autonomous or remotely operated vehicle closing in on their 3 to 9.

Once governing agencies retire a few "old heads". (Oops, did I say that on a public forum?) I think we can get past the antiquated thought processes of always needing a "windscreen" to look out of so that we can detect oncoming threats. (i.e. synthetic vision falls into this category)

GJ

So do pilots fly these UAS's from ground stations or are they autonomous? Artificial intelligence???

I remain a skeptic...keep us posted on the technological advances...it's interesting.

Unmanned tankers? How about a simple manned replacement for the KC-135? After 4 iterations we still don't have one...ridiculous.

Elvis,

Good questions/comments/thoughts,

There will never be a shortage for well paying jobs!

As people get older and retire, every industry "should" begin to feel a shortage. What confuses me, is that if people are dying off as they get older, wouldn't that mean less passengers flying and therefore less aircraft flying?

forgot to bid,

This guy is more interested in being right than he is in having a conversation where everybody inputs what they know. You stay pretty informed (read AWAST). I tend to lean toward what you are saying. Add automation but keep one guy in the cockpit as the backup. Not what I want but from all I have read that will be the next step.

CANAM,

Good point, but according to the 2010 census numbers vs. 2000 census numbers, the U.S. population alone grew by 29,411,673 people. That's 29 million more people in the U.S. alone, not accounting for the world population growth.

According to some sources, the world population has experienced continuous growth since the end of the Black Death around the year 1400. Current projections show an increase in population at a steady rate with the world population expected to reach between 7.5 to 10.5 billion people by the year 2050. The world population is presently estimated at around 6.9 billion people.

Hope that answers your concerns of "too many people keeling over", and possibly being out of a flying job anytime soon.

GJ

Catch 22 eh?

It's not what I want. I love that a 777 requires 4 pilots most of the time. At DAL alone you could probably cut 500 people off the ER if this technology landed in the planes overnight. None of this seems to be forecast to occur in less than 10 years but honestly, some upgrades to downlink capabilities and satellite communication and I could see someone pushing for ULH flights with just 2 pilots. That could be the wedge to open to single pilot ops.

If there is a pilot shortage I fear the money won't go as some hope to increasing salaries to attract better pilots but to outsourcing a pilot to computers.

Either way, the technology sure seems headed that way and with Embraer making it public and FedEx hinting at it, it seems plausible. Go back 5 years and there wasn't an iphone, now look. Sure Gearjerk and those in his field have seen whats coming down the pipe on the DOD side of things and applying that to civilian markets doesn't seem far fetched. imho.

When this becomes a reality at the end of a decade, at the most, plus five years, just remember..........

YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST FOLKS!!

GJ

So, how old can the single-pilot be? Haven't seen anyone address this. Are you really going to have a 777 going across the ocean with a 60 year old guy alone in the cockpit, while his 64.5 year old buddy is having a stroke in the crew bunk?

I tend to agree with Rick regarding the feasibility of this whole idea.

Why assume the crew of the aircraft has to be 60+ years of age? Why not allow the "older, more experienced" crewmembers to have an "after retirement" job from the airline and occupy the seats of the Ground Control Stations (GCS)?

Again, I'm not saying it'll happen anytime soon, but if it were ever to near fielding wouldn't regulations for age/crew position be similar to the new laws being put in place for not having two 60+ guys flying in the cockpit now?

V/R,

GJ