Is aviation completely dead?

[Screw_Michigan]

A suicidal pilot decides to drive an airliner full of 150 innocent passengers into a mountain.

An airliner disappears over the Indian Ocean. Completely disappears. 200 people die without a trace.

Passengers are getting shafted left and right because of decreased competition in the market.

Is aviation dead? Discuss.

[Dinsdale]

Discuss.

Aviation is something I'm not too familiar with.

But through the pool I work out of, I got a job tomorrow. I'm getting an obscene amount of money to go meet some delivery guys, and install a clothes dryer. Yup, pull the old one out, hook up the vent, plug it in, make sure it works. Not something I do, since these days I mostly do network/computer installs, but it came up. Don't have to pick it up, nor haul the old one off. I'd do 3 of these suckers a day, and be a very happy man. Hell, I'd become a general contractor again if they lined those fuckers up.

I'll bet you wish I was showing up at your door to "install" a dryer, eh?

As to the topic -- I haven't been on a plane in about 10 years. Here's to another 10, unless someone pays me to do it.

[H4ever]

Aren't pilots compensated very shittily <--- like that one? if you consider how many lives are at stake on each flight? THought I read how entry level pilots can make more as an asst manager at a Burger King in most states. ?????

[Left Seater]

Wow!

My post must have been completely on the mark.

"Looks around the new digs in Screwy's dome, says to self, lots of room but the view sucks."

[Left Seater]

I certainly wouldn't say aviation is dead, but the allure and romance of air travel certainly is.

The airlines are Ina race to the bottom. Up thru some of the 80s airline travel was at least comfortable. Meals were served on most flights, when you bought your ticket that was it no add on fees that doubled the ticket price, no security theater to swell government employment numbers, etc, etc, etc.

Aviation isn't going away, but it is becoming less comfortable daily.

[BSmack]

I haven't flown since October 2000. I was on a business trip then, doing software installs on Fuji printers. I went to DC, The high point was getting to meet up with Tom from DC. Good dude. The low point was DC traffic. No matter how far ahead I planned, it was never enough. I was on the 8th floor of a hotel overlooking the Pentagon. I could see the fucking White House from my room. Where I was working was withing 1000 yards of the White House. Average commute? Over an hour one way in the AM. PM traffic was a little better. But not much.

When I flew out I flew out of Reagan. I had a beautiful view of the whole city. I don't think they've been allowed to fly that way since 9/11.

[Screw_Michigan]

I haven't flown since October 2000. I was on a business trip then, doing software installs on Fuji printers. I went to DC, The high point was getting to meet up with Tom from DC. Good dude. The low point was DC traffic. No matter how far ahead I planned, it was never enough. I was on the 8th floor of a hotel overlooking the Pentagon. I could see the fucking White House from my room. Where I was working was withing 1000 yards of the White House. Average commute? Over an hour one way in the AM. PM traffic was a little better. But not much.

When I flew out I flew out of Reagan. I had a beautiful view of the whole city. I don't think they've been allowed to fly that way since 9/11.

Why didn't you take the Metro? In 2000, it didn't suck.

[Left Seater]

I haven't flown since October 2000.

When I flew out I flew out of Reagan. I had a beautiful view of the whole city. I don't think they've been allowed to fly that way since 9/11.

DC had some of the dumbest rules for awhile after 9/11. One restricted anyone from even standing up when the aircraft was within 30 minutes of arrival in DC. The waitresses got crazy with enforcement and people literally wet themselves and shit themselves and had to sit in it until arrival in DC. Saw plenty of waitresses threaten to have passengers arrested during that time.

Arrival and departures now do try to avoid direct overflight of many DC buildings but the biggest factor on routing has become noise mitigation. Many are river arrivals and departures to "keep the noise" over the river.

[BSmack]

Why didn't you take the Metro? In 2000, it didn't suck.

I rented a car out of Dulles. I returned to DC in 2005. We took the metro from outside Baltimore. It was much saner.

[Left Seater]

Why didn't you take the Metro? In 2000, it didn't suck.

I rented a car out of Dulles. I returned to DC in 2005. We took the metro from outside Baltimore. It was much saner.

Might be because for some unknown reason the Metro still doesn't reach Dulles. How this has taken 40+ years is crazy. Urban planning fail!

[atmdad]

Lefty, do you monitor your yearly radiation dose? Is this something airlines monitor for crew members?

[Screw_Michigan]

Might be because for some unknown reason the Metro still doesn't reach Dulles. How this has taken 40+ years is crazy. Urban planning fail!

Conservative jerkoff like yourself fail.

[Jerkovich]

Up until ten years ago I use to have to fly once or twice a month on the company tab. I was young and single so it was almost fun. Now we're in the 21st century, I almost refuse to fly when you can have a meeting with video conferencing, email, conference calling, and live presentations. I haven't been on a plane in 5 years and I hope it's another 5. The last few flights I was on were a pain in the ass and super uncomfortable. Last year I donated all my flight miles to Give a Kid a Dream.

[Rooster]

In our lifetime (at least some of us) aviation will be completely automated. The day is rapidly approaching where robotics will supplant humans in the cockpit. This is no new trend, but is a steady progression towards automated systems that was only accelerated over the Iraq-Afghanistan wars.
Once the initial hurdle of overcoming consumers' reluctance, the wave will rapidly overtake human pilots. The old aviation joke of having a pilot, copilot, and a dog on the flight deck will be traded for a primary computer, a backup computer, and an IT tech.
Coming soon to an airline near you!

[mvscal]

Conservative jerkoff like yourself fail.

Yes, of course, journalism is dead. Here is 'Exhibit A.' Its practitioners aren't even able to compose grammatically correct sentences. Screwy is probably the dumbest fuck here except for jerkovich and he's a "journalist."

It really makes me laugh.

[Left Seater]

Might be because for some unknown reason the Metro still doesn't reach Dulles. How this has taken 40+ years is crazy. Urban planning fail!

Conservative jerkoff like yourself fail.

Obsess much? That wasn't directed at you, unless you had something to do with urban planning.

Lefty, do you monitor your yearly radiation dose? Is this something airlines monitor for crew members?

Good question. No I don't. There really isn't a ton I can do about it anyway. I don't fly as many hours as an airline pilot, but we fly at a much higher altitude which increases exposure. I also don't fly many polar routes which also increase exposure.

Flight crews tend to have double the melanoma rate of the general population. Is that just from radiation exposure or does it have something to do with airline crews often having layovers in tropical destinations with plenty of free time to do outdoor activities.

[Goober McTuber]

Flight crews tend to have double the melanoma rate of the general population. Is that just from radiation exposure or does it have something to do with airline crews often having layovers in tropical destinations with plenty of free time to do outdoor activities.

I believe it's karma.

[Left Seater]

How exactly is it karma when a gate agent makes a decision to not allow someone to fly? The gate agent prolly spends less time in the air than you do.

[Rooster]

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/04/07/sc ... &referrer=

The Germanwings crash just reinforces my belief that such events will accelerate the roboticization of aviation.

[Left Seater]

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/04/07/sc ... &referrer=

The Germanwings crash just reinforces my belief that such events will accelerate the roboticization of aviation.

While I don't disagree that there will continue to be more automation, I don't see how you completely eliminate pilots. Could you safely go to one? Sure. But there are still plenty of things that require a pilot.

For example we don't have a system that can detect clear air turbulence. So how does automation get the plane out of said CAT, which can be very unsettling for the pax, but poses little to no threat to the aircraft?

Take the Air France crash at the airshow a decade plus ago where the automated system in the Airbus refused to allow the pilot to override what was happening and the plane destroyed itself.

What about the aborted landing I had where the right seater saw the Aligator heading to the warm sunny runway as we were trying to land?

Automated systems also don't have a gut feeling. There are plenty of examples of pilots sensing something isn't going correctly despite the instruments reading normal and their gut reaction saved the plane and pax.

Knowing what I do, I Would never ride in a plane that didn't have a human in the cockpit with ultimate control.

[Screw_Michigan]

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/04/07/sc ... &referrer=

The Germanwings crash just reinforces my belief that such events will accelerate the roboticization of aviation.

Sure thing, as long as you're willing to hop on a plane without a human pilot. Not me.

[Screw_Michigan]

Obsess much? That wasn't directed at you, unless you had something to do with urban planning.

If you knew what the fuck you were talking about, you wouldn't need it explained to you. Crack a book sometime, idiot.

[Screw_Michigan]

Conservative jerkoff like yourself fail.

Yes, of course, journalism is dead. Here is 'Exhibit A.' Its practitioners aren't even able to compose grammatically correct sentences. Screwy is probably the dumbest fuck here except for jerkovich and he's a "journalist."

It really makes me laugh.

Thanks, 8th grade english teacher. Go fuck yourself, asswipe. Did I write that properly?

[Goober McTuber]

How exactly is it karma when a gate agent makes a decision to not allow someone to fly? The gate agent prolly spends less time in the air than you do.

It was a joke. I found it funny that that story showed up in the news the same day that you were musing about higher cancer rates in pilots. Lighten up, Frances.

[Jay in Phoenix]

Thanks, 8th grade english teacher. Go fuck yourself, asswipe. Did I write that properly?

Ah, what's the matter Screwy, having your poor writing skills pointed out get under your sensitive skin? Is the Enquirer not paying enough for your "work"? By the way, English is capitalized.

Maybe you should crack a book.

[smackaholic]

Thanks, 8th grade english teacher. Go fuck yourself, asswipe. Did I write that properly?

Ah, what's the matter Screwy, having your poor writing skills pointed out get under your sensitive skin? Is the Enquirer not paying enough for your "work"? By the way, English is capitalized.

Maybe you should crack a book.

I prolly would have dropped a question mark immediately after screwey.

[R-Jack]

I prolly would have dropped a question mark immediately after screwey.

Its debateable.

[Goober McTuber]

Thanks, 8th grade english teacher. Go fuck yourself, asswipe. Did I write that properly?

Ah, what's the matter Screwy, having your poor writing skills pointed out get under your sensitive skin? Is the Enquirer not paying enough for your "work"? By the way, English is capitalized.

Maybe you should crack a book.

I prolly would have dropped a question mark immediately after screwey.

Yes, and you probably would have made 3 or 9 other punctuation/capitalization/spelling errors. So you've got that going for you.

[Rooster]

But that's the thing, Screwy. How often do you ever see the pilots when you board a plane? If the cockpit door was closed when you got on and the flight was uneventful, you'd never be the wiser and would just assume the pilot was skilled. Any autopilot can fly circles around a human pilot any day of the week-- all the way down to touchdown.
Issues like turbulence and weather avoidance could be addressed by more restrictive parameters and procedures.

[Dinsdale]

Thanks, 8th grade english teacher. Go fuck yourself, asswipe. Did I write that properly?

Ah, what's the matter Screwy, having your poor writing skills pointed out get under your sensitive skin? Is the Enquirer not paying enough for your "work"? By the way, English is capitalized.

Maybe you should crack a book.

For real?

You should consider proofreading what you wrote, then tucking tail.

[Left Seater]

But that's the thing, Screwy. How often do you ever see the pilots when you board a plane? If the cockpit door was closed when you got on and the flight was uneventful, you'd never be the wiser and would just assume the pilot was skilled. Any autopilot can fly circles around a human pilot any day of the week-- all the way down to touchdown.
Issues like turbulence and weather avoidance could be addressed by more restrictive parameters and procedures.

I guess, but how does the aircraft know what altitude to request for a smoother ride? Is it monitoring ride reports from other airplanes also without pilots?

[Goober McTuber]

But that's the thing, Screwy. How often do you ever see the pilots when you board a plane? If the cockpit door was closed when you got on and the flight was uneventful, you'd never be the wiser and would just assume the pilot was skilled. Any autopilot can fly circles around a human pilot any day of the week-- all the way down to touchdown.

Wasn't part of the problem with the Air France crash the fact that the pilots put too much trust in the autopilot?

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

...Air France...

Don't do it, Sam. Just don't.
:x

[Smackie Chan]

Ah, what's the matter Screwy, having your poor writing skills pointed out get under your sensitive skin? Is the Enquirer not paying enough for your "work"? By the way, English is capitalized.

Maybe you should crack a book.

You should consider proofreading what you wrote, then tucking tail.

...and moving to KC?

[Left Seater]

But that's the thing, Screwy. How often do you ever see the pilots when you board a plane? If the cockpit door was closed when you got on and the flight was uneventful, you'd never be the wiser and would just assume the pilot was skilled. Any autopilot can fly circles around a human pilot any day of the week-- all the way down to touchdown.

Wasn't part of the problem with the Air France crash the fact that the pilots put too much trust in the autopilot?

There wasn't an override, I am taking control right fucking now button. So the plane that was configured to land decided it was going to land regardless of what input the pilots gave it. It fought them as they were trying to apply full power and to raise the gear, etc. The plane "won" and landed itself in trees.

[Diego in Seattle]

Any idea of where this was, LS?