Future of aviation - fact or fiction

Monday I made a stop on a cross country flight to have lunch with my
daughter. Afterwards we dropped in to a used book store to browse. As
usual I migrated to the aviation section. The gem I laid my eyes on
this time was written in 1957 and titled, "Flying the Omnirange." It
touts the advantages and incredible possibilities of the fantastic new
VHF onmidirectional radio range (VOR) that was replacing the
low-frequency rado ranges in the 1950's. Here are a few paragraphs that
you may find interesting and mildly amusing.
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Here is the long-range program as visualized by the CAA and planned for
completion in the 1960's:

Before a pilot takes off on a flight a landing time will be reserved
for him at his airport of destination. While he is enroute a dial will
tell him continually, in minutes and seconds, whether he is ahead of or
behind schedule, and he will slow his plane down or speed it up
accordingly. On a screen in the cockpit the pilot will see a pictorial
presentation of everything around him. This picture, probably televised
from the ground, will show his own aircraft in relation to others in
his vicinity, indicate obstructions or other hazards, and even show the
location of storms and turbulent air.

At the same time, radar will be continuously watching him from the
ground. By means of a block system, something like that used on
railroads, the pilot will be assured that he is in safe air space at
all times.

His aircraft will carry equipment which continuously transmits to the
ground the readings of the cockpit instruments. Electronic brains on
the ground will check these readings automatically against information
derived from radar and other sources. If, for example, the altitude
shown by ground radar differs from the altimeter reading in the
cockpit, the pilot will be instantly and automatically notified.

If the pilot wishes to change his altitude or his flight plan he will
be able to communicate with the ground stations by pushing an
appropriate button. Approval or disapproval will be flashed back to his
cockpit in a fraction of a second, since the calculations will be made
by automatic machines on the ground.

This system may sound a bit fantastic in some respects, especially
since it is due for realization within the next 6 or 7 years.
Nevertheless, nearly all of the mechanisms and instruments upon which
it is predicated already are in development and some of them are in
actual use. The program will almost completely solve the weather
problems which plague aviation today, and it will permit aircraft to
fly their schedules with clocklike precision and absolute reliability.
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--
Gene Seibel
Hangar 131 - http://pad39a.com/gene/plane.html
Because I fly, I envy no one.