CEO says unmanned flights are 5 years away

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ATN_Pilot said:
Someone operating UAS equipment "knows what he's talking about" when it comes to integrating UAS technology into airliners and the NAS to the same extent that the average airline pilot knows what it takes to implement NextGen. In other words, not at all.
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Actually, sweet heart, I know exactly what it takes to integrate these devices into large aircraft. Funny thing about computer code, it doesn't care how large the airplane is as long as it responds to commands.

One of the most fun parts of my job is laughing at the people who proselytize about things they know nothing about. One of the downsides is I can't tell them exactly how foolish and wrong they are, in about five years you'll read a neat article on wired.com that's old news to guys like me. I've integrated, flown, and maintained large unmanned aircraft at 121 served airports on North and South America. Like Pat said, you're moving the goal posts.

You keep thinking you know what you're talking about and I'll stop clicking the "show ignored content" link.

Gear up, flaps up, auto-pilot engage buddy...That's cutting edge stuff right there.
 
esa17 said:
Actually, sweet heart, I know exactly what it takes to integrate these devices into large aircraft. Funny thing about computer code, it doesn't care how large the airplane is as long as it responds to commands.

One of the most fun parts of my job is laughing at the people who proselytize about things they know nothing about. One of the downsides is I can't tell them exactly how foolish and wrong they are, in about five years you'll read a neat article on wired.com that's old news to guys like me. I've integrated, flown, and maintained large unmanned aircraft at 121 served airports on North and South America. Like Pat said, you're moving the goal posts.

You keep thinking you know what you're talking about and I'll stop clicking the "show ignored content" link.

Gear up, flaps up, auto-pilot engage buddy...That's cutting edge stuff right there.
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What's the current failure/loss rate of UAV's?
 
esa17 said:
Actually, sweet heart, I know exactly what it takes to integrate these devices into large aircraft. Funny thing about computer code, it doesn't care how large the airplane is as long as it responds to commands.

One of the most fun parts of my job is laughing at the people who proselytize about things they know nothing about. One of the downsides is I can't tell them exactly how foolish and wrong they are, in about five years you'll read a neat article on wired.com that's old news to guys like me. I've integrated, flown, and maintained large unmanned aircraft at 121 served airports on North and South America. Like Pat said, you're moving the goal posts.

You keep thinking you know what you're talking about and I'll stop clicking the "show ignored content" link.

Gear up, flaps up, auto-pilot engage buddy...That's cutting edge stuff right there.
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Wanna put some money on it, hot shot?
 
esa17 said:
Actually, sweet heart, I know exactly what it takes to integrate these devices into large aircraft. Funny thing about computer code, it doesn't care how large the airplane is as long as it responds to commands.

One of the most fun parts of my job is laughing at the people who proselytize about things they know nothing about. One of the downsides is I can't tell them exactly how foolish and wrong they are, in about five years you'll read a neat article on wired.com that's old news to guys like me. I've integrated, flown, and maintained large unmanned aircraft at 121 served airports on North and South America. Like Pat said, you're moving the goal posts.

You keep thinking you know what you're talking about and I'll stop clicking the "show ignored content" link.

Gear up, flaps up, auto-pilot engage buddy...That's cutting edge stuff right there.
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Another quick question. What certification standards do the UAV's you've operated operate under? While the code you speak of might meet part 25 standards, I can assure you the certification process will be time consuming and expensive. Just look at what it took for composites to be certified for use on the Beech Starship. Every certified composite aircraft manufacturer should have to pay Beech royalties for paving the road for them. The FAA didn't know how to regulate/test composites, so they tried to apply rules they were using for traditional construction techniques. The cost and weight of the Starship sky rocketed. While you may know the nuts and bolts of what it takes to make an airliner a remotely monitored single pilot airplane, I can assure you the FAA will not know what it takes. That reason alone will set it back 30-40 years. Again, the Starship started development in 1979, here we are 30’ish years later and composite technology is finally being applied to the 787. Never doubt the FAA's ability to set progress back decades.
 
PositionAndHold said:
Another quick question. What certification standards do the UAV's you've operated operate under? While the code you speak of might meet part 25 standards, I can assure you the certification process will be time consuming and expensive. Just look at what it took for composites to be certified for use on the Beech Starship. Every certified composite aircraft manufacturer should have to pay Beech royalties for paving the road for them. The FAA didn't know how to regulate/test composites, so they tried to apply rules they were using for traditional construction techniques. The cost and weight of the Starship sky rocketed. While you may know the nuts and bolts of what it takes to make an airliner a remotely monitored single pilot airplane, I can assure you the FAA will not know what it takes. That reason alone will set it back 30-40 years. Again, the Starship started development in 1979, here we are 30’ish years later and composite technology is finally being applied to the 787. Never doubt the FAA's ability to set progress back decades.
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Exactly, we're talking about the same agency that just took 5 weeks to get me a new RVSM LOA after a name change.
 
TrustMeI'maPilot said:
What's the current failure/loss rate of UAV's?
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More than manned. Also, there is no incentive to really make it better faster. We're working on making every flight perfect. It will never happen. The loss rate per thousand hours on some UAS are way way WAY higher than manned. Others, way way WAY less. Unmanned fly over some pretty sensitive areas that need to be protected. As such, a UAS coming down in them is just as bad as it can be. Safeguards are in place to bring the plane back, or bring it down and not harm those on the ground (think of known ditch areas). Would I fly in one? Probably. Would I love it? Nope.

I keep going back to this, in cruise the UAS autopilots fly better than I can. Who here flies a 737 manually during cruise? Every time? Entire flight? I do takeoffs and landings better because I have better SA. UAS is not unmanned, it's highly automated.

So what's the big thing that's really going to hold this back? The failsafe. Are people ok with ditching in an aircraft that has been lost comms for 3 hours. Are operators going to pay for 3 hours of extra fuel or more on EVERY flight. Are they going to pay to have a network of ground stations and pilots within LOS of each and every aircraft flying. Once we figure out those we'll have UAS with passengers. For now, I see UAS stateside with payloads within 5 years. With passengers, longer, but I'm always surprised how fast we adopt technology.
 
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