Slash
All good points.
The reason I have mentioned military repeatedly is that in most of aviation the heavy lifting in terms or research, development and cost is done by the military.
The civil side follows the military once the money is spent.
This is not always the case, but generally, particularly when it comes to big changes.
The manufacturers on the military side are not just putting small amounts of money into it. As far as I can see, all the big players consider the next fighter programs to be unmanned.
This is I think where the big money will be/is being spent. The civil side will piggyback on it.
I think the public will demand it when years of USAF unmanned freighters have a much better safety record. Airlines will demand it when they see the profit.
You may be correct about takeoff distances, however there is a case to reduce the Takeoff distances required for unmanned due to the lack of thinking time required.
On a takeoff run, the distances are calculated assuming thinking time.
A human needs to try to gather the information and make a decision extremely quickly hence V1 was invented to simplify the decisions. Making decisions based upon multiple factors whilst working hard to takeoff is not a humans strong point.
A computer will have all the information it needs, or at least a lot more and can immediately take that decision. Computers are very good at concurrent calculations.
How fast are we at current position? How does that compare with expected?
Are we accelerating like I would expect? Better or worse than planned for?
What is the state of all my engines? Better or worse than min certified?
What is the wind speed? Better or worse than planned for?
Exactly how much runway do I have left? Better or worse than planned for?
What is the breaking action?
It can do these calculations 100 times per second.
It can also, without jeapardising safety, change its mind. It is not under pressure, it is just continually monitoring factors that affect its ability to fly. It can know if the best idea is to get airborne or take the overshoot.
We have had to invent things like V1 to try to mitigate the human habit of making poor decisions under pressure.
I see no reason to saddle a computer with V1
If the computer sees that more than one engine has taken damage in a twin above V1 or even nearly at rotate it might decide that aborting is the best option. It takes too long for a human to do that so sometimes aircraft get airborne that won't make it.
Your question is just a trap
You are asking me to say what will happen after the computer has failed because nobody could think of the scenario, yet you have just thought of the scenario.
Last edited by Tourist; 5th Dec 2014 at 18:44.