Interestingly, along the lines of driverless vehicles, BBC just aired a piece on that very subject. Listen here: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/worldservice/bizdaily/bizdaily_20130322-... patrick On 25 Mar 2013, at 23:21, Patrick Wiggins wrote:
Ok, I've been mentioned a couple of time so I'll throw in a comment or two.
I'd of chimed in earlier but I got to spend a very fun afternoon on fights taking several folks up for their first flights. I've decided to get into that in a pretty big way. Even had an article run: http://www.transcriptbulletin.com/view/full_story/21845505/article-Pilot-off...
I think of it as my way of paying back the guy that gave me my first flight in a light aircraft when I was but a wee lad.
But getting back to the topic at hand, I'm maybe a bit less pessimistic about flying cars. Or at least about getting more folks in the sky.
Brent mentioned computers and that's almost certainly the way aviation (and everything else) is going.
Just as I did not like the "intrusion" of computers into astronomy at first, I was no fan of them pushing their way into the air. But I've come around. Heck, come fly with me and you'll see my aircraft navigation device of choice is an iPad. And I've even got a computer on my parachute.
It's to the point now where I can see aircraft that will fly themselves, maybe with a pilot and maybe without. And with all of the aircraft talking to one another the chances of collisions will be reduced. That's sort of already started in small aircraft. I now have a nifty little box in my plane that warns me when another aircraft is getting close. And another that tells me if I'm getting too close to a mountain or other sort of obstacle like a smoke stack or antenna.
It doesn't take much imagination to imagine advanced boxes like that controlling the airplane rather than just telling the pilot there's a problem.
We're not completely there yet. But the FAA has mandated that within a few years all aircraft be equipped with electronics that will tell other aircraft where they are. That wont be a complete fix as there's no mandate to have other boxes tell the pilot (or the airplane) about approaching aircraft. But all of that is already for sale. I'm just waiting for the prices to come down.
Sure there will still be failures. But with backup systems the failures will be less common. And I really don't expect to see anywhere near as many flying machines as ground-bound vehicles.
Ok, enough said. I'll just leave you with this TED talk that illustrates some of what I've said:
http://www.ted.com/talks/vijay_kumar_robots_that_fly_and_cooperate.html
patrick
On 25 Mar 2013, at 17:13, Brent Watson wrote:
Many of us do successfully operate vehicles in three dimensions and with excellent results. Contrary to popular belief, only around half of aircraft accidents result in fatalities. While somewhat higher than the equivalent automotive results, there are still many accidents that are very survivable. The stakes are only slightly elevated in aircraft. If the fan stops, it is very feasible to glide to a safe landing.
When folks ask me if it is safe, I always relate that I have only been involved in three fatal accidents, and the third time they never found my body. Actually, my airplane has over 4,700 hours on the airframe and is still in excellent condition. 4,700 hours times 150 miles per hour yields 705,000 miles. No accidents nor incidents.
I am very thankful that the bar to operate aircraft is much higher than that to operate a ground vehicle. If people were subjected to the rigors of flight school for getting a drivers license, there would be far fewer licensed drivers on the roads.
Patrick will chime in too, I am certain.
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