Exeter bound

[chippiepilot]

Going to be back down in Exeter in Feb for most of the month, if there is anyone else in the area who wants to meet up let us know

 

[BennyD]

Hi CP, how's your training going?

 

[chippiepilot]

its going ok thanks down at Airways Flight Training (they seem to be the go to place for the military guys), I have the CPL which took longer to get due to weather and the Civil Aviation Authority taking an age to issue the new license, back down to complete the instrument rating with any luck though trying to work final bits of training round full time employment is fun. How life on the jets?

 

[BennyD]

Don't know mate, I've been off work for most of the last 2years but I am looking to go back early next month. Lots of upheaval at Thomas Cook but it looks to be turning the corner (fingers crossed). Looking forward to long haul and getting my a55 on a beach drinking cold beers again. I'm out of practice, but I know what needs to be done! Good luck with the rest of your training.

 

[Elliott653]

Good luck with your training, CP.

A question. Can a modern passenger jet fly itself, say from London to LA, from lining up on the runway to Heathrow to landing and taxiing to the gate in the US without a pilot touching any of the controls? Can you pilot chaps just punch in the numbers and then head back into the passenger compartment?

 

[2b1ask1]

Hi Chippy, I'll be down in Exeter several times in Feb as I'm overseeing an installation of three outdoor gyms in the prison... I'm probably staying with my brother-in-law in Plymton but it would be great to meet up.

 

[BennyD]

Good luck with your training, CP.

A question. Can a modern passenger jet fly itself, say from London to LA, from lining up on the runway to Heathrow to landing and taxiing to the gate in the US without a pilot touching any of the controls? Can you pilot chaps just punch in the numbers and then head back into the passenger compartment?

At the moment, no it can't. Whilst it can land itself it needs us aviation gods up front to punch the buttons to get it on the beams so it can land. It also needs us to programme the kit, start up, taxi out, take off, amend the route en-route, taxi back in and shut down, i.e most of it. There are moves to fly aircraft remotely, without pilots on board but if the day comes when this happens commercially, I'll go by ferry. We earn our pay when things start going wrong, and that is something the ground pounders can't fathom; things do go wrong, things a computer can't fix and what happens then? There is still a role for us and, hopefully, will be for a long time to come.

 

[Blox]

Here here. I wouldn't set foot on a plane without a human pilot....

 

[chippiepilot]

thanks guys, Newton would be great to catch up if your free. Beers do taste better on the beach so Im told!

 

[Parisien]

No-one would get on a plane if there wasn't a human at the helm.....machines/computers all very fine til they fail.......


P

 

[Felonious Crud]

Opens the whole driverless car debate and who is liable if one of them bumps into something.

 

[Parisien]

Insurance companies of course....


P

 

[Felonious Crud]

I wonder how they'd respond to the question on the form: "Who was trying at the time of the accident? "No-one!"

 

[Parisien]

....no different then to the usual answer....

P

 

[ajb101]

Opens the whole driverless car debate and who is liable if one of them bumps into something.

To be completely fair, it's the manufacturers liability as 'they' are effectively driving! Let's see how keen they are to develop this tech when that little reality hits home!

 

[hodroyd]

Even the unmanned drones actually have a pilot sorting them out on the ground, so nobody up front and I don't get in..!!

 

[safrane]

Thomas Cook airlines; do you know my pal Nigel Condry Hall in Bristol?

 

[CatmanV2]

To be completely fair, it's the manufacturers liability as 'they' are effectively driving! Let's see how keen they are to develop this tech when that little reality hits home!

No more so than MS accept liability if their software bugs cause you data loss....

C

 

[ajb101]

True but a motor vehicle is a different thing, a bug .. normally.. doesn't cause loss of life, vehicles frequently do, but it cannot be the liability of the owner of the vehicle, they had no control over the situation, so it fits firmly with the manufacturer. Or at least logic would dictate.

 

[CatmanV2]

True but a motor vehicle is a different thing, a bug .. normally.. doesn't cause loss of life, vehicles frequently do, but it cannot be the liability of the owner of the vehicle, they had no control over the situation, so it fits firmly with the manufacturer. Or at least logic would dictate.

Well, embedded software in many *many* instances (medical devices, ECU's for in flight computers etc etc) certainly could cause loss of life. You'll still find the manufacturers aren't liable. Logic has little do do with law at this level, I'm afraid.

C