Our kids — future Career
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Airbus has developed the ability to fly passenger jets without pilots, but overcoming regulatory concerns and public fears about the technology were holding it back from rolling them out commercially.
Back to "Our kids -- ... ". Could anyone with a kid learning to fly, or wanting to learn to fly, please, please, please keep them off their 'flight sims' on their computers for about 6 months, or more, before taking real flying lessons? Trying to teach them that there is a big, wide world that can be seen through the windscreen that is immensely more useful than that tiny little A/H that they have become blinkered to due to their 'flight sims' is a huge task! I am sure that kids 50 years ago learnt the basics of flying much quicker than modern kids for that very reason.
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Opening words in that article:So ... are Airbus claiming to have developed 'passenger jets' that would be able to deal with what an American crew did when they had multiple bird-strikes over New York and what a Russian crew did when they had similar recently near Moscow? Both on Airbuses.
Garuda B737 - 2002
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About this: double engine failure, no APU, total loss of electronics, put down in a small river between two bridges... ...
Garuda B737 - 2002
Also, as pilots they would have been looking out through the windscreen and not at a loss because the 'all important instruments' that they'd become so dependent on in their PlayStation 'flight sim' weren't working normally.
I mentioned this on another thread some time ago but can't remember which one, the biggest thing with automation at the moment is that it is not 'complete' automation. Partial automation is a huge issue - having a pilot who's required to take over when the system $hits itself, but who otherwise sits and does nothing for hours on end - he's only there for when the going gets tough. The automation does little, if anything, to keep him in the loop, and more importantly, keep him in practice, but expects him to go from a brain-dead stupor to aviation hero in an instant.
At some point the technology will become reliable enough but it is nowhere even remotely near that right now.
As the systems improve, which they will, the point at which they fail will be further and further into the areas that make the aircraft unnecessarily harder to fly. Now, mostly, the 'system' just keeps handing over a larger and larger bag of $hit as it progresses, QF32 is a great example.
Trying to 'engineer' pilots out of the equation as much as possible by taking a lot of the day-to-day things and automating them has resulted in aircraft that are, in some situations, a lot more difficult to fly than they need to be and has also had the effect of weakening pilot skills and when it all goes south you'll need those very same now weakened skills to fix.
There is absolutely no such thing as something that cannot fail - every single day there are possibly hundreds of events around the world where the automatics fail in one form or another, and it's fixed by the pilots, who simply tidy up and continue on their way. If you stopped those fixes, remove the ability to apply those fixes or, dare I say it, adopt an 'it will never happen' attitude, it WILL start raining aluminium.
At some point the technology will become reliable enough but it is nowhere even remotely near that right now.
As the systems improve, which they will, the point at which they fail will be further and further into the areas that make the aircraft unnecessarily harder to fly. Now, mostly, the 'system' just keeps handing over a larger and larger bag of $hit as it progresses, QF32 is a great example.
Trying to 'engineer' pilots out of the equation as much as possible by taking a lot of the day-to-day things and automating them has resulted in aircraft that are, in some situations, a lot more difficult to fly than they need to be and has also had the effect of weakening pilot skills and when it all goes south you'll need those very same now weakened skills to fix.
There is absolutely no such thing as something that cannot fail - every single day there are possibly hundreds of events around the world where the automatics fail in one form or another, and it's fixed by the pilots, who simply tidy up and continue on their way. If you stopped those fixes, remove the ability to apply those fixes or, dare I say it, adopt an 'it will never happen' attitude, it WILL start raining aluminium.
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About this: double engine failure, no APU, total loss of electronics, put down in a small river between two bridges...but as they were Indonesians they can't be called heroes.
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When I don't have to read over 100 pages of NOTAMS from a system that dates back to 1947, then I will start believing that aeroplanes might be able to operate themselves.
Furthermore, having technology available is meaningless without a way to roll it out in a manner that makes economic sense. I think the cost of integration will outweigh the benefits and it is going to take decades to get buy in from the required stakeholders simply based on the ROI.
Furthermore, having technology available is meaningless without a way to roll it out in a manner that makes economic sense. I think the cost of integration will outweigh the benefits and it is going to take decades to get buy in from the required stakeholders simply based on the ROI.
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The report points to defective battery, and poor training in using the weather radar and poor training in restarting the engines under those circumstances.
Landing a flapless aircraft with no power, that's good airmanship.
Just saying: "they did it", is a faulty understanding of human factors.
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Humans cannot comprehend 100 page NOTAMS several times a day, while computers actually can in a split of a second and without forgetting it next minute.
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Nope, they can't, at least for obstacles/restricted areas/airways restriction. Someone would have to update the database, then verify and upload it in the system. This for every single new published NOTAM (at least in the area of operation). Of course you'll need to remove the expired ones too. Never mind about bird hazard/confused info about ground handling/weather...something a computer simply can't understand.
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When I was about ten. I decided I wanted to fly, be a pilot. My main worry was that technology was advancing so fast that aircraft would be replaced by some other means of transport. At the time technology was advancing almost daily. Space, Concorde. It was all happening. I needn't have worried. Things have advanced but pilots are still needed. I doubt that will change much into the future.
But what did change was the ten year old me. Kids do change. While the OP's daughter is enjoying the simulator. That's not flying. It's a video game. I wonder have you taken her to the airport or indeed a flight in a light aircraft? Get some real world experience. More than one wannabee pilot has changed their mind rapidly when faced with the real thing.
Another thing I would not recommend is bypassing University for flight school. Not everyone makes it as a pilot. A failed medical can end a career overnight. Send her to college. She can learn to fly during the summer if she's still keen. Then flight school. Indeed maybe a cadetship might come along. Having a degree can help.
I have two boys 12 and 10 and thank goodness neither have the slightest interest in flying. Even though I took both flying several times and they enjoyed it.
I personally wouldn't recommend it as a career to anyone anymore but I'm a bit jaded. In the end even the love of flying wasn't enough.
So yes make plans but be prepared to change. A ten year old is one thing, a teenager is another creature entirely and that applies to either sex.
But what did change was the ten year old me. Kids do change. While the OP's daughter is enjoying the simulator. That's not flying. It's a video game. I wonder have you taken her to the airport or indeed a flight in a light aircraft? Get some real world experience. More than one wannabee pilot has changed their mind rapidly when faced with the real thing.
Another thing I would not recommend is bypassing University for flight school. Not everyone makes it as a pilot. A failed medical can end a career overnight. Send her to college. She can learn to fly during the summer if she's still keen. Then flight school. Indeed maybe a cadetship might come along. Having a degree can help.
I have two boys 12 and 10 and thank goodness neither have the slightest interest in flying. Even though I took both flying several times and they enjoyed it.
I personally wouldn't recommend it as a career to anyone anymore but I'm a bit jaded. In the end even the love of flying wasn't enough.
So yes make plans but be prepared to change. A ten year old is one thing, a teenager is another creature entirely and that applies to either sex.
Last edited by Steepclimb; 25th Oct 2019 at 13:24.
