Ameriflight Drone

[mikecweb]

Ameriflight Signs Agreement with Natilus to Purchase 20 Autonomous Cargo Aircraft - Ameriflight

January 26th, 2023 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: Jamie Smith Ameriflight, LLC Director of Corporate Communications jsmith@ameriflight.com | 972.426.3066 ext. 76273 DALLAS, TX – Ameriflight, the nation’s largest Part 135 Cargo airline, announces agreement to purchase 20 autonomous cargo...

w3.ameriflight.com

Just put a penis tail on it so I can see the end and get it over with.

 

[DropTank]

wow...who could have seen this coming...

 

[Skåning]

...who could have seen this coming...

Stevie Wonder

 

[jmc4]

“Ameriflight 2600, go around”

“I’m sorry Tower, I’m afraid I can’t do that”

 

[JordanD]

“Ameriflight 2600, go around”

“I’m sorry Tower, I’m afraid I can’t do that”

“I think you said hit the ground, if this is correct press 1.”

 

[ZeroPapaGolf]

“Thank you for calling Ameriflight. Your call is very important to us and will be answered in the order it was received. For vectors, press 1. For approach clearances, press 2. For full-route clearances, please hang up and call again later.”

 

[///AMG]

That is a pretty aggressive group of aerodynamic and static load decisions they have made there. I'm not certain the robot will be able to wrestle it into the sky, but it might do ok on the interstates.

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

But I was just told in another thread by @BEEF SUPREME that this will never happen.

 

[Maximilian_Jenius]

But I was just told in another thread by @BEEF SUPREME that this will never happen.

Where is that Boom supersonic plane that United ordered? You were a 121 pilot once, so you should know that orders happen all the time and that its not real, till you see the planes on the company manifest. Till then its just a an order that could get canceled, or pushed back. Or never even see the light of day.

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

Where is that Boom supersonic plane that United ordered? You were a 121 pilot once, so you should know that orders happen all the time and that its not real, till you see the planes on the company manifest. Till then its just a an order that could get canceled, or pushed back. Or never even see the light of day.

Possible, but you aren’t dumb. You know that if this one doesn’t happen, another will. The tech is already there.

 

[Maximilian_Jenius]

Possible, but you aren’t dumb. You know that if this one doesn’t happen, another will. The tech is already there.

We here have always surmised that 121 cargo would go autonomous first before 121 pax. At least we did a few years ago, I believe that, that was the general consensus. We'll of course agree to disagree, but I don't think fully autonomous 121 pax ops will occur in my lifetime. Or at least the next 2 decades. Will it happen? Maybe, probably. But I don't think many here will see it in their careers.

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

We here have always surmised that 121 cargo would go autonomous first before 121 pax. At least we did a few years ago, I believe that, that was the general consensus. We'll of course agree to disagree, but I don't think fully autonomous 121 pax ops will occur in my lifetime. Or at least the next 2 decades. Will it happen? Maybe, probably. But I don't think many here will see it in their careers.

We do disagree on that, but that’s not the discussion here. It’s not about pax ops. It’s about cargo ops.

So, let’s say you’re right and pax ops don’t go autonomous in our lifetimes. But cargo ops do. What do you think the results are for the piloting profession when many thousands of cargo pilots are put out on the street?

 

[mikecweb]

We do disagree on that, but that’s not the discussion here. It’s not about pax ops. It’s about cargo ops.

So, let’s say you’re right and pas ops don’t go autonomous in our lifetimes. But cargo ops do. What do you think the results are for the piloting profession when many thousands of cargo pilots are put out on the street?

I'd say I'll come to GA and mow your lawn but you probably already have a robot doing that • too.

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

I'd say I'll come to GA and mow your lawn but you probably already have a robot doing that • too.

Sadly, I haven’t found a robot on the market that can mow 8 acres. I have looked, though.

 

[JJ429PA]

There's an extraordinarily large gap between having the technical capability to accomplish something like this (which I don't argue exists now), and having it become a reality in the way it's envisioned. We still can't get fully autonomous automobiles to go 6 months without killing someone. The public appetite isn't there for this, and the regulatory appetite absolutely isn't either. The risk/reward matrix of large autonomous aircraft in the US airspace system is simply off the charts. If this comes to fruition in our lifetimes (and I think that's a healthy "if"), it will only take one accident to freak everyone out and it goes back on a shelf for the next 15-20 years. I agree it's coming someday, but I don't think it will be in our lifetimes or the lifetimes of anyone alive right now. I'm more concerned about matter teleportation takin' mah jerb than I am about drones, which is to say, not very.

 

[mikecweb]

Sadly, I haven’t found a robot on the market that can mow 8 acres. I have looked, though.

My thoughts are with you during this trying time.

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

We still can't get fully autonomous automobiles to go 6 months without killing someone.

This is such a disingenuous argument. How long do we go between ape-driven automobile accidents that kill someone?

I won’t make you look it up. The answer is 13 minutes. Every 13 minutes someone dies in a car accident from a car driven by a human.

 

[DropTank]

There's an extraordinarily large gap between having the technical capability to accomplish something like this (which I don't argue exists now), and having it become a reality in the way it's envisioned. We still can't get fully autonomous automobiles to go 6 months without killing someone. The public appetite isn't there for this, and the regulatory appetite absolutely isn't either. The risk/reward matrix of large autonomous aircraft in the US airspace system is simply off the charts. If this comes to fruition in our lifetimes (and I think that's a healthy "if"), it will only take one accident to freak everyone out and it goes back on a shelf for the next 15-20 years. I agree it's coming someday, but I don't think it will be in our lifetimes or the lifetimes of anyone alive right now. I'm more concerned about matter teleportation takin' mah jerb than I am about drones, which is to say, not very.

So, tell me, how long between regular automobile deaths?

As for "public appetite", that's completely irrelevant.
What's the "appetite" for smaller seats and baggage fees? Probably near zero
Do we still get them? Sure do!

Why does any company do something that its customers obviously don't want?

Because money...

 

[JJ429PA]

This is such a disingenuous argument. How long do we go between ape-driven automobile accidents that kill someone?

I won’t make you look it up. The answer is 13 minutes. Every 13 minutes someone dies in a car accident from a car driven by a human.

So, tell me, how long between regular automobile deaths?

Oh boy guys...alright we'll do this. I meant that the automation causes accidents that probably wouldn't have occurred otherwise. You know, based on the context of what we're talking about. Like plowing straight ahead into a pedestrian or zigging when it should have zagged and turning into a big fireball. And before you ask, yes I'm using hyperbole. But it seems like something like this happens more frequently than it should. So now scale that up to aviation and you've got issues. It might work perfectly 99% of the time, but as always it's that pesky 1% that's the issue. How often does your autopilot do something wacky and you just shut it off and handfly? I'd say once a month for me at least. Works great until it doesn't, and then it's human intervention time. I know we're all excited to live in that Star Trek & Jetsons future but again, the existence of the technology is a big difference from it being ready for practical application in the real world. This is a puff-piece for Ameriflight and Natilus designed to get people buzzing and generate a couple days of morning news segments. Look how long it took the FAA to warm up to GPS for navigation. You think this is right around the corner?

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

Oh boy guys...alright we'll do this. I meant that the automation causes accidents that probably wouldn't have occurred otherwise.

You mean like how apes cause accidents that wouldn’t have occurred otherwise, but do so at a rate six times more often than an autopilot equipped car does?

But it seems like something like this happens more frequently than it should.

That’s because the media makes a big deal of an extremely rare automation issue, but doesn’t even mention a human caused issue. Because, you know, a human causing a fatal accident isn’t even news because it happens every 13 minutes.

How often does your autopilot do something wacky and you just shut it off and handfly?

Your autopilot isn’t designed to be autonomous, so I’m not sure why you think this is relevant. This is like claiming that a car doesn’t work because it doesn’t float.