Originally Posted by
Lookleft
You do know that aeroplanes designed 40 and 60 years ago are still the main product that the world's major manufacturers of aircraft are still producing right? I imagine that you would also be aware that the time frame to produce a new aircraft from scratch using existing technology is at least a 15-20 year proposition right? So designing an autonomous aircraft from scratch that would be commercially viable and acceptable to the world's airlines, regulators and airspace designers is not going to happen within the working life of a 20 year old F/O yeah?
If you want to argue that autonomous aircraft will never happen, don't you think using a 21st Century aircraft design (such as an A350 or 787) as your baseline would be more representative?
I've never said fully autonomous passenger aircraft are right around the corner - I figure about 50 years - but I have little doubt they will happen. But using a 40 year old design to argue that the technology isn't ready is just silly. Or do you think a 1980's wireless phone is representative of current capabilities?