Does this mean that I can retire my pencil sharpener now ? - and, of course the computer can do it much more accurately (as in closer to the "legal" limit bit).
Re obstacles, and this is an area in which I have had a long and detailed interest, the situation is still a bit difficult. The increasing availability of sat imaging data will progressively make the majority of the difficulty go away ........provided that operators at the nasty end take an interest.
I have no a priori difficulty with the use of flight deck gadgets. However, their uncritical acceptance in line operations does raise difficulties with some airports in some conditions. Likewise making the takeoff accel stop limiting. Unless there is a significant dollar benefit, why accept a situation where you are just about guaranteeing an overrun with a critical refusal ? It really comes down to a dollar risk assessment. Is it better to save a few dollars regularly, considering the diminishing returns aspects of hotend benefits when viewed against the high dollar cost of the occasional prang ? And this, of course, doesn't consider the stress wear and tear on the guys in the pointy end.
I would still love to sit in on the three-holer max grunt min weight blast off ....
[This message has been edited by john_tullamarine (edited 01 June 2001).]