Airports and air travel of the future

Frank F. Matthews writes:

I won't say that it is impossible. I will say that it is impossible
within my lifetime. It is possible that remote management will be
available for cargo planes in a couple of decades. I might believe it
when I see such technology being deployed in situations where it would
be of real benefit. Combat jets for example. Today a major restriction
on aircraft performance in combat is protecting a pilot. When most of
the air force combat planes are run by sergeants on the ground I may
begin to believe.

Then the time is now, because UAVs are already in use and are being
piloted by relatively unskilled specialists on the ground.

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The upside isn't there for enough people to create any momentum behind it.

I sure hope so.

Jose
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"Mxsmanic" wrote in message
...
Then the time is now, because UAVs are already in use and are being
piloted by relatively unskilled specialists on the ground.


What makes you think they are unskilled.

Here are the requirements of one company currently taking applications.
http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/jobs/CA/Ade...ther/J958355RP


a.. Travel (premium compensation) for 6 to 8 months (2-3 month rotational
schedule) of the year both within and outside the Continental United States.
a.. Must be able to obtain a Department of Defense "Secret" Security
Clearance.
a.. Commercial pilot's license and instrument rating
a.. Instructor's rating is preferred.
a.. Prior experience in UAV operation, mission planning and actual control
of aircraft is desirable.

Gig 601XL Builder wrDOTgiaconaATcox.net wrote:

a.. Prior experience in UAV operation, mission planning and actual control
of aircraft is desirable.

And therein is the requirement that will disqualify most. How many
candidates actually apply to this company with UAV experience?


--
Peter

a.. Prior experience in UAV operation [...] is desirable.
And therein is the requirement that will disqualify most.

No, it won't disqualify anyone, as it's not a requirement.

Jose
--
There are more ways to skin a cat than there are cats.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

"Peter R." wrote in message
...
Gig 601XL Builder wrDOTgiaconaATcox.net wrote:

a.. Prior experience in UAV operation, mission planning and actual
control
of aircraft is desirable.

And therein is the requirement that will disqualify most. How many
candidates actually apply to this company with UAV experience?



I would assume those that meet this requirement are ex-military.

I'll be interested to see if the FAA will come up with a UAV certificate or
rating at some point and give some credit for that "flight time" for higher
ratings. If they did it might be a neat new way for commercial pilots to
gain hours for ATP.

Mxsmanic wrote:

Frank F. Matthews writes:


I won't say that it is impossible. I will say that it is impossible
within my lifetime. It is possible that remote management will be
available for cargo planes in a couple of decades. I might believe it
when I see such technology being deployed in situations where it would
be of real benefit. Combat jets for example. Today a major restriction
on aircraft performance in combat is protecting a pilot. When most of
the air force combat planes are run by sergeants on the ground I may
begin to believe.


Then the time is now, because UAVs are already in use and are being
piloted by relatively unskilled specialists on the ground.


Currently UAV's are relatively slow and primarily for observation.
Although occasionally they can carry &/or direct bombs.

They are not of the sophistication that I was talking about.

Mxsmanic wrote:

Jose writes:


I don't know how much of a factor pilot salaries are in
commercial aviation (I suspect gas costs far more than pilots) but I do
not for a moment think that this kind of technology (UAV) is impossible
to shove down our throats.


Crew salaries (in total) cost about the same as fuel, each being about
a fourth of total operating costs. Pilots are a small minority of
employees in most companies, but they are also the best paid by far,
especially for large commercial transports at large airlines, so they
may represent a significant percentage of total crew salaries, but I
don't have a figure for that. I know that at Air France, the
president of the company ranks #300 in salary, after the pilots.

Eliminating pilots would provide vast savings. However, there is
still nothing more versatile than a human being when it comes to
handling the unexpected. (For normal and abnormal situations
anticipated by designers of automated flight systems, the automation
usually handles the situations much better than a human pilot.)


That is the point. For remote piloting to work it must be reasonably
competent in emergency situations.

Gig 601XL Builder writes:

What makes you think they are unskilled.

The articles I've read on it. The remote pilots are not unskilled in
the sense of being pulled in off the street to fly something with no
training or experience, but they are unskilled in the sense that they
don't need to be licensed military or private/commercial pilots. The
heavy computerization of the interface makes it possible to pilot the
UAVs to a large extent without in-depth knowledge of flying.

Of course, the standards would be higher if the aircraft were carrying
passengers, but I don't expect to see that for a very long time
indeed.

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Frank F. Matthews writes:

That is the point. For remote piloting to work it must be reasonably
competent in emergency situations.

And that is why I don't think pilots will disappear on aircraft
carrying passengers at any time in the foreseeable future. The
safety-of-life risk is already there with or without a pilot, since
there are other human beings on board; and the undeniable flexibility
of a human pilot in unforeseen situations is cheap insurance against
mishaps.

The main problem of commercial pilots in the future will be
increasingly severe boredom, and the difficulty of keeping skills
sharp when most flights will be completely automated, eventually
amounting to just pushing a START button at the departure gate, and
pushing a STOP button at the destination.

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